Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman is running for mayor, shaking up the field of candidates one final time.

Raman said she will challenge Mayor Karen Bass, her onetime ally, campaigning on issues of housing and homelessness, transparency and “safety in our streets.”

In an interview, Raman called Bass “an icon” and someone she deeply admires. But she said the city needs a change agent to address its problems.

“I have deep respect for Mayor Bass. We’ve worked closely together on my biggest priorities and her biggest priorities, and there’s significant alignment there,” said Raman, who lives in Silver Lake. “But over the last few months in particular, I’ve really begun to feel like unless we have some big changes in how we do things in Los Angeles, that the things we count on are not going to function anymore.”

Saturday’s announcement — hours before the noon filing deadline for the June 2 primary election — capped a chaotic week in L.A. politics, with candidates and would-be candidates dropping in and out of the race to challenge Bass, who is seeking a second four-year term.

Raman would immediately pose a formidable challenge to Bass. She was the first council member to be elected with support from the Democratic Socialists of America, which scored an enormous victory last fall with the election of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

At the same time, Raman has deep ties to leaders in the YIMBY movement, who have pushed for the city to boost housing production by upzoning single-family neighborhoods and rewriting Measure ULA, the so-called mansion tax, which applies to property sales of $5.3 million or more.

Raman’s eleventh-hour announcement caps what has been the most turbulent candidate filing period for an L.A. mayoral election in at least a generation. She launched her bid less than a day after another political heavyweight, L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, decided against a run.

Until Raman’s surprise entry, the field had seemed to be clear of big-name challengers. Former L.A. schools superintendent Austin Beutner ended his campaign on Thursday, citing the death of his 22-year-old daughter. That same day, real estate developer Rick Caruso reaffirmed his decision not to run.

Bass campaign spokesperson Douglas Herman did not immediately provide comment.

Raman’s announcement comes as Bass continues to face sharp criticism over the city’s handling of the Palisades fire, which killed 12 people and destroyed thousands of homes. Unlike some of the candidates, Raman has not publicly criticized Bass about the city’s preparation for, or response to, the disaster.

Bass, 72, faces more than two dozen opponents from across the political spectrum.

Reality TV star Spencer Pratt, a Republican, has received praise from an array of Trump supporters, including Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, of Florida. Pratt has focused heavily on the city’s handling of the fire, which destroyed his home.

Spencer Pratt poses for a portrait in Pacific Palisades.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

Democratic socialist Rae Huang is running against the mayor from her political left. Huang has called for more public housing and for a reduction in the number of police officers, with the cost savings poured into other city services.

Brentwood tech entrepreneur Adam Miller, who has described himself as a lifelong Democrat, said the city is on a downward trajectory and needs stronger management. The 56-year-old nonprofit executive plans to tap his personal wealth to jump-start his campaign.

Also in the race is Asaad Alnajjar, an employee of the Bureau of Street Lighting who sits on the Porter Ranch Neighborhood Council. Alnajjar has already lent his campaign $80,000.

At City Hall, Raman’s entrance into the mayor’s race is a bombshell, particularly given her relationship with Bass.

Mayor Karen Bass addresses the crowd at the Shine LA event at Hansen Dam Recreation Area in Lake View Terrace, Calif., on Saturday.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

In December 2022, not long after taking office, Bass launched her Inside Safe program, which moves homeless people indoors, in Raman’s district.

Two years later, while running for reelection, Raman prominently featured Bass on at least a dozen of her campaign mailers and door hangers. Raman’s campaign produced a video ad that heavily excerpted Bass’ remarks endorsing her at a Sherman Oaks get-out-the-vote rally.

Raman, whose district stretches from Silver Lake to Reseda, ultimately won reelection with 50.7% of the vote. In the years that followed, she continued to praise Bass’ leadership.

In November, while appearing at a DSA election night watch party for Mamdani, Raman told The Times that Bass is “the most progressive mayor we’ve ever had in L.A.”

Last month, Bass formally announced that she had secured Raman’s endorsement, featuring her in a list of a dozen San Fernando Valley political leaders who backed her reelection campaign.

Raman ran for office in 2020, promising to put in place stronger tenant protections and provide a more effective, humane approach to combating homelessness. On her campaign platform, she called for the transformation of the LAPD into a “much smaller, specialized armed force” — but never specified what exactly that would mean.

