Los Angeles mayoral candidate Nithya Raman spent Halloween weekend attending parties across the city, dancing to club music, mingling with partygoers and urging young Angelenos to vote for her over Mayor Karen Bass.
The city councilwoman was spotted dancing at The Echo + Echoplex in Echo Park, where she dressed as P-22, the mountain lion whose death in 2022 galvanized support for conservation efforts, including a crossing over the 101 Freeway in Agoura Hills.
In an Instagram video posted by Raman’s account, she could be seen dancing energetically as music played in the background.
In another clip, originally posted by user @rayger, Raman is seen on stage at the Echoplex saying in part: “You have a chance to change the city, use it.”
Raman and incumbent Mayor Karen Bass are now tied at 40% support each, according to a Berkeley IGS/Los Angeles Times poll released Wednesday, with 19% of voters still undecided.
Raman held an 11-point lead in September, but Bass has since closed the gap, partly by gaining support from voters who backed Spencer Pratt in the June primary.
Raman is running for mayor on a platform focused on affordable housing, homelessness and improving city services.
She has pledged to reduce the number of people living on the streets by at least 50% before the 2028 Olympics, increase housing construction and strengthen protections for renters.
Meanwhile, incumbent Bass says she wants a second term to continue her efforts to reduce homelessness, expand affordable housing and improve public safety.
She wants to build on her Inside Safe program, increase staffing at the Los Angeles Police Department and accelerate rebuilding efforts in Pacific Palisades following the devastating January 2025 wildfires.
Stella Stahl, Raman’s communications director at the LA City Council, also shared a glimpse of the unusual campaign stop in Echo Park.
“If you told me I would be at the Echoplex on Halloween with my boss who’s running for Mayor…” Stahl wrote.
But Raman didn’t just dance.
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Taking the microphone alongside Los Angeles City Controller Kenneth Mejia, Raman introduced herself to the crowd as a candidate for mayor and spoke about her love for the city before turning to some of its biggest challenges.
She told partygoers that Los Angeles was the greatest city in the world but was facing a crisis, pointing to skyrocketing rents, federal immigration enforcement operations and what she described as a lack of leadership from Mayor Karen Bass.
“The rent is too damn high. ICE is on our streets. And we have a mayor who is missing in action,” Raman told the crowd.
Raman also stopped by Bar Flores in Echo Park, where she again introduced herself as LA’s mayoral candidate.
She kept her remarks brief, telling the crowd she had one message before letting everyone return to the dance floor.
“I’m here to say one thing and then I’ll let you keep dancing — young voters are going to decide this election,” Raman said.
The councilwoman made another appearance at a Halloween house party hosted by fashion brand Eckhaus Latta.
In a social media video shared by DJ Ana Calderon, who goes by @ana_says on Instagram, Raman was introduced as a friend and described as “the next mayor of Los Angeles.”
“This room is beautiful, you guys look incredible,” Raman told the crowd.
The appearances were part of a busy weekend for Raman.
Raman spent Saturday campaigning across Los Angeles, meeting with hospitality union workers, serving as a judge at a Halloween costume competition in Encino and stopping by a tailgate party outside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum before USC faced Ohio State.
She also used the weekend to highlight her approach to homelessness, saying she would collaborate with Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath to strengthen efforts to address the crisis.
“As mayor and along with Supervisor (Lindsey) Horvath, we’re going to address homelessness with the urgency that it deserves,” Raman said, according to NBC4. “And we’re going to address it with the accountability that it deserves.”
