Election Raman declared her candidacy for the Los Angeles City Council in 2019, citing the issue of homelessness as being central to her decision to run. Raman's candidacy was largely fueled by grassroots volunteers, whom she claims knocked on more than 70,000 doors before the March primary. Ground Game LA, which formed following former
Green Party-endorsed candidate Jessica Salans' defeat by
Mitch O'Farrell in the
13th district in 2017, was credited with helping her campaign win. Raman's platform included proposed reforms to Los Angeles' housing and homelessness policy, "a new approach to public safety," and a climate change plan that she claims will get Los Angeles to
carbon neutrality by 2030. She has signed the Participatory Budget Pledge, an initiative put forward by
Black Lives Matter LA which expresses a commitment to "holding a participatory budgeting process each budget cycle I hold elected office." In the March 3, 2020 primary, Raman faced incumbent
David Ryu and screenwriter Sarah Kate Levy. Ryu received 32,298 votes (44.4%), Raman received 31,502 votes (40.8%), and Sarah Kate Levy received 10,860 votes (14.1%). Because no candidate received over fifty percent of the vote, Raman and Ryu advanced to the runoff election, scheduled for November 3, 2020. In the November 2020 runoff election, Raman defeated Ryu by a 52.87% to 47.13% margin. She served a four-year term as member of the City Council. Raman's victory was described as a "political earthquake" by the
Los Angeles Times. Raman's victory over Ryu was the first time an incumbent city councilmember in Los Angeles to be successfully primaried by an opponent in 17 years.
Re-election In 2024, Raman was challenged by Ethan Weaver, a Deputy City Attorney who received support from local landlords, business groups, and police and firefighter unions. She won the election in the primary in March 2024, skipping a November runoff by winning 50.6% of the vote outright, versus 38.6% for Weaver, her nearest opponent.
Tenure In April 2021, Raman proposed amendments to a draft ordinance on tenant harassment. The amendments classified cash buyout offers and threats to report false information to law enforcement as forms of harassment, and included a rent adjustment penalty, which would prevent landlords who violate the ordinance from raising a unit's rent. The ordinance was passed in June 2021. In June 2021, Raman was served with a recall notice after only six months in office. The
Los Angeles Times referred to the notice as part of a "recall fever" striking California, as at least 68 other active recalls were then ongoing in the state, including the recall of Governor
Gavin Newsom. In September 2021 the recall campaign collapsed when proponents announced that they were unable to collect the required number of signatures within the allotted time. On February 1, 2022, Raman was appointed to the board of the
South Coast Air Quality Management District by
Mayor of Los Angeles Eric Garcetti. She replaced councilmember
Joe Buscaino. She pledged to prioritize public health and environmental justice from that position. Shortly after she declared her candidacy for mayor in February 2026, it was revealed that Mayor Bass had removed Raman from the board a month prior. Environmental activists speculated that Bass might have been displeased with Raman's push for a "more aggressive" approach to enforcing environmental regulations. In 2021 and 2022, Raman was one of three councilmembers to vote against L.A.M.C. Section
41.18, a city ordinance that
banned homeless encampments within 500 feet of schools and daycare centers. 41.18 was adopted by the City Council by a vote of 11–3, over the objections of activists who protested the measure in the Council chamber. In remarks in a City Council meeting, Raman argued that the measure "creates a district by district arms-race, where people will get pushed around from district to district instead of having a citywide strategy that prioritizes intervention in encampments by need, by safety, by fire risk, by all of the things that we are claiming to be so concerned about. In the end, this will just push people around again. It's not going to solve homelessness or get anybody into housing." A
leaked recording between Council President
Nury Martinez, Councilmembers
Kevin de León and
Gil Cedillo, as well as
Los Angeles County Federation of Labor President
Ron Herrera revealed the group's plan to use redistricting to oust Raman. Speaking of Raman, Cedillo stated that "There's certain people who don't merit us rescuing them...She's not our ally, she's not going to help us" and de León proposed to put her district "in a blender, chop it up left or right." The group planned to split the
Koreatown neighborhood, a voting bloc for Raman, so that minority voters in her renters' district would be divided and she would face a tougher reelection. After the conversation was leaked, Raman introduced a measure to ask voters to change the city charter so that redistricting would be handled by an independent commission. In June 2023, during a protest led by
UNITE HERE Local 11 to support local hotel workers, the
Los Angeles Police Department arrested Raman after she refused to disperse. She was the Council's assistant president pro tempore, succeeding
Bob Blumenfield, from January 28, 2025, to April 14, 2026, when then-Council President
Marqueece Harris-Dawson replaced her with Councilmember
John Lee. In November 2025, city council passed a motion authored by Raman that capped maximum annual rent increase for rent-stabilized apartments, which house nearly half of the city's residents, at 4%. This change was the first time the city's rent stabilization ordinance had been strengthened in 40 years. == 2026 Los Angeles mayoral campaign ==