Nithya Raman overtakes Republican Spencer Pratt in LA mayoral race vote count
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Los Angeles City Council member Nithya Raman edged out reality television star Spencer Pratt in the Associated Press’ final vote count, but the outlet has not called the race.
Earlier in the day, Republican Pratt was ahead, but the latest numbers now show Democrat Raman leading by more than 3,000 votes, or about 0.4 percentage points, in the officially nonpartisan mayoral race.
Incumbent Mayor Karen Bass, a Democrat, is already into a runoff as she is running for a second term. Since the AP has not yet put forward a second candidate, it is now waiting for the candidate it will face in the second round.
INTENSIVE VOTE COUNTING IN CALIFORNIA SPLIT ON THE POLITICAL SPECTRUM: ‘EXTREMELY SHAMEFUL’
Los Angeles City Council member Nithya Raman edged out reality television star Spencer Pratt in the final Associated Press vote count. (HIGHFIVE/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images; Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
If no candidate wins a majority in the primary in Los Angeles’ nonpartisan mayoral election, the top two vote-getters will advance to a runoff election in November.
Los Angeles County’s continued counting of ballots postmarked on or before Election Day and received by June 9 has drawn the attention of the Republican National Committee. County officials must complete the final official results by July 2, and the secretary of state will certify the results by July 10.
Vote counting in California often extends beyond Election Day because every active registered voter receives a ballot by mail, ballots postmarked on Election Day can arrive up to seven days later, and election officials must verify signatures and process late-arriving ballots.
WATCH: LEFT-WING LA MAYOR FACES REALITY TV CHALLENGER’S brazen takedowns in heated mayoral debate
Spencer Pratt was ahead earlier in the day. (Gilbert Flores/Getty Images)
“The California primary ends June 2, 2026, but California is still counting ballots,” the RNC website tracker says, counting the seconds since the polls closed.
“The state’s election system is a complete joke. The RNC is tracking every hour it takes for California to finish counting,” he added.
Pratt and other Republicans have condemned the ongoing vote counting in the race. Election officials and voting experts said California’s expanded count was largely due to state mail-in voting rules, signature verification and processing of late-arriving ballots.
Democratic incumbent Mayor Karen Bass has already advanced to a runoff. (Louise Barnsley/Splash for Fox News Digital)
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“The question for the rest of the world is what happened to the California election? Let me tell you, it’s Gavin Newsom,” McCarthy told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.” “When Gavin Newsom was elected governor of California, you knew within one to two days who was elected. Now it takes more than weeks, almost a month.”
“Why did we come here?” McCarthy continued. “Gavin changed a bunch of election laws; what would you like to see him do and why?”
Fox News’ Eric Mack contributed to this report.
