Breaking Points: Nithya Raman’s LA Upset Bid Takes Aim at Hollywood Power

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When a mayoral race starts moving this fast, it can reveal more than just poll numbers. Los Angeles City Council member Nithya Raman is surging in the polls, and her conversation with Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti touched on everything from Hollywood consolidation to homelessness. What's striking is how she's connecting voter frustration to actual policy. Right, and she's not holding back on calling out power players. Take the Paramount-Warner Brothers merger. Raman openly opposed it, raising concerns that Governor Newsom favored a deal benefiting billionaire Larry Ellison. Newsom said he wanted things resolved "in the boardroom rather than the courtroom," but Raman argues that approach left workers completely exposed. And the numbers back her up. Studies suggest the deal could cost about 4,000 jobs in an industry already under massive pressure. She's saying Hollywood workers deserved a tougher fight, especially with media consolidation and higher prices potentially following, it's really about whether powerful interests get too much benefit of the doubt. But she doesn't stop at opposition. Raman pivots to what Los Angeles needs to do to keep production in California. She's calling for a real film office, fewer permitting hurdles, and stronger tax credits that can actually compete with New Jersey and Georgia. Her economic argument is basically: stop making business so difficult.

And that critique goes way beyond Hollywood. She says Los Angeles is "infamously difficult for businesses," citing neighborhood rules, HOA fees, and redundant fire marshal requirements that slow everything down. She's talking about restaurants, entrepreneurs, small businesses—everyone trying to survive the city's red tape.

What's interesting is her governing philosophy. She points to mayoral leadership in New York and says she wants Angelenos to believe government can actually deliver. On homelessness specifically, she's emphasizing services, shelter, and housing over criminalization. Her district saw a 49 percent reduction in unsheltered homelessness and a 70 percent reduction in encampments last year. That's significant, but she's also calling for more accountability in mental health and addiction services, including involuntary conservatorships when necessary. Since many of those tools sit at the county level, she says the mayor must use every available lever—the bully pulpit, data-driven oversight—to make sure residents get what they're already paying for.

And the race itself has gotten unusually competitive. An LA Times poll showed her 11 points ahead of Karen Bass.

Raman says that reflects "a widespread hunger for change," though she stresses many voters remain undecided. She describes City Hall as feeling "rudderless."

Politically, she's navigating an interesting lane. She's been DSA-endorsed since her first race and remains a member, but she's not bound by any faction. She wants a broad coalition—DSA, major unions, everyone—to build a more responsive Los Angeles. This doesn't sound like a symbolic campaign anymore.