Green Party supports Sarah Kate Levy & Nithya Raman for Los Angeles City Council, District 4, March 3 elections

The Green Party of Los Angeles County (GPLAC) supports Sarah Kate Levy and Nithya Raman for Los Angeles City Council, District 4, in March 3 elections.

Both Raman and Levy responded to the Green Party questionnaire for this race. The incumbent David Ryu declined to participate.

Read Green Party questionnaire answers by Levy and Raman here.  Many of their answers were in line with Green Party thinking and platform. 

Both Raman and Levy strongly supported two electoral reforms to empower Los Angeles voters the GPLAC advocates: the use of ranked-choice voting for Los Angeles elections and a larger Los Angeles city council.

Why does the GPLAC support both Levy and Raman? The Los Angeles City Council District 4 election is a three-way race. Under Los Angeles’s municipal electoral system, if no candidate gets a majority in the March primary election, the top two place finishers advance to a November run-off general election.  As an incumbent, Ryu will likely advance to the general election run-off, if he doesn’t win the March primary outright.  A run-off election with either Raman or Levy would serve to better highlight green issues that Ryu has not responded to in the primary.

If Los Angeles City Council elections were conduced by ranked-choice voting - as the GPLAC supports - the GPLAC could recommend supporting both Levy and Raman, and ranking them in the order of the voter’s preference. But since ranked choice voting is not in place, the GPLAC supports both Levy and Raman. Voters who seek a run-off with Ryu and another candidate need simply to make a choice between Raman and Levy, and hope that their combined vote makes up a majority of all votes, ensuring a run-off with the one of them that receives the most votes. In making this recommendation, this is not a statement against Ryu but rather one in favor of Levy and Raman and a desire for Ryu to address issues the GPLAC has raised.

For more on the Green questionnaire, read the candidates answers side by side on

• Elections and Fair Representation
• Public Bank
• Housing, Transit, Planning and Development
• Climate Change

* District 4 includes the Los Angeles neighborhoods of  Beachwood Canyon, Beverly CrestBird Streets, Brookside, Cahuenga Pass, Citrus Square, Central Hollywood, Coldwater Canyon, Country Club Heights, Doheny Estates, Franklin Canyon, Franklin Hills, Fremont Place, Griffith Park, Hancock Park, Hollywood, Hollywoodland, Hollywood Dell, Hollywood Grove, Hollywood Heights, Hollywood Hills, Hollywood Knolls, Hollywood Manor, Koreatown, La Brea - Hancock, Lake Hollywood Estates, Lakeridge Estates, Larchmont Village, Laurel Canyon, Laurel Hills, Los Feliz, Melrose, Miracle Mile, Mount Olympus, Mulholland, Nichols Canyon, North Beverly Park, Outpost Estates, Ridgewood-Wilton, Sherman Oaks, Silver Lake, Spaulding Square, St. Andrews Square, Sunset Hills, Sunset Square, Sycamore Square, The Oaks, Toluca Lake, Van Nuys, Whitley Heights, Wilshire Park, Windsor Square, Windsor Village

* GPLAC Bylaws 5-2.9(c) provide for endorsing Green Party members who are candidates for public office and making a statement of support for candidates for public office who are not Green Party members.  In this case, both Levy and Raman are registered Democrats and not Greens, so they have received the GPLAC's support instead of an endorsement.

PS - For all Green Party recommendations in spring 2020 elections, see the GPLAC Spring 2020 voter guide.