Nithya Raman Overtakes Spencer Pratt in LA Mayor Race

Yeah, you read that right. Pratt, the guy from The Hills, had a real shot for a minute there. The race was tight all the way through primary night. Pratt jumped out to an early lead. His name recognition helped. So did frustration with City Hall. But California doesn't do fast elections. It does slow, methodical ballot counting — especially with mail votes. And those late ballots? They broke hard for Raman.

By Sunday night, she'd pulled ahead. Not by a landslide, but enough to change the whole conversation. Let's back up. You had three very different people going after the same job. Karen Bass is the incumbent. Democrat. Running for another term. She's got the machine behind her, but she's also taken heat over homelessness, housing costs, and how the city handled those devastating wildfires. Some people think she's done enough to stay. Others want her out.

Then there's Raman. She's a progressive city council member. Younger. More policy-focused. Her supporters see her as the reform candidate — someone who can actually fix the systems Bass has struggled with. And then came Pratt. Out of nowhere, honestly. He ran as a conservative outsider, leaned into frustration with city leadership, and somehow found an audience. A lot of voters just wanted to blow things up, and Pratt was their guy.

On election night, it looked like Bass and Pratt would cruise into the runoff. That would've been a fight between two opposites — a Democrat incumbent versus a celebrity conservative. Ideologically night and day. But that's not how things turned out. Here's the thing about California elections. They don't end on Election Day. Not really.

Millions of mail ballots come in late. They need signatures checked. They need processing. So the numbers you see on Tuesday night? Take them with a grain of salt. Pratt learned that the hard way. His team celebrated early. Supporters were already talking about a November showdown with Bass. But day by day, his lead shrank. Raman kept inching closer. Then Sunday came, and she finally slipped past him.

The final margin might still move a little. But at this point, it's Raman's spot to lose. A lot of political watchers think those late mail voters tended to be younger, more progressive, and more plugged into city politics — exactly the kind of people who'd pick Raman over Pratt.

So now it's Bass versus Raman in November. That's a very different race than Bass versus Pratt would have been. Instead of a clash between a Democrat incumbent and a conservative celebrity, you've got two Democrats going head to head. But don't let that fool you. They see things differently.

Raman is going to push Bass on homelessness policy, housing affordability, and how the city handles development. She'll argue that Bass hasn't gone far enough. Bass will point to her experience and argue that Raman's ideas sound good on paper but don't work at scale. It's going to get interesting.

One thing's for sure — nobody expected Pratt to get this close. And nobody expected Raman to pull it off in the final days of counting. But that's LA for you. The race isn't over until every last ballot is counted. And sometimes, not even then.

Nithya Raman Edges Out Spencer Pratt for LA Mayoral Runoff Spot After Late Ballots Change Everything

LA City Councilmember Nithya Raman wasn't supposed to be here according to election night numbers. But as mail ballots trickled in over several days, she quietly overtook reality TV star Spencer Pratt for the second spot in November's mayoral runoff. Pratt had fans and frustrated voters behind him, but those later tallies told a different story. Raman's ground game and policy focus ended up mattering more than celebrity power when every last vote was counted.

The shift means voters will now choose between two Democrats — incumbent Karen Bass and progressive challenger Raman — instead of the ideological clash between Bass and conservative outsider Pratt that election night had suggested. That changes everything about how the campaigns will run their ads, frame their debates, and reach out to undecided voters. November just got a lot more policy-heavy and a lot less reality TV.