As Indian-origin Nithya Raman edged ahead and is now locked in a tight race with Republican candidate Spencer Pratt in the Los Angeles mayor primary, President Donald Trump and Elon Musk revived their election fraud claims. In the latest update of the primary counting, Democrats Karen Bass, the incumbent mayor, and Nithya Raman are projected to advance to a run-off and Pratt is unlikely to make the cut under California’s open primary system.Trump said the election was crooked and the Republican candidates in California were being cheated. The Department of Justice dispatched an Assistant U.S. Attorney to observe vote counting in LA, while California Attorney General Rob Bonta reassured the public about election integrity. Elon Musk on Monday shared posts that questioned the result as Nithya Raman, in the beginning, was not in a position to race ahead of Pratt. On the election day, Raman herself said the early numbers were not what her campaign expected. But in a surprising turn, she is now second in the race.The primary was held on June 2 and the counting is going on.
Who is Nithya Raman?
- Kerala-born Tamilian Nithya Raman, 44, is a progressive who dropped a bombshell at the last moment when she declared she would run in the mayor election against ally Karen Bass.
- In 2020, Nithya Raman won her City Council seat beating an incumbent. She was reelected in 2024.
- Raman attended Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and studies urban planning.
- Married to Vali Chandrasekaran, an Indian-origin television proiducer and screenwriter in Hollywood, Raman is a mother to 10-year-old twins.
- Nithya Raman is often compared to New York City mayor Zohram Mamdani because of their ideology, young age and immigrant background though Raman does not hold Mamdani’s sway among the youth.
The mayor’s race is nonpartisan and so none of the candidates had party identification next to their names on the ballot. Counting in California is slow because the state law mandates a drawn-out tally. Ballots are mailed to every eligible voter and they are counted if they are postmarked by Election Day and arrive at an election office within seven days.