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Nithya Raman

Nonpartisan · CA · Los Angeles City Councilmember, District 4

Official website

Nithya Raman is an urban planner and Los Angeles City Councilmember for the 4th District, first elected in 2020 by unseating incumbent David Ryu and re-elected in 2024. A Harvard graduate with a master's in urban planning from MIT, she founded a homelessness services nonprofit in Los Angeles, worked on sanitation and slum-dweller resources in India, and served as executive director of Time's Up Entertainment. She entered the 2026 mayoral race in February 2026 and advanced to the November runoff against incumbent Karen Bass with about 29% in the June primary.

Campaign Finance Information — Mayor

Campaign Finance Information · Mayor · November 3, 2026

Data last updated July 27, 2026

Raised
$980,930
Spent
$2,159,428
Cash on hand
$294,891
Public funds
$1,768,708

Top disclosed occupations of direct donors

  • Not Employed$131,940
  • Writer$119,099
  • Elected Representative$61,800
  • Attorney$32,733
Show 16 more
  • Chief Executive Officer$32,434
  • Actor$21,722
  • Producer$18,077
  • Retired$14,536
  • Lawyer$14,398
  • Physician$13,739
  • Architect$13,295
  • Tv Writer$13,004
  • Software Engineer$11,907
  • Executive$10,701
  • Director$9,093
  • Professor$8,189
  • Filmmaker$7,507
  • Musician$7,027
  • Film Producer$7,000
  • Engineer$6,371
Direct contributions by size
  • $5,000+$110,407
  • $1,000-$4,999$495,475
  • $500-$999$127,441
  • $250-$499$110,249
  • $100-$249$146,586
  • $1-$99$10,420

Spending by outside groups

Money spent on this race by outside groups — such as PACs and super PACs — not by the candidate's own campaign. This spending is not coordinated with the candidate's campaign and does not go directly to the candidate.

Outside money spent supporting this candidate: $88,019

Groups that spent money supporting this candidate (1)

Outside money spent opposing this candidate: $1,203,000

Groups that spent money opposing this candidate (2)
  • Los Angeles Police Protective League Independent Expenditure Committee$1,028,000

    Police money: funded mainly by the LAPD officers' union, plus the real-estate firms Douglas Emmett and Kilroy Realty. · data.lacity.org · en.wikipedia.org

  • Los Angeles Police Protective League PAC$175,000

    The campaign fund of the union for LAPD officers up to the rank of lieutenant. · data.lacity.org · en.wikipedia.org

Source: Los Angeles City Ethics · 2026 cycle · data.lacity.org

Track record

Housing Affordability

· 1 record
  • As chair of the City Council's Housing and Homelessness Committee, oversaw homelessness policy and eliminated large tent encampments in her district through service-led moves into non-congregate shelters; in her mayoral platform she proposed scaling back Inside Safe and restructuring city oversight of the homelessness response.

    April 8, 2026For

    Source: laist.com · researched July 3, 2026

Social Programs and Welfare

· 2 records
  • Voted against expansions and applications of Municipal Code 41.18, the anti-camping ordinance — one of only a few council no votes in 2021-2022 and again on the April 14, 2026 Venice enforcement zone, which passed 11-4 — arguing enforcement pushes encampments between districts instead of prioritizing citywide intervention by need.

    April 14, 2026For

    Source: foxla.com · researched July 3, 2026

  • As chair of the City Council's Housing and Homelessness Committee, oversaw homelessness policy and eliminated large tent encampments in her district through service-led moves into non-congregate shelters; in her mayoral platform she proposed scaling back Inside Safe and restructuring city oversight of the homelessness response.

    April 8, 2026For

    Source: laist.com · researched July 3, 2026

Elections

  • Mayor · November 3, 2026 · Los Angeles city, California

Profile last researched July 3, 2026.