Win follows Zohran Mamdani’s rise in New York and resounding victories by other progressives in Washington and Providence
Eric Platt in Los Angeles
Nithya Raman has defeated Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass in a striking victory for progressives that will see members from the Democratic Socialists of America lead the US’s two largest cities.
Raman’s ascent, a year after Zohran Mamdani won a decisive victory in New York City, underscores the inroads far-left Democratic candidates made this election cycle as the cost of living, pernicious inflation and an uneven economic landscape fuelled voter frustration.
“We’ve watched friend after friend, family after family leave because they couldn’t afford to stay here anymore,” she told supporters at an election event on Tuesday. “We have had enough of establishment politics.”
Other candidates aligned with or backed by the DSA who won on Tuesday included mayoral candidates Janeese Lewis George in Washington DC and David Morales in Providence, Rhode Island, furthering the progressive foothold in local government offices around the country.
The embrace of progressive Democrats in this election cycle will intensify the debate over the party’s future as it searches for a torchbearer able to energise voters in the 2028 presidential election.
DSA leaders said this week capped one of their most successful election cycles as Americans “emphatically endorsed socialism to oppose the corruption and barbarism of Donald Trump and the Republicans”.
