Who is Luoxin Mayer Raman? Democratic socialists are at odds with the left

six years ago it was stilllos angeles Nitya Raman, a newcomer to politics, will now become the mayor of the second largest city in the United States. The urban planner-turned-Democrat socialist continued his political history of defeating an incumbent by running for City Council for the first time in 2020. Although he has a democratic socialist background, he does not fully agree with the leftist political line and has even had several disagreements with his own colleagues. His election also upset the Los Angeles Police Department.

The British Guardian reported that Rahman’s political rise was often compared to that of the mayor of New York.Mandani (Zohran Mamdani) Compare. With his victory, America’s two most populous cities, New York and Los Angeles, and the nation’s capitalWashington All will be led by mayors with a democratic socialist background. However, Raman and Mandani’s political views are not exactly the same, and their relationship with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is also quite complex. Raman was originally an urban planner and joined the Democratic Socialists of Los Angeles (DSA-LA) in 2019. She has said that she joined not out of ideology but because the organization was one of the few groups seriously discussing housing affordability in Los Angeles at the time.

Democratic socialism attaches great importance to public services, labor rights, and wealth distribution, and some proponents also advocate changing the capitalist system. However, according to Vanity Fair, Raman agrees more with the Nordic social democratic model and supports maintaining a free market economy under government regulation, which differs from some anti-capitalist members of American democratic socialism. Housing policy is a main political issue for Rahman. She advocates increasing the supply of all types of housing, including affordable housing, market-rate housing, social housing, and homeless shelters, and proposes to triple the number of new housing units built each year in Los Angeles to the current level.

Raman ran for City Council for the first time in 2020 and defeated the Democratic incumbent who was seeking re-election. He became the first newcomer to successfully challenge an incumbent in 17 years and the first candidate endorsed by the DSA and elected to public office in Los Angeles. That year, he had the support of US Senator Bernie Sanders. The campaign team visited approximately 80,000 households, organized 2,000 volunteers and was successfully re-elected in 2024.

Raman has close ties to progressives in Hollywood and has served as entertainment director at the anti-sexual harassment organization Time’s Up. The election is supported by entertainers such as Mindy Kaling, Adam Scott and the Hollywood Writers Guild. Her husband Vali Chandrasekaran is also a senior television scriptwriter.

However, Rahman’s relations with the Left have been tumultuous. In this mayoral election, three other city councilors with a democratic socialist background supported Base. DSA-LA did not endorse Rahman during the primary election and did not express support until she advanced to the runoff. The two sides have clashed in the past over Raman’s wavering stance on the Palestinian issue and accepting support from the pro-Israel Democratic Club in 2024.

Raman’s attitude towards the police department has also changed. During his 2020 campaign for City Council, Raman advocated for cuts to police funding, but two years later he voted to increase the Los Angeles Police Department budget during his tenure as a City Council member. Raman vowed to fire Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell during his mayoral campaign. One reason for this was that he believed the Los Angeles Police Department was not doing enough to stop ICE from enforcing the law and he was suspected of sharing information with ICE so the latter could arrest immigrants. Raman has a bad relationship with the Los Angeles Police Department. A senior police officer told the California Post that Raman’s election is a nightmare for public safety.

Jamie McBride, one of the leaders of the Los Angeles police union, said in an interview with NBC that if Ramon is elected mayor, he should be prepared for Armageddon.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the DSA National Political Committee also voted in early November on whether to withdraw its endorsement, and ultimately decided to retain its endorsement by a slim margin of 14 to 13. Raman has also advocated reform of the Los Angeles mansion tax, on which he disagrees with the DSA, admitting that the idea is “extremely unpopular”. Regarding comparisons between himself and Mandani, Raman said that Mandani is currently one of the most popular politicians in the United States. He is grateful to be compared to them, but insists: “I’m different, I’m myself.”