The essentials
Raman advances to face Bass in November after overtaking Pratt in final vote counting.
The Los Angeles mayoral race has shifted dramatically following the completion of primary vote counting. Mayor Karen Bass advanced to the November runoff, maintaining her frontrunner status. However, Nithya Raman has overtaken Spencer Pratt for the second spot, displacing the candidate who led in earlier vote tallies.
Pratt has been eliminated from the runoff, ending his path to the general election. The final matchup will feature Bass and Raman competing in a November 2025 runoff to determine the city's next mayor. This outcome represents a significant shift from earlier results, where Pratt had held the second position.
The change underscores the impact of ongoing ballot counting in California elections. As mail-in ballots arrived later in the counting process, they demonstrated different voting patterns that ultimately favored Raman over Pratt, reshaping the dynamics of the mayoral race.
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Late-arriving ballots reshape mayoral runoff field
Initial results showed Pratt in second place, but the progression of ballot counting reversed that standing. Raman ultimately secured the runoff spot against Bass, while Pratt fell to third. The shift demonstrates how California's mail-in ballot system produces different outcomes as counting progresses, with later-arriving ballots shifting candidate standings.
Bass faces different opponent after Raman surpasses Pratt
The mayoral race has reset with a new challenger. Bass, who led throughout, now faces Raman instead of Pratt in the November runoff. Pratt's elimination changes the dynamics of the general election matchup, replacing a candidate with debate-driven momentum with a city official bringing a different policy platform to the contest.