Hey everybody, it's Will here. I've got a bonus episode for you. It's a bonus interview.

And I am checking back in with LACD Council candidate Nithya Rahman. Nithya, how's it going?

It is going as well as it can be given the circumstances, but you know, well.

Well, yeah, I mean, there's there is there is many, many circumstances to discuss, but I guess

just like for our listeners, could you give me just like a brief update on the status of your

campaign and where you're at since the last time we spoke, which you know, which I was before

the first election, but I believe now that you've gone into a runoff election. Is that correct?

Yes, that's right. So in March, at the same time as the presidential primary, we also were on the

ballot and we made it through to the runoff against a sitting incumbent, something which rarely

happens in Los Angeles. It was really exciting. We got more than 41% of the vote in a three-way race.

We had huge amounts of voter turnout in the district. It was really fabulous to see. And now our runoff

election, our general election is going to be in November at the same time as the presidential race.

Okay, well, that's great. I mean, I guess the broader question is everything else that's happened

since the last time we spoke. And now, you know, year zero has now commenced in America. And I

remember the last time we spoke, I mean, we talked about your campaign and some of these issues

surrounding homelessness, the housing crisis, lack of access to any kind of healthcare. But like,

ever since COVID hit, how has this pandemic brought to the forefront of these issues in an even

more stark way? Yeah, I mean, I think, I think what has happened as a result of the pandemic is that

at least for many, many residents in Los Angeles, I think it has really clarified the inability

of our local government to address head on some of the greatest vulnerabilities that are facing

residents here in LA. So between the time that we spoke and now homelessness, we found out that

homelessness in LA got even worse. We had a double digit increase in homelessness. That was,

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