The crowd of supporters was almost artfully diverse: union members in neon orange construction vests, democratic socialists in Dodger blue “DSA LA” ball caps, a group of banner-toting South Asian American workers.

“Look around,” said Nithya Raman, the front-runner to become Los Angeles’ next leader in the Nov. 3 election. “This is the coalition that is going to take us to the mayor’s seat.” The crowd cheered and waved yellow and blue campaign signs.

It was a scene few would have predicted at the beginning of the year, when Raman, 45, was a little known member of the Los Angeles City Council. But at every step of her rise, Raman has vaulted past expectations.

In 2020, as a political newcomer, she unseated an incumbent council member — the first time that had happened in more than a decade. In 2024, she fended off a well-funded challenge from a former prosecutor.…