We Won’t Let the Bosses Win: Why We Supported DSA-LA’s Endorsement of Nithya Raman
by LESLIE CHANG AND PAUL ZAPPIA
Note from SMC’s Steering Committee: While our national caucus did not take a formal position prior to or after the vote to censure and un-endorse Nithya Raman, our local caucus members agreed to vote unanimously against un-endorsing and issued no recommendation on the question of censure. SMC believes that local chapters are best equipped to assess local endorsements and felt it was important to provide space for our local caucus members to explain their votes to DSA’s membership.
Last night, Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman secured over 50% of the vote in her primary race, bypassing a run-off election in November. In doing so, she cemented DSA-LA, and the progressive-labor coalition that we are a part of, as winners for the LA working class. Nithya’s victory over corporate-backed, Republican-turned-Democrat Ethan Weaver will mean DSA can build on our fight for social housing, defunding the police, and international solidarity with Palestine. But just a few months ago, this victory, and DSA’s role in it, was far from assured.
On January 31st, DSA Los Angeles voted 261-177 to maintain our endorsement of Raman. 60% of voters were needed to rescind the endorsement. Instead, we saw the opposite: 60% of non-abstain voters chose to maintain the chapter's endorsement. Despite the results, DSA members, locally and nationally, have been, and continue to be, frustrated by the chapter’s continued support for Nithya.
Of the 261 voters, Socialist Majority members in LA voted unanimously to maintain our endorsement. Despite our own disappointments with some of Nithya’s decisions, we continue to pursue a coalition strategy in LA that seeks to bring labor and the left together against right-wing, corporate forces. We believe that the calls to unendorse Nithya, while coming from a genuine sense of moral outrage at the genocide in Gaza, exaggerate her disagreements with DSA over Palestine and do not sufficiently consider how harmful her loss on the city council would be to ordinary Angelenos.
We hope to provide some essential context on who Nithya Raman is and what the political and material conditions are in her race.
Background: LA’s Left-Labor Coalition
Over the last three years, DSA-LA has made incremental but steady gains on the Los Angeles City Council. Nithya Raman was the first of our endorsed candidates that successfully unseated an incumbent. She was followed by Hugo Soto-Martínez and Eunisses Hernandez in 2022, both of whom successfully challenged their respective incumbents. That same year, Dr. Rocío Rivas, another DSA-endorsed candidate, beat an opponent backed by billionaires and charter schools to secure our first win on the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) school board. In the wake of the California March primary, all of DSA’s endorsed candidates are heading to the general election.
The state power we're building is a result of the movement we're building–a multi-racial movement rooted in and responsive to the diverse composition of LA neighborhoods. It is inclusive of powerful, member-led unions, such as the United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) and Unite Here Local 11; progressive community organizations, such as LA Forward and ACCE; and housing justice entities, such as Los Angeles Tenants Union and Measure ULA. Our campaigns are grounded in our continued efforts to map the city and identify opportunities to capture a working-class base. The Democratic Socialist Program (DSP), published in 2022, represents our chapter's first effort to build a platform for DSA-LA, based on our analyses of migration patterns, voting records, and privatization across the county.
It is because of our commitment to materialism that we've been able to realize our goals. Our candidates–and campaigns–resonate with Angelenos tired of the status quo. The DSP has informed our SIO organizing project over the last three years. It is the basis upon which we derive municipal policies that can restructure Los Angeles for the better. All of this was at stake when the chapter considered un-endorsing Nithya.
Socialists Can Be Proud of Nithya’s Record
Nithya’s election in 2020 was a turning point in LA city politics. It broke the decades-long status quo of corporate, careerist Democrats running the City Council. Nithya was a young activist and urban planner inspired, like many of us, to pursue politics because of Bernie’s presidential campaign. Due to her professional training on urban issues and housing constraints, she was well-positioned to address the rising cost of rent, homelessness, and widespread evictions at a dire time for working-class Angelenos. DSA-LA voted overwhelmingly to endorse her candidacy and spent hours canvassing, tabling, and phonebanking to get her elected, time well spent given the gains we’ve made on City Council.
Nithya has been key to building a socialist-progressive coalition on the city council. Once in office, she began building relationships with progressive city councilmembers, who now had an outspoken ally backed by a growing socialist organization. In her first term, she addressed the housing crises by focusing on people-centered policies that provided services instead of relying on punitive measures. Before her time in City Council, Nithya created the organization SELAH, which provides resources and support for homeless community members and stopped the aggressive sweeps in her district. To date, her district is one of the only ones where homelessness has decreased, and her policies and approach has informed that of not only Councilmembers Soto-Martinez and Hernandez, but also Mayor Karen Bass.
After we secured the current three-person socialist bloc out of a total of 15 city council seats, Nithya and the rest of our elected candidates pursued a more aggressive implementation of our DSP. Since 2022, the LA City Council has declared Los Angeles a sanctuary city; expanded environmental protections through expansions of multi-modal transit and zero-carbon construction; and legally protected renters from predatory evictions post-pandemic through the most significant renter protection passed in the city since 1978. Our endorsed candidates were also the sole dissenting votes against a $1B cop salary increase that threw LA’s budget into its current deficit.
The disruption Nithya caused by being a newcomer to city council can best be described by the status quo themselves–an anonymous recording reported by the LA Times in 2022 featured three of her fellow councilmembers, along with the president of the LA Federation of Labor, plotting to redraw her district to dilute the power of her renter constituency. They discussed various ways to consolidate power within their own districts and how to use racial tensions to drive a wedge between working-class Angelenos. It was a watershed moment for LA politics that exposed elite capture and corruption. The extent to which this tipped elections in our favor is unclear, but what remains is how much corporate Democrats fear our movement, and how frustrated people are with the system. Maintaining the largest possible socialist bloc on our city council, without falling into sectarian fractures, keeps us united and fighting the real enemies–the bosses.
Right-Wing Influences in the 2024 Elections
In large part because of Nithya and DSA’s successes, corporate forces redrew Nithya’s district. In contrast with her previous working-class renter bloc, District 4 is now more conservative, majority homeowner, and heavily Jewish. Her opponent exploited this constituency by running a campaign intent on scaling back the progressive gains Nithya has made over the last few years. Ethan Weaver is a prosecutor, Zionist, and former Republican running as a Democrat. He is on record opposing environmental regulations and taxes to fund homeless services. In addition to receiving PAC money from New Majority LA, a Republican PAC, and Thrive LA (an anti-progressive pro-MAGA PAC), he was also heavily funded by police associations and the real estate industry–two entities eager to run Nithya out of office.
Weaver’s run as a “reformed” Democrat is part of a larger trend in LA politics of candidates running as Democrats and hiding the fact they’re Republican or backed by right-wingers and billionaires. California’s primary system means that the top two contenders regardless of party affiliation move into the general election. Funding and running “Democrats” creates opportunities for Republicans to influence policy in their favor, when Republicans could never win on their own ballot line.
Karen Bass’ mayoral win over closet-Republican Rick Caruso is a strong reminder that organized people can defeat organized money. Her win, however, was more narrow than anticipated. It follows that with more money, resources, and effective messaging, right-wing and neoliberal forces have a real chance of reversing the progress LA has made in the last four years. In an SIO meeting held at Councilmember Hernandez’s office in the fall of 2023, Nithya herself named the conservative backsliding in San Francisco as a concern for the political landscape in LA. Without concrete plans for establishing permanent housing for the homeless and eviction protections, moderate voters would become susceptible to tough-on-crime rhetoric and demagogue candidates. When asked how DSA could better support our elected officials, Nithya requested we take an active role in political education around city governance and processes, so that our members better understand how municipal policies are passed, what departments are needed to secure wins, and the role that the city council plays.
This process of building and navigating state power represents the next phase of growth for DSA-LA. Though we’ve been through two successful election cycles, we are still building our capacity to govern in a meaningful and sustainable manner. As much as we’ve established a strong ground game presence for electing candidates and winning office, governing presents not only new challenges but also necessitates new ways of organizing. There is no playbook for how a socialist candidate, backed by DSA, should best maintain office. Without our endorsement, a candidate only has to be responsible for their constituents. With our endorsement, however, a candidate becomes a steward of our ideals, gaining a new “constituency” of supporters within and outside their district.
While appeasing these constituencies is not necessarily mutually exclusive, contradictions are bound to arise. When we go door-to-door, some will bristle at the mention of socialism–whether they’re a conservative white American or a South Asian immigrant who escaped communism. In these instances, candidates have to find other means of connecting with these voting blocs. Sometimes, that means presenting slightly different public messaging than our socialist messaging. These communication tactics are a necessary part of building any majoritarian politics, particularly in a district that is far from majority socialist. A strong SIO program can help us navigate this difficult terrain by communicating our red lines to the candidate and providing clear communication to our membership about why decisions were made. The important thing is that we are growing our reach, our base, and our power within an ever-changing and dynamic political landscape.
Palestinian Solidarity and Zionism in Los Angeles
Understanding the extent to which Nithya’s district changed against her favor helps contextualize her actions in the wake of October 7th. As we watched the events unfold from afar that day, she tweeted and posted on Instagram:
Our district is home to beautiful Israeli and Jewish-American communities, and so many who have family in Israel. I cannot imagine the terror they are experiencing. I stand with them in condemning the horrific violence by Hamas and praying for a peaceful end to this conflict.
Because the International Committee (IC) had not yet released a statement, SIO and DSA-LA’s Steering Committee were proactive in communicating with our elected officials to hold on issuing statements of their own until the IC published theirs. Nithya, however, posted her statement online despite the request, a statement that lacked sufficient acknowledgment of what Palestinians endure on a daily basis due to the apartheid Israeli state. As a result, local leadership quickly mobilized–meeting with her office to address her statement and identify next steps. Nithya then posted an extended statement on Instagram on October 9, which acknowledged the shortcomings in her initial statement and called for an end to the violence faced by Palestinian civilians. Despite vigilant engagement between her office and SIO, who received both first and final drafts of her statement, she nonetheless maintained the following excerpt:
I found the statement put out by the national Democratic Socialists of America, an organization that has endorsed me in electoral campaigns, failed to reckon with the horrors committed by Hamas and was unacceptably devoid of empathy for communities in Israel and at home who are living in fear and mourning. I have shared my position on this statement with leadership of the Los Angeles chapter of DSA, and we have agreed to come together in conversation with diverse Jewish communities in the city.
Following these posts, DSA-LA leadership organized a closed-door, interfaith political education event for Nithya’s office to further her office’s understanding of the historical events leading up to the conflict, as well as emphasize DSA’s stance on anti-imperialism. It is due to our continued engagement that on November 28, Nithya publicly called for a ceasefire, writing on Instagram:
Last week I adjourned City Council in memory of the many thousands of civilians killed in Gaza, following an earlier Council adjournment in memory of Israelis killed by Hamas terrorists on October 7th. I wholeheartedly support our federal government taking every measure possible to extend the current ceasefire into a permanent one.
We still have a lot to do to combat antisemitism, Islamophobia, and anti-Palestinian bigotry, to reduce the potential for violence here, and to build resilient connections that acknowledge our shared humanity. I’m deeply committed to doing that work, and sharing what we learn as it moves forward.
Some DSA members have claimed two subsequent actions have muddied the waters of calling for a ceasefire, but we believe that these actions have been misinterpreted and exaggerated. First, a mischaracterized motion to penalize hateful littering in mass due to widespread dumping of anti-Semitic flyers promoting conspiracy theories across the city. While intended to combat hate speech of all kinds, some Pro-Palestine activists viewed the littering motion as an attempt to restrict protests for Palestinian solidarity and liberation. News quickly spread across DSA that Nithya was out of touch with the movement and trying to ban littering or classify it as a hate crime. Efforts to correct the record have proven futile.
In addition, prior to October 7, some of her detractors have accused her of co-authoring an anti-Palestinian resolution, but close reading of the resolution reveals that the LA City Council merely sought to support a 2021 LAUSD resolution to affirm the value of Jewish students, staff, and families and address anti-Semitism.
