LA mayor's race: Nithya Raman projected to advance after leapfrogging Spencer Pratt
LOS ANGELES - The race for Los Angeles mayor took a dramatic turn as Nithya Raman not only surged late in the race for Los Angeles mayor; she is now projected to advance to the Nov. 2026 general election.
After days of trailing former reality TV star Spencer Pratt in the battle for the second and final spot in the Nov. ballot in the race for mayor, Raman leapfrogged Pratt to take the No. 2 spot on Monday, June 8.
After the Associated Press projected her to advance to the general election, Raman will face incumbent Mayor Karen Bass in November. Bass was projected to finish the June 2 California primary election with the most votes, hence the incumbent advancing days before it was revealed that Raman would eventually join her for the November election.
What we know:
The latest data from the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk showed Raman in second place with 229,576 (28.55%), leaving Pratt in the No. 3 spot at 207,757 (25.83%).
Bass advanced to the Nov. 2026 election as she leads the race with 275,992 votes (34.32%).
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This comes as the early rounds of election results had Raman trailing Pratt. The former reality TV star held a 40,000-vote lead over Raman votes were being counted Wednesday.
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What we don't know:
The exact number of remaining vote-by-mail, provisional, and outstanding ballots left to be processed by county election officials is unknown.
Because these ballots are still being verified and tallied, the final composition of the November runoff election remains unconfirmed.
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What they're saying:
Both campaigns are staying quiet as the numbers shift.
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A representative for neither Raman's nor Pratt's campaign immediately responded to a request for comment regarding Friday's returns.
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What's next:
The Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk will continue to process the remaining outstanding ballots over the coming days.
The Source: This report is compiled directly from the official Friday vote tallies released by the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s office, which is responsible for processing and verifying all vote-by-mail and provisional ballots. The campaign status updates reflect direct outreach to representatives for both Nithya Raman and Spencer Pratt, who have declined to comment on the shifting returns at this stage of the count.