Donald Trump‘s election conspiracy temper tantrum on NBC’s Meet The Press aside, the roller coaster drama in the Los Angeles Mayoral remains unmatched almost a week after polls closed in the City of Angels.
In a true Hollywood reversal of fortune that could end up in a recount or court, Nithya Raman has taken the number #2 spot over Spencer Pratt for the November run-off.
Gaining on the MAGA endorsed ex-Hills villain (Pratt’s self-definition, not ours) over the pass few days, the LA City Council member for the 4th District now has 196,198 votes to Pratt’s 193,085, according to the latest count.
That 3,113 vote lead for Raman is a hop from the 7,494 vote advantage Pratt had over the progressive 24 hours ago. Still, with 27.12% and 26.69% of the vote respectively so far, Raman and Pratt are both well behind the 250,871 ballots for incumbent Karen Bass and her 3.68%. Bass gained 15,691 votes since the last ballot drop of June 6.
Even though everyone acknowledged there were many many more votes still to be counted, by late June 2 both Bass and Pratt seemed well on the way to a showdown on November 3.
That script has been flipped to some degree with today’s results.
As a political organizer, Raman has shown serious muscle by taking a big bite into the more than 40,000 vote lead Pratt had over the two-term local politician on June 3 the day after the state and local primary in California. With more ballot drops to come, no final definition has been made yet if it will be progressive Raman or Incendiary Reality TV vet Pratt, who has a new show on his campaign in the mix, who ultimately ends up taking on Mayor Bass in the fall — but there is certainly a trend happening.
To that, one of the candidates is taking a cautious but optimistic stance going into a new week.
“We are encouraged by the latest vote count and remain grateful to the thousands of Angelenos who have powered this campaign,” Raman told Deadline Sunday.
On the other hand, those thousands of Angelenos may find their votes and the process by which they have been tallied under additional scrutiny in the coming days and weeks. The unorthodox Pratt campaign is almost certain to demand a recount if their candidate doesn’t make the top two and eligibility for November, sources close to events tell Deadline.
Spencer Pratt during a Los Angeles mayoral debate in May 2026
Getty
In what many took as a promise more than a threat, former Palisades resident and current Hotel Bel-Air occupant Pratt has stated he will leave L.A. if he doesn’t become the second biggest city in America’s 44th mayor. Whether or not Raman’s new lead lasts, Pratt might be thinking of ordering movers one way or another as the likelihood of him prevailing in the heavily Democratic metropolis seems slim.
Then there is well-known election denier and doubter Trump, who has already thrown shade on California’s admittance of mail in ballots cast on Primary Day June 2 itself. There’s also the state’s admittedly elongated counting system, which has led more than a few GOPers to wonder why India can determine its elections quicker than California.
Following his master’s voice, Bill Essayli, MAGA loyalist and First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, has openly started an investigation into the vote counting in the nation’s richest, most populous and Bluest state. “If you have witnessed potential election fraud, we want to hear from you,” Essayli posted Saturday. “People have been contacting our office wanting to provide information.”
Today, linking to August 2025 letter the Department of Justice sent to the California Secretary of State, the prosecutor added: “California allows first-time voters to register using forms of ID that most Americans would find surprising …Our office believes this policy deserves a closer look.”
“We also have serious concerns about how California maintains its voter rolls,” Essayli went on to say. “There are open questions about whether the state is promptly removing deceased voters, people who have moved, and individuals convicted of disqualifying felonies.”
That’s quite the shift from what Essayli said on June 5.
“There was a claim circulating on social media about an election night ballot update at the Los Angeles Registrar of Voters where one candidate received zero votes,” the unofficial to DOJ official in California said on Friday in response to claims Elon Musk and others have espoused. “We reviewed official county records. The claim is false. Each candidate received votes in every update.”
As a number of races throughout L.A. and the state find themselves still to be called, it looks pretty clear when it comes to replacing the term-limited Gavin Newsom that ex-CA AG Xavier Becerra and former Fox News host and UK PM aide Steve Hilton will be facing off in the fall.
