Democratic Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman, an avowed socialist, announced Saturday she will challenge her longtime ally, Democratic Mayor Karen Bass, who seeks reelection in June. Raman, an Indian immigrant, has served on the City Council since 2020 after — with backing from the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) — she defeated an incumbent councilmember in the Democratic primary. Bass, a former congresswoman, has served as Los Angeles’s mayor since 2022. She recently came under scrutiny for her response to both the riots against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in mid-2025 and the devastating wildfire which engulfed the city’s...