Indian-born Nithya Raman leads the Los Angeles mayoral primary in a tight race against Republican Spencer Pratt as President Donald Trump and Elon Musk renew their claims of election fraud. In the latest primary vote count, Democrats, current mayors Karen Bass and Nithya Rahman, are expected to advance to runoffs, while Platt is unlikely to advance under California’s open primary system.Trump said the election was rigged and that California’s Republican candidates were deceived. The Justice Department sent an assistant U.S. attorney to Los Angeles to observe the vote count, while California Attorney General Rob Bonta assured the public of the integrity of the election. Elon Musk posted on Monday questioning the results because Nithya Raman couldn’t get ahead of Pratt initially. On election day, Raman herself said the early numbers did not meet her campaign’s expectations. But surprisingly, she is now ranked second in the competition.The primary election was held on June 2 and vote counting is underway.
Who is Nithya Raman ?
- Nithya Raman, 44, a Tamil progressive born in Kerala, raised eyebrows with her last-minute announcement that she would run for mayor against ally Karen Bass.
- In 2020, Nithya Raman won a seat on the city council, defeating the incumbent. She is reelected in 2024.
- Raman studied urban planning at Harvard University and MIT.
- Raman is married to Vali Chandrasekaran, an Indian-American Hollywood television producer and screenwriter, and Raman is the mother of 10-year-old twins.
- Nithiya Rahman is often compared to New York City Mayor Zohram Mamdani due to his ideology, young age and immigrant background, although Rahman is not as influential among young people as Mamdani.
The mayoral race is nonpartisan, so none of the candidates on the ballot have a party logo next to their name. The vote count in California is slow because state law requires longer counting times. Ballots will be mailed to every eligible voter and will be counted if they are postmarked by Election Day and arrive at the elections office within seven days.
