The race for Los Angeles mayor is intensifying as Nithya Raman and Spencer Pratt vie for a spot in the November runoff against incumbent Karen Bass. As of Sunday, the vote tally showed Raman, a progressive city council member, moving into second place behind Bass for the first time since the primary voting ended on Tuesday.
Raman had initially been in third place but has gained more votes than Pratt with each update from Los Angeles election officials. The slow vote counting process in California, where ballots are mailed to every eligible voter and counted if postmarked by Election Day, has contributed to the delay in finalizing results.
Los Angeles County processes and counts mail ballots in the order they are received, leading to a gradual release of results. On election night, results from early mail ballots and votes cast that day were released. Since then, results from later-arriving mail ballots have been processed and released, showing a trend favoring Democrats Bass and Raman over Republican Pratt.
Fraud Claims and Political Dynamics
The slow count has prompted unsubstantiated claims of fraud from some Republicans, including President Donald Trump, who suggested that Democrats were manipulating the results to disadvantage Pratt and Republican Steve Hilton in the governor’s race. However, no evidence has been provided to support these claims.
The mayoral race, which is nonpartisan, has Bass and Raman, both Democrats, competing against Pratt, a Republican. On election night, Bass led Pratt by 4.4 percentage points, while Pratt led Raman by 8.1 points. As of the latest count, Bass’s lead over Pratt has increased to nearly 8 points, and Raman now leads Pratt by about 0.4 points, or 3,100 votes. Approximately 150,000 ballots remain to be counted.
Pratt, known for his conservative stance, has focused his campaign on reducing homelessness and criticized Bass’s leadership during the January 2025 wildfire in Pacific Palisades. Raman, on the other hand, is challenging Bass from the left, advocating for accelerated housing construction and improved city services.
The outcome of the general election is expected to serve as a referendum on Bass’s leadership, regardless of whether she faces Raman or Pratt. Each candidate brings a distinct approach to addressing the city’s challenges, reflecting the broader political dynamics at play in Los Angeles.
Original reporting: KTBS 3 (Shreveport) — read the source article.
