Nithya Raman falls short in Los Angeles mayor race

LOS ANGELES City Councilwoman Nithya Raman broke down in tears Tuesday night after falling to third place in the Los Angeles mayoral primary, trailing mayor Karen Bass and Republican candidate Spencer Pratt as early vote counts pointed toward a November runoff between Bass and Pratt.

According to the Associated Press, Bass led the race with 34.8 per cent of the vote on Wednesday (3) morning, followed by Pratt with 30.4 per cent and Raman with 22.3 per cent. The vote count stood at 172,720 for Bass, 151,149 for Pratt and 110,848 for Raman as of around 2:30 am on Wednesday.

Raman became emotional while speaking to supporters and her children after the results came in. She paused several times during her remarks as she spoke about her campaign and the future of the city.

“I hope you know that everything, every person in this room is fighting for in this campaign has been about building a city that’s worthy of you, and every child in this city,” she said.

Raman launched her mayoral campaign in February after previously backing Bass. Her campaign focused on homelessness and housing production and drew support from voters dissatisfied with Bass’ leadership.

Raman faced criticism over her handling of homelessness as chair of the city council’s Housing and Homelessness Committee.

Her campaign faced competition from Rae Huang, who also received support from members of the Democratic Socialists of America. Huang received about three per cent of the vote.

At one stage, Raman led polling in the race, but her campaign lost momentum after a debate performance and as Pratt gained attention through social media videos focused on the Palisades fire and criticism of city leadership.