Spencer Pratt’s lead over Nithya Raman nearly vanishes in bombshell ballot drop

Spencer Pratt’s once-comfortable lead in the Los Angeles mayoral primary has been slashed yet again — as a fresh batch of ballots delivered another major boost to progressive City Councilmember Nithya Raman in their race to the November runoff.

New results released Saturday show Pratt’s advantage over Raman shrinking to just 7,494 votes, down from more than 20,000 a day earlier. Roughly 78% of the ballots had been counted as of Saturday.

Raman picked up 23,514 votes in the latest count, more than double Pratt’s gain of 10,336. Her share of the vote jumped from 24.9% to 26.2%, while Pratt slipped from 28.2% to 27.3%.

The dramatic shift has thrown new uncertainty into what had appeared to be a clear path to the November runoff for the former reality TV star. Just days ago, Pratt held a commanding lead over Raman and looked firmly positioned to face incumbent Mayor Karen Bass in November.

Bass remained in first place with 235,180 votes, or 34.8%. Pratt stood at 184,596 votes, while Raman surged to 177,102.

The latest update cut Pratt’s lead by 13,178 votes in a single day. The margin separating Pratt and Raman stood at less than 7,500 votes on Saturday.

The stunning tally comes as Los Angeles County continues processing its remaining ballots. Political strategists have long noted that later-counted ballots tend to skew younger and more progressive, representing a voting bloc that has been a key source of support for Raman.

Longtime political strategist Michael Trujillo told The California Post on Saturday that the trend points to a likely runoff appearance for Raman.

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“Barring some mathematical surprise, today’s results suggest Nithya Raman will be in the runoff,” Trujillo said.

If that happens, Trujillo said that many Pratt supporters will face a difficult choice in November.

“At that point, Pratt voters will have to decide whether they’re going to support Mayor Karen Bass, who has the endorsement of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, or Nithya Raman,” he said.

The latest mayoral numbers were released as movement in the governor’s race remained far more limited.

Former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra continued to lead the field with 1,732,755 votes, or 26.8%, while Republican Steve Hilton remained close behind with 1,704,821 votes, or 26.4%.

Billionaire businessman Tom Steyer held third place with 1,361,549 votes, or 21.0%, showing little change from Friday’s results and failing to gain ground on Hilton in the race for a spot in November’s runoff.