Nithya Raman, an urban planner by profession, a candidate for the Los Angeles Mayoral race come November 3, gained a significant endorsement from a workers union, which may have improved her chances against incumbent Mayor Karen Bass.
“I have some incredible news to share! Today, UNITE HERE Local 11 endorsed our campaign for Mayor,” Raman said in an email blast September 1, 2026.
“That’s the union of the 30,000+ hotel, restaurant, and hospitality workers who keep Los Angeles running. They don’t hand out endorsements lightly, and they chose us over the sitting mayor,” Raman said. However, Los Angeles Times reported Bass has the support of most unions.
Noting that many UNITE HERE members are immigrants, Raman contended, “They chose us because they know I show up on the picket line in real solidarity with workers, not just for a photo-op.”
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A strong advocate for Los Angeles as a Sanctuary City, Raman was among those who helped write the ordinance on the City Council. If elected in November, Raman says, “I will codify and expand the ban on ICE operations on city property, stop the city from handing immigration agents surveillance data, and expand our deportation defense program. No worker in Local 11—and no Angeleno for that matter—should have to wonder whether the city they serve will stand with them.”
On housing for workers, Raman promises to ensure that a hotel housekeeper or a line cook “can actually afford to live near their job by clearing the red tape that stalls new construction and building density near transit using union labor.”
Raman won a spot in the June 2 Open Primary which selects the two top vote-getters to vie in November general election. The June 2 primary saw Councilwoman Raman and 13 other candidates face off with no one getting more than the 50 percent needed to qualify as winner, with Bass securing 34 percent and Raman 29 percent, both Democrats. Republican candidate Spencer Pratt received a little over 26 percent and did not qualify.
Ballotpedia assesses the non-partisan LA Mayor’s race as a “Battleground Election.”
“In a race where both candidates are Democrats and aligned on most issues, generational and intraparty divisions, as well as attacks on each other’s records, are playing a role,” Ballotpedia said in its analysis. Support for Raman, who has been a City Councilor since 2020, includes the Democratic Socialists.
“The race between Ms. Raman [44] and Ms. Bass, 72, sets up a generational contest between the center-left Democratic establishment that has shaped the city for years, and the young, restive progressives who have charged that baby boomers’ housing policies have systematically priced them out of Los Angeles,” the New York Times said in its analysis of the race, quoted by Ballotpedia. The NYT also surmised that more voters would head to the polls come November, which could be “a potential advantage for Raman.”
However, those who supported Pratt in the June 2 primary, may veer toward Bass, NYT contends, which could make November 3 a nailbiter.