Renter advocate Nithya Raman wins second term on LA City Council

Progressive L.A. City Councilwoman Nithya Raman has beat self-proclaimed realist candidate Eric Weaver to win back her District 4 seat, avoiding a November runoff.

The advocate for renters rights and homeless residents took 50.64 percent of the vote with 32,400 ballots to Weaver’s 38.62 percent and 24,730 votes, according to a 4 p.m. Thursday tally by the Los Angeles Registrar Recorder/County Clerk. Her opponent conceded the race.

ABC/7 called the election in favor of Raman, a first-term councilmember who faced a challenge from Weaver and Lev Baronian, who garnered 10.74 percent of the vote.

The main issues were homelessness and crime in a district that stretches from Koreatown through the Hollywood Hills to North Hollywood. 

Raman was elected in 2020, after unseating incumbent David Ryu, who had served on the council for five years.

Weaver, a strong contender backed by real estate interests and the police union, issued a concession statement Thursday congratulating Raman on her win. 

“First and foremost, I want to congratulate Councilmember Raman,” Weaver wrote to his supporters. “She ran an incredibly well-organized, hard-fought campaign. She stayed true to her core values and principles, even when that elicited criticism. She stood firm in her beliefs and I admire that. Councilmember Raman also never ducked an opportunity to debate, even on unfriendly turf. While we agreed on the important issues facing our city, we often have disagreed on the solutions, but we were never disagreeable. I congratulate her on a terrific victory.”

Raman told Eyewitness News the results make her “proud to be an Angeleno” because voters rejected the heavy spending by Weaver and the unions backing him. She said she understands how voters feel about homelessness.

“There is a lot of frustration and anger out there and to be honest, I feel that same frustration,” Raman said. “But to me, what this vote, what this outcome represents, is that Angelenos want to respond to homelessness in the right way. By offering housing, by offering services, by doing work that can really move people indoors and off the streets — not just shuffle them from sidewalk to sidewalk as the city has been doing for so long.”

Under Mayor Karen Bass, the city launched the Inside Safe program to clear encampments and connect the homeless with services.

The first site cleared, at the 101 Freeway and Cahuenga Boulevard in Hollywood, was in Raman’s district. It has had to be cleared three times, including last week when 15 people were found living there. A fence now surrounds the site.

“This encampment has repopulated and we go back and we offer people housing and services and we get them indoors again,” Raman said.

The race highlighted a pushback against Raman’s progressive policies and approach to homelessness, renters’ rights and environmental regulations, including criticism from the real estate industry.

Weaver, a deputy city attorney in Los Angeles who lives in a studio apartment in Los Feliz with his fiancé, positioned himself as the realist candidate versus Raman’s idealistic advocacy.

Raman’s policies had ramifications on the real estate industry beyond her district. She worked with Bass to pass an ordinance requiring new buildings to be all-electric in order to make Los Angeles the “largest American city to make all future buildings carbon-free.”

She also acknowledged a bait-and-switch on the Measure ULA commercial and residential transfer tax, saying, “It was marketed as a mansion tax, and that’s what made it easy for voters to get behind.”

Weaver’s priorities included “building more housing” in addition to addressing the homelessness crisis and public safety, a message that resonated with landlords, developers and brokers.

— Dana Bartholomew

Read more

Los Angeles

Meet Ethan Weaver, challenger for Nithya Raman’s LA City Council seat

Los Angeles

LA Councilwoman Nithya Raman pushes just cause evictions

Los Angeles

Nithya Raman acknowledges bait-and-switch on ULA