Reported by Al Jazeera
The two biggest cities in the US will now be led by Indian-origin immigrants – both democratic socialists.
Nithya Raman, mayor-elect of Los Angeles, held back tears as the enormity of her victory began to sink in.
“This city has given me and my family so much,” Raman, an Indian-born urban planner who came to the United States at the age of six, told supporters in Los Angeles on Thursday night, after projections showed her winning the mayoral race .
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“The idea that Angelenos voted for an immigrant to be their next mayor at this moment in American history is so deeply moving to me,” the 45-year-old said.
Raman’s victory means that three of the world’s most influential cities – New York, Los Angeles and London – will now be led by individuals of South Asian descent.
A democratic socialist, she also gives the progressive movement another leader in a major US city, after New York and Washington, DC.
The result came amid a dominant showing by Democrats in US midterm elections , in which the party wrested control of both chambers of Congress and scored its biggest landslide victory in half a century. Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), which backed Raman’s campaign, also claimed an impressive series of wins , with 105 of its endorsed candidates on track to secure elected office, according to the group.
For Raman, the victory provides a bigger platform to address central planks of her political vision for the US’s second-largest city, including tackling its longstanding homelessness crisis and expanding affordable housing.
The Asian Democrats of Los Angeles County (ADLAC) congratulated Raman on becoming the first Asian-American elected to lead Los Angeles and said it looked forward to working with her to “deliver for our communities”.
“We saw a wave of change across the country this election, and Los Angeles was no exception,” ADLAC President Zahra Hajee said. “The political establishment should take note: Voters want real solutions and a government that actually works for them.”
Raman was born in the state of Keralam, in southern India, and moved to the US with her…