Staff Reports
The big news out of Los Angeles this weekend is simple and messy: updated vote totals pushed City Councilmember Nithya Raman past reality-TV star Spencer Pratt into second place in the mayoral primary, and a Decision Desk HQ projection now shows Raman heading to a November runoff against Mayor Karen Bass. If you like drama, you got it — a celebrity candidate led on election night, then lost ground as late-counted ballots rolled in. Welcome to modern urban voting.
What happened in the LA mayoral primary
Initial counts on election night showed Spencer Pratt in second place behind Mayor Karen Bass. But the LA County Registrar-Recorder’s later updates — the ones that include mail ballots counted after Election Day — handed a steady stream of votes to Nithya Raman. The latest tabulation put Raman at about 27.12% and Pratt at about 26.69%, roughly a 3,113-vote gap. Decision Desk HQ projected Raman as the second finalist, meaning the top two would be Mayor Bass and Councilmember Raman.
Why the lead flipped
The flip wasn’t some election-night miracle. It was the predictable result of how California counts ballots. Mail ballots and late batches in Los Angeles have leaned heavily Democratic in recent cycles, and Raman benefited from those drops. County officials are still processing ballots that were postmarked on Election Day, so totals could still shift slightly. Pratt’s camp is expected to watch the remaining counts closely and may consider a recount or legal challenge if the margin stays narrow.
Why conservatives should pay attention
This change matters for two big reasons. First, the fall contest now looks like an intra‑Democrat showdown between Bass and Raman rather than a Bass vs. Pratt match that would have pitched left versus right. Second, the mechanics of late-count swings raise questions about public trust in the process — rightly or wrongly. Voters who saw a tallied winner on election night only to have results shift days later are going to ask why ballots were left uncounted until after the headlines. That distrust plays into the broader debate over mail-in voting and election transparency.
What’s at stake in a Bass vs. Raman runoff
Nithya Raman runs as a progressive. Her critics — including the Bass campaign — point to her record on encampments and policing as proof she’s too soft on public-safety problems. Mayor Bass, meanwhile, has painted this as a choice between experience and a more radical approach to homelessness and law enforcement. For conservatives, that’s an odd matchup: two Democrats, different flavors, same party. It forces Republicans and independents to decide whether to back a moderate Democrat, sit out, or try to shape the debate from the outside.
Bottom line: the weekend’s update is the specific development voters are talking about. The count could still change as the county finishes processing ballots and before certification. Expect more drama, and maybe a legal challenge, if the margin stays slim. Either way, Los Angeles is headed for a fall fight that won’t be neatly partisan — but it will be about who actually tackles the city’s problems instead of just talking about them.
