Los Angeles City Councilmembers took turns welcoming Mayor-elect Nithya Raman during Tuesday’s regularly scheduled council meeting, congratulating their teammate and saying, “Everybody here is here to create a better Los Angeles.”
Councilmembers voiced their willingness to work together. “You know, campaigning is one thing. And now it’s time for us to govern, to work together,” Councilmember John Lee said.
Not one of Raman’s council colleagues backed her in her bid for mayor and instead endorsed incumbent Karen Bass. Raman ended up winning the seat with 52.1% of the vote while Bass came in with 47.9%.
Marqueece Harris-Dawson, council president, kicked things off at Tuesday’s meeting. “We are excited to report that the people of this great city have chosen its 44th person to lead as mayor, and they have chosen one of this body’s own councilmembers, Councilmember Nithya Raman.”Councilmember Curren Price presents Mayor-elect Nithya Raman with flowers and a certificate, welcoming her as the 44th mayor of Los Angeles.
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Raman kept her comments brief. “I know we’re all ready to get back to city business,” she said, acknowledging each councilmember’s passion for Los Angeles.
“And that passion sometimes makes us get spicy about the differences that we have on how we get there. But we have worked through it on the council, and I know how to do that work.”
Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez commented on Raman’s commitment to her own core beliefs. “Your superpower is always going to be when you believe deep in your heart that this is the right thing to do; you’re always going to do it,” he said.
“And you were right. You presented your vision to the city of Los Angeles, and you’re now mayor-elect.”
Raman pointed out some difficult council moments during her tenure, coming into office at a “weird” time in 2020 during COVID, and “then the tapes,” referring to the leaked racist recordings that led to the immediate resignation of Council President Nury Martinez and labor leader Ron Herrera.
Raman spoke of each councilmember’s wide range of achievements for the city, from work on film and television to advocacy for the fire department.
“You will have something that not every mayor has, a partner who understands what it means to be a councilmember,” she said.
“The challenges facing our city are too big for any of us to solve without partnership, without trust, and without each other.”
Raman was presented with flowers and a certificate on behalf of the council.
Bass released an earlier statement conceding to Raman, saying she called her to congratulate her on the victory. “While this is not the outcome we hoped for, the people of Los Angeles have spoken,” Bass wrote.
The last time a challenger ousted a sitting LA mayor happened in 2005, when Antonio Villaraigosa defeated incumbent James Hahn.