Kathleen Eagan Murray was as surprised as everyone else when her college friend Nithya Raman announced she was running for mayor of Los Angeles in February. She sent off a quick text — and soon found herself organizing a slew of fundraisers and meet-and-greets.
Eagan Murray and her husband, TV writer Matt Murray (“Parks and Recreation,” “The Good Place”) met Raman’s husband, TV writer Vali Chandrasekaran (“30 Rock,” “Nobody Wants This”), when they were all on the Harvard Lampoon together 25 years ago.
And while her social connections extend well beyond the comedy world, Raman has drawn heavily on that world to power her campaign. Her contributors include Tina Fey, Mindy Kaling, Mike Schur, Colin Jost, Nicholas Stoller, Cord Jefferson, David Mandel, and many others.
At a backyard fundraiser in Santa Monica in late April, Raman was introduced by Adam Scott (“Severance”), who said he had known her for years through her work representing Hollywood and Los Feliz on the L.A. City Council. He touted her plans for the housing crisis, for restoring entertainment jobs and for rebuilding from the Palisades fire.
“She wins because she gets shit done, and she gets shit done because she has a plan for everything,” Scott said.
In addition to her relationships, Raman’s industry support is a function of her authentic left-wing politics. But in a season of discontent, it remains to be seen whether that’s what voters are looking for. She is running against Mayor Karen Bass and Spencer Pratt, the bombastic reality show star who has enjoyed a surge of interest since a May 6 debate.
As she fights for a spot in the November runoff, Raman has started to sharpen her attacks on Pratt while acknowledging the anger that has fueled his campaign.
“I think it’s a very real thing we should take seriously and we need to grapple with, and we need to offer an honest response — a response that’s rooted in actually solving these problems,” she told podcaster Bryan Tyler Cohen on Sunday. “Otherwise people will turn to fascism, to mini-Trump, which is who I think Spencer Pratt really represents.”
The central issue of the campaign is homelessness and civic disorder — hardly a new topic. It’s been five years since media mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg got so fed up with homelessness that he made the rounds of civic leaders in an effort to build consensus and urgency around solutions.
Katzenberg spent $2 million to help Bass defeat mall billionaire Rick Caruso in 2022 and then invested $300,000 in LA4LA, an affordable housing effort in partnership with Bass’s office. But after leading President Biden’s fundraising outreach to Hollywood during the 2024 reelection bid — which did not end well — Katzenberg has withdrawn from the political scene and has not been involved in Bass’ reelection effort.
“As you know, Jeffrey is taking some time away from politics,” said a spokesperson.
Several other big donors who joined him in support of Bass in 2022 are now funding an independent committee on her behalf that is run by Julie Chávez Rodriguez, who managed Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign. Aiming to build Bass’ support among Latinos, the committee — Unidos Con Karen Bass — is highlighting her work on affordable housing and homelessness and her resistance to President Trump’s immigration crackdown.
“She’s just getting started,” Chávez Rodriguez said. “She knows we’re not at a point to say ‘mission accomplished’ on any of these issues.”
Pratt, meanwhile, has drawn significant support from the L.A. real estate community, but has also picked up contributions from entertainment figures like Haim Saban, Justine Bateman, Jenny McCarthy and “Melania” director Brett Ratner. The star of “The Hills” is also popular with reality TV producers, including Craig Plestis (“The Masked Singer”), Jeff Jenkins (“The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives”) and Sandra Lee (“Dr. Pimple Popper”).
But it’s Raman who has taken the lion’s share of Hollywood endorsements, with her donor list resembling a social committee for the Writers Guild of America.
On Thursday, supporters will hold a fundraiser at Dynasty Typewriter, the Westlake comedy club, where a cast including Lake Bell, Will Forte, Adam DeVine, Bobby Moynihan, Chelsea Peretti and Paul Scheer will perform a live table read of “Harley Quinn: A Very Problematic Valentine’s Day Special.”
Justin Halpern and Patrick Schumacker, the showrunners of “Abbott Elementary,” helped put on the event with Brittani Nichols, a writer on the show. In an interview, Halpern said he had become disenchanted with the Bass administration, and had wanted her to do more to put pressure on the studios to negotiate during the 2023 WGA strike.
“I want someone who really understands the industry,” said Halpern, who has been impressed with Raman’s tenure on the city council. “So often in L.A., we call ourselves a progressive city, and then we are progressive in name only. Nithya felt like somebody who wanted to get in there and effect positive progressive change in a city that should set the tone for the country.”
variety.com
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