Major shake-up as LA councilmember, once considered long shot, ousts Democratic rival she had once endorsed

• Who is Nithya Raman, Los Angeles’s next mayor?

Nithya Raman was elected to serve as the mayor of Los Angeles, defeating incumbent Karen Bass in a major political shake-up that reflects the growing dissatisfaction with the direction of the city.

The progressive urban planner had served on LA’s city council since 2020. She caused a stir when she entered the race earlier this year hours before the filing deadline – and shortly after endorsing Bass for re-election – and her campaign was once viewed as a long shot.

With affordability a major election issue, the incumbent is trying to ward off her democratic socialist challenger

At the end of 2022, the four largest US cities – New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Houston – all had Black mayors. It was a historic alignment made possible by the aftereffects of the Black Lives Matter civil rights movement and the unprecedented wave of protests following the killing of George Floyd in 2020.

Six years on, only one of those mayors remains: the embattled Karen Bass of Los Angeles, who is facing a strong challenge from a younger, even more progressive challenger. Bass’s opponent is Nithya Raman, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, although the group is considering rescinding its endorsement over her refusal to explicitly embrace the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel.