LOS ANGELES, Calif. (Diya TV) — Mayor-elect Nithya Raman and City Attorney-elect Marissa Roy will join City Controller Kenneth Mejia in leading Los Angeles’ three citywide elected offices, marking the first time Asian Americans have held all three posts.
Raman defeated incumbent Karen Bass with 54.81% of the vote, according to the latest county results. Roy won the city attorney’s race with 68.47%. Mejia secured a second term in June, when he won 63.02% in the city controller primary. The mayor and city attorney will take office Dec. 13.
The results bring three distinct backgrounds to City Hall. Raman moved to the United States from India at age 6 and became the first Asian American woman and first South Asian elected to the City Council when she won in 2020. Roy is the daughter of an Indian immigrant. Mejia, who is Filipino American, became the first Asian American elected to a citywide office in Los Angeles when he won the controller’s post in 2022.
Asian American community advocates described the outcome as the result of years of organizing and voter outreach. Manjusha P. Kulkarni, executive director of the AAPI Equity Alliance, said the victories reflected decades of work to build progressive Asian American representation.
The campaigns also challenged the idea that Asian American voters act as a single political bloc. Raman and Roy received endorsements from the Democratic Socialists of America; the group recommended Mejia. Campaign outreach targeted Chinese, Korean, Filipino, South Asian and other communities across the city.
Roy frequently spoke about her mother’s immigration from India and her own Indian American identity. Her campaign drew support from California Attorney General Rob Bonta and San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu. She also used South Asian cultural references in campaign events, including a Bollywood dance mix created for a fundraiser.
Raman addressed the significance of her election in her first remarks as mayor-elect, saying voters’ choice of an immigrant carried particular meaning as immigration enforcement unsettled immigrant communities. She said Los Angeles had welcomed people seeking to build lives and pursue their ambitions.
The milestone comes as Asian Americans gain greater visibility in local and national politics. The Census Bureau estimates that Asian residents make up 12.1% of Los Angeles’ population. More than 1 million eligible Asian American and Pacific Islander voters live in Los Angeles County, according to an analysis cited by community advocates. Those figures do not make the community politically uniform, but they underscore its size and the importance of candidates engaging with its varied constituencies.
Mejia said representation matters, but argued that elected officials must also deliver policies that serve residents rather than special interests. City Councilmember Ysabel Jurado, the first Filipina elected to the council, said the victories reflected generations of organizing and should lead to policies that improve affordability.
Raman, Roy and Mejia will take office amid continuing pressure over housing costs, homelessness and the city’s finances. Their shared milestone marks a change in who holds Los Angeles’ top elected posts; residents will judge its impact by what the offices deliver.
