LA City Council: Nithya Raman Headed For Runoff Election In Nov.

Photo: Instagram

India-West Staff Reporter

LOS ANGELES, CA – Incumbent Nithya Raman will face off against challenger Ethan Weaver in a November runoff election for the 4th District seat on the Los Angeles City Council.

Raman led the primary field with 44.5% of the vote, while Weaver stood at 42.8%, and Levon “Lev” Baronian trailed behind at 12.6%.  Per primary rules, since no candidate secured more than 50% of the vote, Raman and Weaver will compete in a runoff on Nov. 5.

Raman, known for her progressive stance, expressed pride in her team’s accomplishments over the past three-plus years, highlighting efforts to address homelessness, protect renters, improve the environment, and work towards city government reform.

Raman’s campaign, which raised about $438,000 in contributions, received additional support through over $400,000 in independent expenditures from groups such as LA Forward, Unite Here Local 11, and California Courage, per mynewsla.com

Key priorities for Raman’s campaign included addressing housing and homelessness, governance reform, bolstering renter’s rights, and focusing on environmental, transportation, and park issues.

As the chair of the council’s Housing and Homeless Committee, Raman has played a vital role in streamlining affordable housing processes, implementing the United to House LA tax measure, and facilitating developer engagement on major projects.

“No LA incumbent has ever been targeted by as much PAC spending as I have in this race,” she posted after the election. “I want to be clear about this: for each one of these groundbreaking public benefits, there’s a powerful private interest that didn’t get their way,” she said in another social media post, “It’s unusual for them. And they want to return LA to a place where they can shape policy to their ends. So they’re spending big.

PACs funded by corporate landlords and the police union have spent over a million dollars to flood mailboxes and social feeds with negative ads – hoping they can turn people off from voting.

In contrast, independent-expenditure money has flowed into Weaver’s campaign from various sources, including the union representing Los Angeles Police Department officers, real estate company Douglas Emmett Management, and the United Firefighters of LA City Local 112, among others, mynewsla.com said. Weaver, who raised approximately $345,000 in contributions, benefited from over $708,000 in independent expenditures, while Levon “Lev” Baronian raised about $39,000 in campaign contributions.

The 4th District seat covers areas of  Studio City, Sherman Oaks, Van Nuys, Reseda, Los Feliz, Silver Lake, Hollywood, and Encino.  Progressive Raman is from Kerala, and has degrees from Harvard and one in Urban Planning from MIT.