Indian-origin Nithya Raman is projected to defeat incumbent Karen Bass and become the next mayor of Los Angeles, the second-largest city in the United States. If the projection holds, she will be the first mayor of South Asian descent in the city’s history.

Raman, a Los Angeles City Council member representing District 4, was ahead with 51.7 per cent of the vote when 72 per cent of ballots had been reported. She had 405,193 votes to Bass’s 379,069, out of 784,262 votes counted so far. Bass, a Democrat and former congresswoman, is the incumbent.

A race that was supposed to be harder for Raman

Raman did not come out of nowhere. She overtook Republican Spencer Pratt in June’s nonpartisan primary, and that result set up what was widely seen as a tougher general election fight against Bass. The projection reporting described it this way:

“Raman, a city council member, overtook Republican Spencer Pratt in June’s nonpartisan primary to set up what was arguably a tougher race for Bass, a Democratic former congresswoman.”

That line matters because it shows the race was never a simple contest. Bass held the job, and Raman had to get past both a crowded primary field and a Republican challenger before facing the incumbent head to head.

Who Nithya Raman is

Raman was born in India, in Kerala, and she is a democratic socialist. She is an urban planner by training. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and a graduate degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, better known as MIT. Those credentials give her a background in city design and infrastructure, and she has built her public profile on the Los Angeles City Council.

Her central promise is hard to ignore. Raman has vowed to cut street homelessness in half before Los Angeles hosts the 2028 Olympics. That is a deadline that gives the city roughly two years of pressure to show results, and it puts housing and the unhoused population at the center of her mayoral message.

Two of America’s biggest cities, both led by Indian-origin politicians

The significance of this result goes beyond Los Angeles. Zohran Mamdani was elected mayor of New York, and he is also of South Asian descent. If Raman wins, New York and Los Angeles, the two largest cities in the country, will both be run by Indian-origin politicians.

Mamdani and Raman would each be the first South Asian mayor of their respective cities. Few people would have predicted that pairing a few years ago, and it shows how quickly South Asian American candidates have moved into the highest levels of big-city politics.

A midterm night that rattled the Republicans

The mayoral race was not the only big story from the week. The midterm elections concluded on Tuesday and delivered a significant rebuke to President Donald Trump and the Republicans. Democrats gained control of the House and Senate, flipping seats and traditional Republican strongholds in what was described as a massive blue wave across America.

In that environment, Raman’s projected win fits into a broader story about voter turnout and political momentum. Democrats did not just hold their ground. They took seats that had long leaned the other way, and Raman’s lead in Los Angeles added another headline to a night already full of surprises.

More Indian-American candidates made history

Raman is one of several Indian-American candidates on the ballot in the midterms. Those names include Pia Dandiya in Florida, and Amish Shah, who is the first Indian-American to represent Arizona in Congress. Several Indian-origin candidates have registered historic wins in these midterms, which makes this cycle a turning point for the community’s political reach.

What the numbers do and do not tell us

The figures in this race are projections based on partial results. With 72 per cent of the votes reported, Raman held a lead of about 2.4 percentage points, and the final tally could still shift as the remaining ballots are counted. The projection is what has been called, and the official outcome will depend on the complete count.

Even with that caveat, the shape of the race is clear. A city council member from District 4, with an urban planning background and degrees from Harvard and MIT, is poised to beat a sitting mayor who was once a congresswoman. If the count holds, the story will be remembered as one of the most striking political upsets of the cycle, and a sign that Indian-origin leaders are no longer waiting for their turn at the top of American city government.