In her bid for a second term, Los Angeles City Councilwoman Nithya Raman passed 50% for the first time since votes were counted in last week’s primary, boosting her chances of avoiding a Nov. 5 runoff became.

The latest set of results, released on Tuesday, showed Raman with 50.2% of the votes, compared to 39% for her nearest opponent, Deputy City Atty. Ethan Weaver. In third place was software engineer Levon “Lev” Baronian, who had about 11%.

In a statement, Raman said she is still waiting for all votes to be counted. Nevertheless, she called the latest set of results “very exciting.”

“It has been the honor of my life to serve this incredible city as a member of the council, and I sincerely hope to see what more we can accomplish with four more years of work,” she said.

Counting votes are expected to resume on Wednesday. Raman and her two challengers were vying for a district spanning the Hollywood Hills, stretching from Silver Lake in the east to the San Fernando Valley’s Reseda neighborhood in the west.

Raman ran for a second four-year term in a district significantly different from the one that elected her in 2020. A year after she took office, the City Council redrew about 40% of the district, eliminating areas like Hancock. Park and Park La Brea and adding all or part of Encino, Studio City and other neighborhoods.

An adviser to Weaver did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Under the city’s election rules, any council candidate who gets more than 50% in the primary wins outright.

Weaver said in a statement that his campaign “always knew it would be a close race.” “I want to thank all the thousands of people who joined our campaign,” he said, “and I ask them to be patient while the remaining votes are counted.”

Weaver, who worked for several years as a community prosecutor, had tried to address major issues of public safety and homelessness. He received enormous financial support from unions representing police officers and firefighters, as well as from landlords

business groups and other donors, who spent a combined $1.35 million on his behalf.

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Weaver said it showed special interest groups were unhappy with her votes in support of new renter protections and against police increases and digital billboards. Her supporters portrayed the race as one that would determine the future of progressive politics at City Hall.

Raman’s progress in her re-election came on the same day that Ysabel Jurado, another candidate backed by the city’s political left, took first place in her race against Councilman Kevin de Len. Like Raman, Jurado had increased her share of votes in each of the province’s daily updates. It appears Jurado is now headed to a runoff election on Nov. 5 in that Eastside district. Election officials said there are an estimated 126,000 ballots left to count across the country

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