Raman edges ahead of Pratt in Los Angeles mayoral race

By Dave Mason
The Center Square

Election results for Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt became uncertain Sunday evening after City Councilmember Nithya Raman edged past him.

Mayor Karen Bass remained securely in first place with 34.68% of the vote or 250,871 ballots from the June 2 primary, according to results shortly before 5 p.m. Sunday from the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s Office.

Raman reached 27.12% of the vote, or 196,198 ballots. That puts her at less than 1 percentage point ahead of Pratt, who had 26.69% or 193,085 votes.

Based on the results, Bass, a Democrat who served in Congress and the California Assembly, will be on the Nov. 3 ballot, but it’s uncertain whether Raman or Pratt will be the one opposing her.

Updates are scheduled through June 26.

About 150,000 ballots remain to be counted, according to media reports.

The Center Square reached out Monday to the campaigns for Bass, Pratt and Raman with requests for interviews. Pratt’s campaign responded with Pratt’s Monday post on X: “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!

“Let’s git-r-dun!” Pratt said, meaning “get the job done.”

Raman’s campaign responded with a statement from the candidate: “We are encouraged by the latest vote count and remain grateful to the thousands of Angelenos who have powered this campaign.”

Bass’ campaign has not yet responded.

All three candidates are far ahead of the other 11 candidates, each of whom had less than 4% of the vote.

Pratt, a former reality TV star and Republican who lost his home to the devastating Palisades Fire in January 2025, has criticized Bass for her response to the wildfire. The mayor has been widely criticized for being in the African nation of Ghana for a presidential inauguration when the Palisades Fire started.

Pratt, who has a large following on social media and has received national attention, has also criticized Bass for poor responses to crime, homelessness and housing.

For her part, Raman, a Democrat who’s a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, has said many Angelenos feel Los Angeles is headed in the wrong direction. It’s a point she stressed in an interview at her website, www.nithyaforthecity.com.

Bass’ campaign website, karenbass.com, gives the mayor credit for decreasing homelessness and building more housing.

President Donald Trump Monday said Raman’s rise above Pratt shows there’s election tampering. “No way this could have happened. Rigged Election!” Trump posted on his social media platform TruthSocial.

“Me trying to figure how votes get counted in LA,” Pratt posted on Instagram, next to a photo of Russell Crowe portraying math genius and Nobel prize winner John Forbes Nash Jr. doing calculations on a window in the 2001 movie “A Beautiful Mind.”

The Center Square reached out Monday morning to the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s Office, but a spokesperson was not immediately available for a phone interview.

On its website, the office said, “Maintaining ballot security and voter privacy is our primary objective. Members of the public are welcome to observe and view the various election-related operations, but they will be required to sign in and must follow all observer rules and guidelines.”

The Ballot Processing Center is at 13401 Crossroads Parkway North, City of Industry.