Los-Angeles Mayoral General Election — Candidate Comparison

Councilmember Nithya Raman is a fearless champion for the people of Los Angeles. She has focused her years in public service on creating an affordable, livable city and holding our City government accountable to deliver change. As a working mom, she saw people struggling on our streets and decided to do something about it. She co-founded the SELAH Neighborhood Homeless Coalition and began organizing her neighbors to provide direct help. But as the crisis grew, she realized volunteer efforts alone would never match the scale of the problem. So she stepped up to lead. In 2020, Nithya ran for City Council as a complete outsider – no political machine, no insider backing. What followed was a grassroots movement: 2,000 volunteers knocked on over 80,000 doors...

In the City Council, Nithya has worked tirelessly to lower housing costs and build more housing. She has passed legislation to accelerate housing production through zoning and planning reforms and overhaul permitting processes to eliminate unnecessary delays. She has championed tenant protections, leading the charge to pass the strongest set of renter protections in the entire country – including revising the Rent Stabilization Ordinance to reduce rental increases for the first time in 40 years, creating a right-to-counsel program, and adopting anti-displacement measures. She has also championed many sustainability initiatives and environmental action to create a healthier Los Angeles. Nithya has worked to reform the City’s approach to homelessness, ...

Nithya’s Promise When I’m mayor, we’ll reduce the number of people sleeping in tents and encampments by at least 50% by the 2028 Olympics. By the end of my first term, the City will have developed the capacity to effectively eliminate long-term encampments throughout the city in the areas Angelenos live, work, play, shop, worship, and go to school.

affordably house all of our residents is the compounding moral crisis of our time. It has driven our homelessness crisis, deepened segregation, and pushed working families out of the city they built. The worst part? This crisis is almost entirely self-made. Thanks to land use policy that sharply limited where new housing can be built, and a bureaucracy that rewards indecision and delays, Los Angeles now has the fewest homes per adult of major US cities, and has the...

Nearly two-thirds of Angelenos rent their homes. Nearly 60% of them are rent burdened, which means they pay more than 30% of their income toward housing, *a larger percentage than any other major city in America.* Let’s underscore what that really means: every month, a larger percentage of Angelenos choose between paying the rent and paying for groceries, healthcare, school costs, childcare, and other necessities than in any other city in America. And for 80% ...

Public safety is the foundation of a functioning city. Angelenos should feel safe in their homes, walking at night, and riding transit. And when you call for help, it should be answered right away and the right response should come quickly. In 2020, I joined Angelenos and Americans in calling for a collective reimagining of public safety. The George Floyd protests cracked open a conversation that had been closed for too long — about what keeps us safe, how that safety is delivered,...

Until recently, Los Angeles was thought of as a climate leader. We committed to 100% renewable energy years ahead of the state, and we announced a Green New Deal. We have lost that reputation because we have lacked the systems of accountability and the political will to actually carry out our ambitious and necessary goals. Angelenos are now paying the costs. Building the public transit system Angelenos voted for and clearing the path for much more infill housing are two of the...

Angelenos are tired of sitting in traffic, feeling unsafe on their streets, and navigating broken sidewalks. We’ve voted for real change. Measure R (2008) and Measure M (2016) committed $120B to the expansion of rail and transit across the county, and Measure HLA (2024) mandated that street safety improvements happen when streets get repaved, not decades later. We’ve been waiting for City Hall to deliver on those promises with the urgency they deserve. Los Angeles moves too slowly, ...

A previous fire left smoldering. A chaotic evacuation. Inadequate firefighter staffing and pre-deployment. And a Mayor who was out of the country while the fire raged. And instead of learning from its mistakes, the city tried to cover up responsibility by altering the after-action report. The immediate aftermath was dysfunctional, and the rebuilding effort has been indefensibly slow. It has been nearly 17 months since the fires, and there is still no plan for rebuilding and no one...

Los Angeles is home to nearly 1.5 million immigrants — more than 1 in 3 Angelenos. Since June of last year, ordinary people have been terrorized across the city. Masked agents, with badges concealed, are snatching working Angelenos off our streets and disappearing them into detention for months without charges, without lawyers, and without due process. No one in Los Angeles should be afraid to go to work or drop their kids off at school...

Los Angeles is losing Hollywood. Not because productions want to leave, but because we've made it too hard for them to stay. Cities around the world are funding dedicated agencies and offering aggressive incentives to take our film industry, and we have let them. This is a $30 billion industry for California that once supported nearly 150,000 jobs across the county. We've lost more than 40,000 of those jobs in recent years because we have treated it as an inconvenience rather than an asset...

Every week in Los Angeles, healthy animals are killed simply because there is nowhere for them to go. In 2024, over 1,200 dogs and 1,500 cats were euthanized in just the first nine months because city shelters were housing nearly twice the number of animals they were built for. City Hall responded by cutting the animal services budget, and the department operated without a permanent General Manager for nearly two years during the worst crisis in the system's recent history...

July 26, 2026: Street homelessness is down 49% in her council district (CD4) through a specific approach (tracking cases, breaking placement barriers, connecting people to housing/care, and staying involved). She will bring the same...

July 19, 2026: Proactively invest in infrastructure (citing issues like water main breaks from decades of neglect) and make the City of LA a strong partner to all other cities in the region, rather than governing from crisis to crisis.

May 27, 2026: Make owning a car a choice rather than a necessity by establishing safe bike lanes, fast buses, and reliable trains as the norm. Better public transit will deliver cleaner air, safer streets, and a more equitable Los Angeles...

May 26, 2026: Work alongside volunteers, staff, and advocates so that Department of Animal Services shelters have the resources needed to care for LA’s animals with dignity and compassion.

May 23, 2026: Make City Hall a partner (not an obstacle) for businesses by fast-tracking permits, investing in thriving corridors, and fighting for mom-and-pop businesses.

May 21, 2026: Deliver urgency, competence, and honesty for “the most important rebuild in the city’s history” (in the context of fire recovery).

May 19, 2026: Cap how much city departments (including LAPD) can draw from the General Fund for settlements before using their own budgets, and work to prevent the causes of liability costs.

May 14, 2026: Govern for the people, not corporate donors (her campaign takes no corporate money).

April 30, 2026: Enforce LA’s Sanctuary City ordinance (which she authored) and use every available tool to protect Angelenos regardless of immigration status.

April 23, 2026: Fix the system (contrasting her experience fighting the system as a councilmember).