Arnold Schwarzenegger hosts private meeting with Nithya Raman and LA bigwigs

Arnold Schwarzenegger, California’s last Republican governor, opened his inner circle to Nithya Raman, a democratic socialist running to lead Los Angeles.

Schwarzenegger, 79, hosted Raman at his Santa Monica office last week, introducing the mayoral challenger to a packed room of Hollywood, business and civic leaders, the California Post confirmed.

The meeting lasted for more than an hour, a source told The Post, and Schwarzenegger’s closest pals pressed Raman on everything from policing and the “mansion tax” to unions and asked why she calls herself a democratic socialist.

The room included Schwarzenegger’s agent, Jim Berkus, other United Talent Agency representatives, executives in investment and clean technology, and leaders of organizations tied to the former governor, according to TMZ, who first reported the meeting.

Daniel Ketchell, Schwarzenegger’s chief of staff, told TMZ that the former governor, who served from 2003 to 2011, regularly brings business, Hollywood and policy leaders together to discuss major problems and typically stays out of political races.

Schwarzenegger has not endorsed Raman, but his decision to host her at the event gave the candidate access to people who might otherwise dismiss her politics. In fact, Schwarzenegger rarely endorses candidates, criticizing both sides of the aisle when he does speak out on issues.

During the meeting, a major developer asked Raman about Measure ULA, the tax on property sales over $5 million that the real estate industry has criticized, a source told The Post. Meeting attendees who work on the power grid asked Raman about energy and unions while others asked whether she is anti-police.

Raman told the group she is not anti-police and talked about making city government work more efficiently, the source said. 

Some attendees arrived skeptical and left impressed by Raman’s answers, The Post learned. 

Other guests included an executive from Main Street Advisors, an investment firm with ties to celebrities and athletes; the CEO of After-School All-Stars, the youth nonprofit Schwarzenegger founded; the CEO of the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator; and the director of USC’s Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy. According to the person, builders were also there, TMZ reported.

“She hasn’t been running left versus slightly less left,” said Dan Schnur, who teaches political communications at UC Berkeley and USC. “She’s been running as an outsider against an insider. And so it’s easier to see how that type of contrast would appeal to a political outsider like Schwarzenegger.”

“American politics in this era is often just as much about outsider versus insider as it is right versus left,” Schnur said.

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Schnur said Schwarzenegger was elected governor “because voters were so profoundly dissatisfied with the way their state government was operating and the way state politics was practiced.”

The meeting comes just as a new poll showed Raman pulling ahead of Mayor Karen Bass.

“It’s pretty clear that he and Raman don’t agree on every issue or even on most,” Schnur said, “but it’s entirely possible he sees a kindred spirit who wants to bring the same kind of dramatic change to City Hall that he brought to Sacramento.”

“Raman’s message throughout this campaign has not been, ‘Let’s move LA dramatically leftward,’ but rather, ‘Let’s have a mayor who knows how to lead,'” he said. “It wouldn’t be surprising if some of Schwarzenegger’s guests came to the same conclusion.”

Raman was leading Bass 39% to 28% among likely voters, with 33% undecided, according to a UC Berkeley poll co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Times released Wednesday.

Bass’ campaign called the survey an outlier.

“Angelenos made up their mind about Karen Bass before Nithya Raman became a candidate for mayor,” Schnur said. “They decided after the fires last year that she wasn’t the kind of leader they wanted. If she were running against Rick Caruso or Austin Beutner or Lindsey Horvath or Spencer Pratt, she’d be facing essentially the same type of challenge.”

“Most voters are seeing it as a referendum on Bass as opposed to a choice between the two,” he said.

Schnur said Bass’ “best and possibly only chance of winning is by convincing those voters not that she’s a better mayor than they think she is, but that Raman would be even worse.”

He said fundraising has been Bass’ biggest advantage so far. “A lot of her donors are going to be very nervous after this new poll came out,” Schnur said. “They might not be as willing to write more checks, and they might be tempted to hedge their bets and give some money to Raman.”

Counties are set to begin mailing ballots Oct. 5. Voters will decide the race Nov. 3.