Spencer Pratt Projected to Lose LA Mayoral Bid as City Continues Counting Mail Ballots
Hopes that Los Angeles could see major political change appear to be slipping as California’s June 2 primary vote count drags on. The conservative challenger Spencer Pratt is currently trailing both incumbent mayor Karen Bass and left-leaning City Councilwoman Nithya Raman,with mail-in ballots continuing to be added after Election Day under California’s rules.
Late-count updates reported by the Los Angeles Registrar-Recorder show raman moving ahead of Pratt, suggesting a likely November matchup between Bass and Raman rather than Bass versus Pratt. The article also describes Pratt’s campaign as built on criticism of Bass’s handling of issues such as recovery from the 2025 California fires, and it highlights that Pratt and supporters have alleged irregularities in the shifting vote totals seen after Tuesday.
Hopes that the country’s second biggest city could see real change in the mayor’s office appear to be going up in smoke.
As ballot counting continues almost a full week after California’s June 2 primary election, the Golden State’s notorious ballot-counting rules are dimming the chances that mayoral challenger Spencer Pratt will make it to a runoff election in the Los Angeles mayor’s race.
And an even leftier candidate than the current incumbent appears to be taking his place.
According to the Los Angeles Times, former reality TV star Pratt, a political outsider who became a favorite of conservatives, has been pushed into third place in votes behind incumbent Mayor Karen Bass and leftist City Councilwoman Nithya Raman.
Raman, who was in third place after polls closed on Tuesday has been benefiting from California’s lax election rules that allow mail-in ballots to be counted even if they come in after Election Day.
The rules result in election uncertainty that mean it can take weeks to determine the winner.
On Sunday night, Raman moved ahead of Pratt in the voting — meaning she would face Bass in the November election.
“Raman now sits in second place with Pratt in third, according to the latest vote count from the Los Angeles Registrar-Recorder. Raman had 27.1% of the votes counted so far, and Pratt had about 26.7%,” the L.A. Times reported Sunday evening.
Pratt built his campaign around the spectacular incompetence of incumbent Mayor Karen Bass and the devastation of the California fires that destroyed swaths of Los Angeles in January 2025 — including Pratt’s own home.
He also attacked the Bass administration for the slow speed of recovery.
The former reality TV star became a favorite of conservatives nationally for posing what appeared to be a real threat to the Los Angeles Democrat-dominated power structure (the power structure that has overseen the city’s explosion of crime and homelessness).
In a post on the social media platform X, Pratt hinted at election fraud.
“A net swing of more than 43,000 votes since Tuesday..”
43,000, huh? Where have I seen that number before…?
Probably nothing. 🤷 https://t.co/W2E3k6PHyR pic.twitter.com/ZfzHCy9enb
— Spencer Pratt (@spencerpratt) June 8, 2026
And he had plenty of backers.
Be proud of yourself! God and most Americans stand with you, your family, and supporters. California is a cesspool of fraud , keep fighting for real change. AMERICA FIRST 🇺🇸✝️🙏🇺🇸
— Katy (@Katy68244493305) June 8, 2026
There is ZERO chance Spencer legitimately dropped to #3.
This is election theft in broad daylight.
Keep fighting brother. We may see the light at the end of the tunnel🔥
— My Old School (@diffeq398) June 8, 2026
Conservative activist Robby Starbuck posted a graphic of the ballot-counting since Tuesday, declaring that “North Korean ‘elections’ have more self respect.”
Spencer Pratt is likely going to be overtaken by far left Nithya Raman today. This graph shows the count on Election Day through last night.
Nithya did this by suddenly winning 1st in every new ballot drop.
North Korean “elections” have more self respect. Even they’d find it… pic.twitter.com/fL0nU5k8Ma
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) June 7, 2026
If the current count holds and Bass and Raman face off in November, Los Angeles voters won’t be facing a choice of change between an incumbent and a reformer, but a choice between a progressive Bass and an even more progressive Raman.
As The New York Times noted in a primary day report, Raman was elected in 2020 on the strength of the Black Lives Matter movement that was currently engulfing the country.
She has been aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America party — like New York City’s leftist Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
While she has apparently had a strained relationship with the party, according to The New York Times, and did not get an official endorsement, the DSA did recommend the voters back her.
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