In November 2022, she voted for a resolution brought forth by a Jewish councilmember to adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism. Her detractors, again, see this vote as clear evidence of Nithya’s support of right-wing Zionism and against the Palestinian cause. Similar to the littering motion, the definition’s opponents argue that the condemnation of some forms of anti-Israel speech will be used to suppress legitimate criticism of the Israeli government by pro-Palestinian activists and organizations. While we oppose using the IHRA definition of anti-semitism, this vote occurred before our SIO was even established and so we were not in communication with her office about the vote. We have been working diligently since then to ensure we are in communication on votes regarding Palestine, which has succeeded in producing a ceasefire resolution.
The second criticism DSA’s Nithya’s opponents have fairly raised in the wake of the ceasefire resolution is that she solicited an endorsement for her campaign from the Democrats for Israel - Los Angeles (DFI-LA). We were also disappointed by Nithya’s decision to solicit this endorsement. Though the club sought to endorse progressive candidates down the ballot, including other socialists and DSA members, and opposes Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, members saw this as the final reason to break from Nithya. When speaking to this during the aforementioned January 20th chapter meeting, members recognized that she sought the endorsement to build a competitive edge against Weaver in what is turning out to be a tight race. While some felt this was not an acceptable endorsement for a Socialist in Office, we did not view this as a red line, particularly when weighed against the ceasefire resolution and the rest of our program.
Charting a Path to Power
The question of what it means to be a socialist in office remains largely undefined. By all means, Nithya has not only fought for the DSP but also passed policies to realize our socialist goals. Based on her record, she has succeeded in transforming the material conditions within her district. Her success opened the door for us to seat more socialists and has given us a fighting chance at reforming the state.
Walking away from state power does nothing for working-class Angelenos, let alone our socialist movement. The purpose of electing socialists to office is not simply to champion a message; it’s to govern in the present under the constraints of majoritarian politics. As we’re learning through SIO, electing candidates can be done through moral positioning, but maintaining state power requires us to address multiple constituencies that may be at odds with one another.
In calling for a ceasefire last November, Nithya has since been working with our SIO to develop a viable ceasefire resolution that can pass the city council. Despite the progressive gains the city has made in the last decade, our city council is still largely composed of corporate Democrats and conservative career politicians eager to maintain their seats. A resolution that does not have enough support from council members can be rejected by the president of the LA City Council and fail to make it to the floor.
Making compromises to a ceasefire motion to ensure that it passes does not represent a compromising of morals; it is a necessary tactic we must be comfortable taking in order to move forward. In what feels like a hopeless situation in Gaza, defeating Nithya for not being socialist enough gives the impression of taking swift and decisive action. But these purity tests are anathema to building power. Lasting and effective progressive coalitions are built through relationship building, not hard lines, and certainly not by sacrificing those less fortunate in the short term. Should Weaver secure a victory on March 5 or in the general election, there is no doubt that working-class Angelenos would suffer.
Nithya continues to be a member of DSA and continues to work with our SIO on issues relating to Palestinian liberation and beyond. In the lead-up to California’s March 5 primary, Ethan Weaver–over and over–attacked Nithya for being a member of DSA-LA, painting our organization as radical extremists intending on ruining LA. At the January 20 meeting, Councilmember Hugo defended Nithya’s endorsement and emphatically stated: “Don’t give the bosses what they want.” Residents of her district recognize that Weaver is running a campaign specifically focused on DSA-LA, knowing that fear-mongering could rally a base of voters that will turn against her. She has only been in office for fewer than four years. It would be a huge mistake to risk the gains we’ve made in this time when we’re just beginning to see the results of our organizing.
We cannot forsake power in the present in the hopes of establishing a more perfect form of governing in the future. Had DSA chosen to unendorse Nithya instead of playing a crucial role in her narrow victory, we may have swung the election to the right wing, burned our credibility with the left of the labor movement, and lost the opportunity to win for the LA working class. In looking towards the general elections across the country, let’s build on Nithya’s victory, be clear-eyed about who our enemies are, and never let the bosses win.