Nithya Raman on earning support of Spencer Pratt voters: 'I want them to expect more from the city'

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Los Angeles mayoral candidate Nithya Raman held her first press conference since moving onto the runoff against her once-ally Mayor Karen Bass.

Raman made a pledge to supporters of Spencer Pratt to deliver on the change they want in an effort to be their candidate come November.

"I think Spencer Pratt tapped into very real frustrations that people are facing here in this city. I think they're looking at a city that has failed on some of the most basic functions and is still asking us to trust the city on solving even more complicated things like homelessness, like our affordable housing crisis, and they're seeing in that a real lack of trust and a lack of faith - and a real frustration about the direction that the city is heading in. I share that frustration. I share that frustration, and I think we can use this moment, and we can use this campaign, and we can use a new mayor in City Hall to demand that change and to deliver that change for Angelenos. I want them to expect more from the city, and I want to deliver more from the city for them," said Raman.



When asked about the matchup between Raman and Bass, political communications lecturer at USC and UC Berkeley Dan Schnur said the following:



"Bass and her team knew exactly how to run against Spencer Pratt because they ran a campaign against a more conservative opponent in Rick Caruso four years ago. But running against a more progressive candidate like Raman? It's gonna be a lot more difficult and a lot more complicated. Angelenos decided in the primary that we want an outsider. But, maybe not quite that much of an outsider. And so Raman may be able to position herself as an agent of change running against the incumbent. But as someone still who knows how the levers of power in City Hall can work," said Schnur.

Schnur's point is that Bass is not longer the progressive in this race, but actually the more conservative of the two candidates. Bass is already going after Raman saying she's weak on crime and not cracking down on homelessness enough.

The November runoff will be a much different race for Bass compared to facing Rick Caruso back in 2022.