Police Union Warns Voters Against Socialist Mayoral Candidate's DSA Ties

Los Angeles mayoral hopeful Nithya Raman faces sharp criticism from the city's police union, which accuses her of promising to implement socialist policies that would slash police budgets, shut down jails, and worsen the local drug crisis. Tom Saggau, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Protective League, warned voters not to fall for Democratic Socialists of America tactics during this crucial election cycle. He claims Raman agreed to co-govern with DSA's Los Angeles branch should she win her bid against Mayor Karen Bass next month.

Saggau pointed directly to a list of demands on the activist group's website as proof of their scary intentions. That document calls for decommissioning facilities like Men's Central Jail and rejecting laws meant to stop terrorism targeting protestors. The union believes these activists hide true motives until they hold power, then seize private homes or allow dangerous homeless camps near schools and parks. They also want to defund the police entirely while letting small businesses fail under new ownership rules.

Raman is a forty-five-year-old councilmember who received DSA endorsement only after pledging explicit support for their program to run as a Democratic Socialist. The LAPPL sent pamphlets detailing these accusations to one hundred thousand households across the city this week. Inside those booklets, the union highlights plans to expropriate privately owned housing and expand public ownership of grocery stores and restaurants. This week she voted against spending one hundred thousand dollars for the LAPD's intelligence center but approved three hundred twenty thousand in federal funds for de-escalation training for new recruits.

"They are wolves masquerading as sheep," Saggau told reporters recently, noting their skill with misinformation and distraction. He insists they play a long game designed to embed a socialist regime within Los Angeles while avoiding direct discussion of specific policy demands. The union claims Raman intends to push an agenda that decriminalizes drug use and replaces sworn officers with civilian staff for traffic enforcement and mental health roles. Recent success by groups like this in New York, where Zohran Mamdani won the mayoralty, shows how controversial policies can still gain traction on ballots nationwide. The Daily Mail has contacted both Raman and DSA for comment on these growing tensions before November three arrives.

Its website demands a stop to collaboration with ICE. Saggau told the Post that the union ran voter focus groups where attendees reviewed socialist group policies. Listeners showed strong reactions, sometimes visceral ones, especially after learning about proposed private property seizures. 'Once people figure expropriate means they could lose their house, everything gets real,' Saggau said. Raman has enjoyed DSA backing since 2020 when she first won councilmember status, the Post reports. The group also pushed her successful reelection campaign in 2024. She was listed as a dues-paying member in the organization's voter guide. As councilmember, Raman sided with the DSA against an anti-camping rule that bars encampments near schools within 500 feet. During a 2024 debate, she argued children were not safer if tents sat far away from classrooms. 'I don't think a kid's going to be safer because a tent is 500 feet away from a school, it's like, whatever,' the candidate said. A Thursday poll by Impact Research showed an extremely tight race. Raman sits at 37 percent of the vote while Bass holds 38 percent. Twenty-six percent of voters remain undecided right now.