A woman takes a photo with her phone at the C. Erwin Piper Technical Center on Saturday.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

Since then, the LAPD has lost about 1,300 officers — a decrease of about 13%. The City Council has put in place new eviction protections for tenants, while also capping the size of rent increases in the city’s “rent stabilized” apartments, which were mostly built before October 1978.

Raman does not face the same political risks as Horvath, who had already been running for reelection in her Westside and San Fernando Valley district. Horvath, had she run for mayor, would have had to forfeit her seat on the county Board of Supervisors.

If Raman loses, she would still hold her council seat, since she does not face reelection until 2028.

BOSTON – As Seattle Seahawks fans look to win their second-ever Lombardi trophy in Sunday’s Super Bowl showdown, New England Patriots fans are aiming to win their seventh. And just as importantly to many, they’re hoping to “finally” end what they call their “long” and “agonizing” six years of losing.

“Don’t worry, we’ll be on top again soon enough,” said Aidan Lafferty, 24, with the swagger of a 20-something who grew up with the Patriots winning, and winning again.

“It’s the starting of a dynasty, again!,” gushed 24-year-old George Zabalou, nursing a beer a few tables away at the Game On! sports bar where walls are covered with banners, photos and jerseys all attesting to the city’s embarrassment of sports riches. Starting in 2001, Boston’s four major sports teams delivered 12 championships in 18 seasons, including the Patriots’ six Super Bowl wins.

Those lucky enough to grow up during those years when Boston called itself “Title Town” never went more than two years before getting to skip school again for another championship celebration.

“It was like parades on parades on parades,” said Jenna Freni, 24. “It was awesome.”

Frenzi’s friend Angel Galiotzakis, 23, nodded. “Growing up, I didn’t know that going to the Super Bowl wasn’t a normal occurrence.”

Jenna Freni, 24, (left) and Angel Galiotzakis, 23, spent their childhood celebrating Patriots Superbowl championships. Sharing drinks at the Game On! sports bar in Boston, they’re hoping this is the year New England starts winning again. “We’ve suffered enough,” Galiotzakis smiles.

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So, it was quite the shock to many when star quarterback Tom Brady left, the Pats parades paused, and fans found themselves suffering through a painful Patriots drought, — for those of six long years.

“Dude, I was in a dark place,” said Lafferty. “I was like, ‘Is it always going to be like this? Are we not going to win for … ever?’”

Another Pats fan Joe Reynolds says it was a rough time for him, too. “It was like, ‘What’s going on?” he said from his home in Cambridge. “This is like a huge drop off from what I’ve come to expect.”

“There is a clear connection between the Patriots losing and your use of antidepressants,” added his wife, Emily Borges.

But listening to Pat’s fans complain about their suffering is what’s insufferable to NFL fans from, well, basically everywhere else.

“Oh! Get over yourselves! It has not been that hard,” scoffed Noah Seligson, a fan of the New York Jets with a much, much longer history of suffering. “The Jets haven’t made the Super Bowl since 1969! Boston fans should grow up and feel fortunate for what they have.”

Andrew Lawrenson, who lives in New England but roots for the Miami Dolphins, said Pats fans don’t know what real suffering is. The Dolphins’ last won a Super Bowl in January 1974.

“Patriots fans drive me crazy,” Lawrenson said. “They’re all obnoxious and like to run their mouth off. The Patriots deserve to suffer a little more. They’ve had 20 years of greatness, they can have at least 10 years of misery.”

George Zabalou, a security guard at the Game On! sports bar in Boston, says he loved “the bragging rights” that came from being a New England Patriots fan during their winning years. Now after six “horrible” seasons, he’s hoping for a Pats win, and what he believes will be another dynasty run.

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Zac Vug, who hosts the online sports talk show Take Back With Zac, calls New England the “most spoiled franchise in the universe.”

“Oh my god, their attitude is horribly disgusting,” he said.

Even some Patriots faithful – of a certain age — will admit that an attitude adjustment might be in order.

New England superfan Keith Birchall, 58, has been around long enough to remember decades of the Pats losing and when the team was mocked as the Patsies. That’s kept him more grounded than the “entitled” young fans today, he said.

