Nithya Raman’s campaign is pushing back against a political group’s attacks on her homelessness policies, including fake real estate signs, a dilapidated RV and an AI-powered phone line that imitates the mayoral candidate.
On Sunday, the campaign filed an ethics complaint against Thrive LA, alleging five violations of campaign-disclosure rules and calling for action before the Nov. 3 election.
Thrive rejected the accusations, claiming Raman’s campaign was attempting to intimidate its critics and suppress political speech.
The dispute followed Thrive’s rollout of satirical ads for a fictional business called “Nithya Raman Realty.” One ad uses an AI-generated version of Raman declaring, “We Got A Tent to Give You!” and promotes a list of alleged consequences: “Needles, Crime, Tents, Zero Accountability.”
A separate sign promotes a coming “Designated Poop Zone” in a neighborhood near you.
Thrive also dispatched a battered recreational vehicle around Los Angeles, echoing the rundown vehicles often seen along city streets.
Ana Teresa Dahan, Thrive’s executive director, described the effort as political satire. She said the group had reported its political spending and advertisements to the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission, where The California Post independently confirmed that public filings were available.
“They wouldn’t have known it was us if we hadn’t put the disclosure,” Dahan told The Post on Monday.
“We’re a small organization, so we had to be scrappy,” she added.
Raman’s campaign, however, maintains that the concerns extend beyond the provocative signs and street-level stunt.
According to the ethics complaint, the mock real estate advertisements direct people to a phone number answered by an AI-generated voice designed to sound like Raman. Callers are invited to take part in an interactive discussion about homelessness.
The Post independently called the number and encountered a woman’s voice asking questions, including where the caller would prefer to set up a tent.
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The system responded to each answer with another question, creating an ongoing exchange that ridiculed Raman’s approach to homelessness.
During The Post’s call, the voice did not reveal that Thrive was behind the message or that the exchange was an AI-generated political advertisement.
Raman’s campaign argues that voters should not have to investigate the source of the recording to discover that they are hearing political advertising.
“Our argument is it needs to be a disclaimer. There is not,” a campaign representative told The Post, adding that the phone line should be removed.
The complaint also names a group of Instagram accounts that allegedly circulated videos attacking Raman to audiences potentially numbering in the millions without disclosing who financed the content.
The accounts cited include @males_hub_, which has about 1.2 million followers, and @ratchethoodvideos, with roughly 806,000.
Their videos featured Thrive’s parody real estate signs and the battered RV, along with messages such as, “Want an encampment down the block? Nithya’s your vote.”
Raman’s campaign alleges that the posts were part of a coordinated strategy to disguise paid political messaging as everyday viral content while omitting the sponsorship disclosures required by law.
Public filings show Thrive reported $53,800 in digital advertising spending and $81,200 in payments to a print advertising vendor.
The complaint itself acknowledges that all five signs it identifies carry written disclaimers naming Thrive as their sponsor.
But Raman’s campaign says those disclosures do not resolve its allegations involving the AI phone line, Instagram videos and other advertising.
The Ethics Commission has not issued a finding on the complaint.
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