Progressive city councilmember Nithya Raman has advanced to a November runoff against Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, setting up an unexpected matchup between two Democrats and former political allies to run the struggling city of nearly 4 million.
The outcome means Spencer Pratt, a Republican and former reality television personality from "The Hills," is out of the running. His candidacy had drawn national attention because of his celebrity and willingness to challenge liberal governance in a city dominated by Democrats. But the buzz did not translate into enough votes to make the runoff.
Newsmax and Decision Desk HQ called the final spot for Raman, who finished with 28.6% of the vote, surging past Pratt through mail-in balloting. Bass had clinched the top spot last week with 34.3%. Pratt had 25.8%.
Pratt posted Monday on X that he was not ready to concede Raman's victory.
"Folks, we're dealing with a fraction of a percentage point difference, there's still hundreds of thousands of votes outstanding, and LA officials have given us the next 3 weeks to count!" he wrote. "Let's git-r-dun!"
It took nearly a week to determine who would face Bass in November because of California's notoriously slow vote-counting process. Ballots are mailed to every eligible voter and they are counted if they are postmarked by Election Day and arrive at an election office within seven days.
Los Angeles, like other counties in California, processes and counts mail ballots in roughly the order they are received, so the last ones returned are the last ones counted.
Last week after polls closed, Los Angeles released results from mail ballots that had been returned early and already processed as well as votes cast that day. Those votes put Bass in the lead with Pratt running in second and Raman in third. Since then, the county has been processing and releasing results from mail ballots that arrived later.
Earlier Monday, President Donald Trump predicted that "great trouble and consternation will follow" if Democrats succeed in what he described as a "crooked" and "rigged" Los Angeles mayoral primary election.
"Has anybody been watching the CROOKED Election going on in California," Trump wrote late Sunday on Truth Social. "Two great Republican Candidates are being cheated, and so is America, which if the Dumocrats are able to fulfill their mission, great trouble and consternation will follow. Watch this 'Election' closely!!!"
He renewed those concerns Monday morning while sharing an X post from Rep. Abe Hamadeh, R-Ariz., who criticized California's election system after vote totals shifted in the race for mayor.
"Not possible for Spencer Pratt to have lost the L.A. runoffs after the big lead he had. 3rd World Nation. Rigged Elections!" Trump wrote.
Raman made a last-minute entry into the race, after she had endorsed Bass for reelection. She was elected to the council with the support of the Democratic Socialists of America, and the election will test whether voters in the heavily Democratic city want to move further to the political left to address long-running problems of homelessness, buckled streets and sidewalks and climbing rent and home prices.
The race also has historical markers. Bass is the first Black woman to hold the post, and Raman could be the first South Asian woman in the job.
The mayoral race was technically nonpartisan, so the candidates appeared on the ballot without party identification next to their names.
Raman had been running in third until Sunday, but she gained more votes with every update provided by election officials in Los Angeles since election day on June 2.
Bass represents the Democrat establishment as the incumbent mayor, and she's backed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, former Vice President Kamala Harris and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, along with influential labor unions. She served in the state Legislature and Congress before becoming mayor in 2022 and was under consideration to be former President Joe Biden's running mate in 2020.
Raman — in her first run for citywide office — has promised to speed up housing construction, bring back entertainment industry jobs and improve services in a city known for dirty streets, gridlock and homeless encampments that are commonplace in many neighborhoods.
"What we are doing right now is just not working," Raman said. "LA's primary strategy for homelessness has been to move encampments from one block to another, from your block to your neighbor's block and back again. ... It's political theater."
Although Raman and Pratt are political opposites, both have attracted voters who aren't happy with the city's status quo.
Tanika Vickers, who works for a housing nonprofit in Los Angeles, said that she felt like she was part of a group of people who work and pay taxes but have been "forgotten." She said she was frustrated with the way tax dollars were being spent, especially "throwing" more money toward homelessness without results.
She said she voted Raman for mayor because she was most qualified to execute her plans and fulfill what the city needs.
"I think that we are all looking for change," she said.