He still seethes at the young fans who couldn’t bother going to this year’s Wild Card game, taking it for granted the Pats would win and they’d have a chance this season at an even bigger game.

“That’s just cockiness and entitlement,” Birchall said. “They don’t get it. They have no idea how bad we once were.”

As for the hate coming from rival fans, New England diehards brush it off as just jealousy. As Pats fans love to say, “They hate us cuz they ain’t us.”

And they’re not entirely wrong.

“I do! I hate ’em cuz I ain’t ’em,” concedes Vug, whose LA Chargers have won a total of zero Super Bowls. “I’m a man of Christ. I have to admit my shortcomings. I am a jealous human. I envy what the Patriots have. I envy the ease of their life. It’s just a perfect sports relationship. And all I have is pain and suffering.”

You’ll hear no such confession, however, from Seattle Seahawks fan Jason Hibbs.

“We don’t want to be them,” he snapped. “They’re obnoxious!”

But a moment later, Hibbs offers a caveat: it wouldn’t be all bad to be hated.

Seattle Seahawks fan Jason Hibbs is one of many around the nation who find it infuriating to hear Patriots fans grousing about the “long-suffering” years since they last won a championship. Hibbs is hoping the Seahawks beat the Pats and “shut up” their “obnoxious” fans.

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“It means you’re winning,” he said. “In a few years, maybe everybody hates us because we’ve won two or three times. I want to be hated for once. That would be a fantastic feeling.”

Yup. Just ask any Pats fan and they’ll tell you, winning is totally worth it.

Virginia Democrats unveiled a proposed US House map Thursday that aims to give their party four more seats in the latest effort to fight President Donald Trump’s redistricting push, even as an ongoing legal challenge makes use of that map for the midterm elections far from certain.

The map would dilute Republicans’ hold in Virginia’s conservative areas while giving Democrats a better footing in the districts they would like to flip. And it would give Democrats nationwide a boost in the redistricting battle for the House ahead of the November elections.

But in January, a Virginia judge ruled that Democrats’ proposed constitutional amendment for redrawing the state’s U.S. House lines was illegal. It was a blow to Democrats’ plan to let voters decide on the amendment in a referendum in April. Democrats are appealing in the case, which appears headed directly to the state Supreme Court.

The state is currently represented in the US House by six Democrats and five Republicans who ran in districts imposed by a court after a bipartisan legislative commission failed to agree on a map after the 2020 census.

Earlier Thursday, the state’s top Democratic legislators said they would unveil a map drawn to help Democrats win 10 of the 11 seats. Data from recent past elections attached to the proposal posted online Thursday support that possibility. A congressional primary is currently set for June.

Virginia Republicans have rebuffed Democrats’ efforts to redraw the House map, pointing to a recent yearslong push for fair maps in the state. In 2020, voters supported a change to the state’s constitution aimed at ending legislative gerrymandering by creating the redistricting commission.

Virginia Democrats, who decisively flipped 13 seats in the state House and the governor’s office last November, have long said that efforts to redistrict the state would level the playing field after Trump pushed to redraw House districts in Republican-controlled states such as Texas.

“These are not ordinary times and Virginia will not sit on the sidelines while it happens,” state Senate President Pro Tempore L. Louise Lucas told reporters earlier Thursday alongside House Speaker Don Scott. “We made a promise to level the playing field, and today we’re keeping our promise.”

In other states, the redistricting battle has resulted so far in nine more seats that Republicans believe they can win in Texas, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio, and six that Democrats think they can win in California and Utah. Democrats have hoped to make up that three-seat margin in Virginia.

Mike Young with Virginians for Fair Maps, a Republican-backed group opposed to the redrawing, called Thursday’s proposal “an illegal, hyper-partisan gerrymander drawn in backrooms hidden from the public” and one “that completely disregards common sense.”

Redistricting initiatives are still being litigated in several states, and there is no guarantee that the parties will win the seats they have redrawn.

While Virginia’s redistricting push hits hurdles, Maryland lawmakers have advanced a new map that could enable Democrats to defeat the state’s only House Republican, after Democratic Gov. Wes Moore urged them in person to do so, though obstacles remain for enacting such a map there.