Nithya Raman’s socialism could drag LA back to Marxist 19th century

Nithya Raman’s entry into the 2026 Los Angeles mayoral race represents the arrival of Mamdani-style socialism to the mainstream of California politics.

As a card-carrying member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), and a current LA City Council member, Raman has positioned herself as a true progressive challenger to incumbent Mayor Karen Bass, criticizing her on housing affordability and city services.

But in pursuing the mayoralty, Raman risks turning LA into another experiment in municipal socialism gone awry, where ideological fervor trumps competence.

Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman announced her bid for LA mayor. Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Raman’s career trajectory, from urban planner and activist to upset council victory in 2020, reveals a pattern of ideological purity that prioritizes socialist dogma over pragmatic solutions.

Her policies would arguably alienate allies and exacerbate crises like homelessness, crime, and fiscal strain.

At the heart of Raman’s contentious current tenure is her relationship with the DSA, including calls for abolishing prisons, defunding police, and viewing Israel as an apartheid state to be defunded and boycotted.

Raman’s DSA membership has led her to import extreme views that clash with the city’s mainstream Democratic values. Her vote against a 2023 LAPD contract, which aimed to boost pay while adding accountability, was decried as anti-police extremism, especially as her district grappled with rising crime.

Her far-left worldview leads her to blame problems on capitalism rather than addressing immediate public safety needs, such as catalytic converter thefts, which she shockingly attributed to car manufacturer Toyota instead of criminals.

There are currently no sitting mayors within greater LA County’s 88 cities that are DSA members, but there is substantial evidence that the Democratic Party has shifted leftward in recent years, particularly at the LA City Council and LAUSD levels.

DSA-Los Angeles claims growing influence as part of progressive/labor coalitions, with Council members Eunisses Hernandez, Hugo Soto-Martinez, and Ysabel Jurado forming a bloc They are seeking a realignment away from status-quo business-labor blocs, towards pro-tenant, pro-worker polices.

The LAUSD School Board has also moved left, influenced by the increasing radicalism of the teachers’ unions. And voters themselves are drifting ever leftward approving measures like mansion taxes and far-reaching tenant protections.

Ideologically, Raman’s policies enable chaos, driving away businesses and residents while turning LA into a haven for unchecked disorder.

Ironically, some leftists see Raman as a sellout, as she navigates relationships with the city’s establishment. Recently, for example, she called for Measure ULA, the “mansion tax,” to be reformed so that it would not face a statewide referendum. That did not endear her to fellow progressives, who still believe in the tax, despite the lack of results in terms of affordable housing.

Raman’s alignment with figures like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), Bernie Sanders, and New York City’s Zohran Mamdani underscores her place in the democratic socialist realm, but it also reveals shared vulnerabilities that could doom her mayoral ambitions.

Are LA’s voters listening?

Like AOC, Raman rose through activist channels, emphasizing Green New Deal-inspired climate goals and anti-corporate measures. AOC’s social media flair mirrors Raman’s community engagement style.

But Raman’s parallels with Mamdani, a fellow DSA-backed progressive, tell a cautionary tale. Both advocate for alternatives to policing, and for public investment in services, aligning with DSA priorities like protecting homeless encampments.

Yet Mamdani’s first month in office has been a cascade of failures that could foreshadow disaster for Raman in LA. Mamdani’s response to a mid-January snowstorm was botched, with deadly consequences. Appointments were plagued by scandals, exposing vetting failures.

These missteps mirror potential pitfalls for Raman, whose council tenure already shows similar cracks. Early in her city council term, she pushed to allocate public land to developers without community input. More recently, she was used of exploiting her own power on the Planning and Land Use Management committee when she applied to demolish her own Silver Lake home.

Raman embodies the DSA’s more radical edge, risking the polarization seen in Mamdani’s early tenure. In LA, where homelessness encampments persist despite “compassionate” alternatives, and budget gaps loom, Raman’s mayoral bid could amplify the city’s problems.

Raman’s policy alignments with DSA and Mamdani, such as aggressive climate neutrality by 2030, expanding affordable housing through rent controls, and equity reforms, sound appealing, but typically falter in execution.

Her “participatory budgeting” pledge echoes Sanders’ economic populism, while Mamdani’s budget compromises suggest Raman would face similar pressures, potentially abandoning radical promises for survival. She would risk alienating her base while failing to win over skeptics.

The broader implications of Raman’s candidacy are troubling for LA’s future.

As LA grapples with wildfires, economic woes, and social divisions, electing a figure whose council record is defined by contention and DSA alignment could exacerbate rather than alleviate these challenges, prioritizing dogma over the practical governance residents deserve.

Richie Greenberg is a political commentator based in San Francisco.