Raman closes in on Pratt as the most votes have been counted in the LA race
Los Angeles City Councilwoman Nithya Raman took a deep dive into reality television host Spencer Pratt's lead on Saturday, as her lead dwindled to just one point.
Pratt dropped to just over 27% of the vote while Raman jumped to just over 26%, according to results from the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder. Pratt now leads Raman by just 7,494 votes.
“We've seen Nithya Raman get all the updates and the last two in particular she's fast,” said Paul Mitchell, vice president of voter data firm Political Data Inc.
Democratic Alliance coordinator, Michael Trujillo, who is not representing anyone in the mayoral race, said the results suggest that Raman will surpass Pratt as more votes are counted.
“I think it's over,” Trujillo said. “It looks like Nithya will be in the next tournament. Pratt doesn't seem to be growing much.”
The runner-up in the mayoral primary will face Mayor Karen Bass in the runoff. On Tuesday's election night, the Associated Press determined that Bass had received enough votes to run for office.
Pratt has been in second place ever since, but Raman has gradually chipped away at his lead as incoming votes are counted. Revised tallies released Thursday showed Pratt with 29% of the vote and Raman with 23%.
In Friday's update, Raman's share rose to 25% and Pratt's fell to 28%, a 3-point gap.
In the latest batch of mail-in ballots counted, Raman received 23,514 votes, while Pratt received 10,336.
Election analysts had expected Raman to gain ground as mail-in ballots were counted, assuming many out-of-center voters — Raman's base — held their mail-in ballots until the last minute as they waited to choose between Democratic gubernatorial candidates. They also say that younger, progressive voters tend to hold onto their votes longer in general.
Although the mayoral race is non-partisan, Pratt is a Republican in a city heavily populated with Democratic voters and elected officials.
A poll conducted by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies, sponsored by The Times, had Pratt running in third place behind Bass and Raman.
A poll of 1,351 likely voters conducted May 19-24 had Bass at 26%, Raman at 25% and Pratt at 22%, with a margin of error of 3%.
Los Angeles voters are used to seeing election results change as late ballots are sorted. In the 2022 mayoral primary, real estate developer Rick Caruso led the pack for about a week before Bass pulled ahead.
Pratt was favored in many of the same precincts that voted for Caruso, according to a Times analysis of precinct-level returns provided by the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder on Wednesday, which counted about 62% of the vote. Raman, by contrast, moved into Bass-dominated progressive territory four years ago.
Pratt, whose Pacific Palisades home burned in the January 2025 fire, was strong there on the Westside, as well as in the San Fernando Valley communities of Encino, Woodland Hills, Chatsworth and Sunland-Tujunga.
Raman ran areas known for progressive politics, especially those with young people in rental properties from Hollywood to Highland Park, including his hometown of Silver Lake.
Mail-in ballots with an Election Day postmark will continue to be accepted by county election officials through Tuesday.
