Primary election for LA mayor: Kerala-born Nithya in 2nd spot

Washington: Kerala-born Nithya Raman has surged to second place in the primary election for Los Angeles mayor, edging past reality TV star Spencer Pratt. She appears set to take on incumbent Karen Bass in November.

Bass, 72, a former Democratic congresswoman who has already advanced to the November runoff, remained in the lead with 34.7% of the vote, according to the updated tally released by the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk's Office.

The primary election for the mayor's post took place on Jan 2 and 80% of the ballots have been counted so far. Raman, 44, who has steadily gained ground as the count has progressed, secured 27.1%, enough to overtake Pratt by a little more than 3,000 votes.

Pratt, a Republican, had been running in second place since election night but slipped to third position with 26.69% of the vote.

Raman has been a Los Angeles councilwoman since 2020, when she defeated incumbent council member David Ryu in a victory descr­ibed as a political earthquake. She was re-elected in 2024.

A Los Angeles mayoral candidate can win outright by receiving more than 50% of the vote in the primary. Otherwise, the top two finishers, regardless of party, advance to a November runoff in the non-partisan race.

Raman moved to Louisiana from India when she was six. She earned a bachelor's degree in political theory from Harvard University and a master's degree in urban planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). —PTI