As Indian-origin Nitya Raman surged ahead and is now locked in a tight race with Republican candidate Spencer Pratt in the Los Angeles mayoral primary, President Donald Trump and Elon Musk reiterated their election fraud claims. In the latest update of the primary count, Democrats Karen Bass, the outgoing mayor, and Nithya Raman are projected to advance and Pratt is unlikely to make the cut under California’s open primary system.Trump said the election was rigged and Republican candidates were being cheated in California. The Justice Department sent an Assistant U.S. Attorney to observe the vote counting in LA, while California Attorney General Rob Bonta reassured the public about the integrity of the election. Elon Musk shared a post on Monday questioning the result because Nitya Raman was not initially in a position to run ahead of Pratt. On election day, Raman himself said that the initial numbers were not what his campaign had expected. But in a surprise twist, he is now in second place in the race.The primary was held on June 2 and counting is ongoing.
Who is Nitya Raman? ?
- Nithya Raman, 44, a Kerala-born Tamil resident, is a progressive woman who dropped a bomb at the last moment when she announced she would run in the mayoral election against ally Karen Bass.
- In 2020, Nitya Raman won her city council seat, defeating an incumbent candidate. She was re-elected in 2024.
- Raman attended Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and studied urban planning.
- Raman, who is married to Indian-origin television producer and screenwriter Vali Chandrasekaran in Hollywood, is the mother of 10-year-old twins.
- Nitya Raman is often compared to New York City Mayor Johram Mamdani due to her ideology, young age, and immigrant background, although Raman does not have Mamdani’s influence among the youth.
The mayor’s race is non-partisan and so neither candidate had party identification next to their name on the ballot. The count is slow in California because state law mandates a drawn-out count. Ballots are mailed to every eligible voter and are counted if they are postmarked by Election Day and arrive at the elections office within seven days.