Los Angeles mayoral candidate Nithya Raman (D) stressed her streak of "independence" from the Democratic Socialist of America (DSA) Tuesday despite having the left-wing organization's support on the campaign trail. Raman and incumbent Mayor Karen Bass (D), her opponent, spoke during a forum co-hosted by the Jewish Federation Los Angeles, where the progressive candidate — a member of the Los Angeles City Council — faced questions over U.S. support for Israel and its war in Gaza. "My commitment to you today, my commitment to Angelenos across the board, is that my independence will always be paramount," Raman said at the forum.

"My focus will be on what I believe is best for Angelenos and my work, not just in this run for mayor, but in my vision for Los Angeles, is of a city that feels better for every single one of its residents." The city council member propped up DSA as a "big-tent progressive coalition that can dream of a better" City of Angels but added that there were more groups within that coalition, including some she disagrees with. Raman also defended appearing on the streaming platform Twitch with left-wing commentator Hasan Piker, where she told the streamer she believes Israel committed a genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

At Tuesday's forum, she told Angelenos she listened to what international experts described, which "guided" her to use the term to describe Israel's actions. "I used it because I felt compelled to speak out about issues that we saw, and images that are coming, the targeting of hospitals, the deaths of children," she said. Moderator Alex Cohen, who probed Raman on her use of the "highly inflammatory term," asked Bass if she believed the same. The mayor responded, "No, I don't," when asked if she considers the crisis in Gaza a genocide — recalling peopling she knew growing up with family members that survived the Holocaust.

"My job is to keep Angelenos safe, and I think there is a lot of divisiveness that happens, and I don't want to see that happen at all," Bass added. Bass also faced questions about her handling of the Palisades and Eaton fires that ravaged the city in January 2025, as well as the Lineage Logistics warehouse fire in Boyle Heights, the city's eastside neighborhood, in June. "Let me tell you, I could be here all day telling you what I've learned from the Palisades [fire], but I will tell you that that will forever go down as one of the worst moments that I ever experienced," the mayor said.

"I mean, to me, not being here was very, very painful." Bass was part of the U.S. delegation to Accra for the inauguration of Ghanaian President John Mahama and was absent from the city when the fires broke out. The city's Emergency Management Department warned aides to the mayor the day before she flew to Ghana of a "high confidence in damaging winds and elevated fire conditions occurring next week," the Los Angeles Times wrote. Voters frustrated by Bass's handling of the fires drove many to support former reality TV star Spencer Pratt in the primary. Pratt lost his home in the Palisades fire.

The mayor trailed behind her challenger in last week's University of California, Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll, with Raman ahead at 39 percent and Bass at 28 percent.