Nithya Raman rallied from behind in the early vote count to defeat Spencer Pratt and advance to a runoff against Mayor Karen Bass in the Los Angeles mayoral election, according to the Associated Press, which called the race Monday.
As the city continues to report mail-in ballots, the District 4 councilmember has slowly gained on her reality TV star competitor. She now leads Pratt by approximately 22,000 votes with 28.6% of the vote at the time of this writing, claiming her a spot in the runoff.
Pratt took an initial lead of approximately 41,000 votes after in-person ballots from voting centers were counted on Election Day this past Tuesday. But as hundreds of thousands of vote-by-mail ballots were counted in the days that followed, Raman inched closer with each update provided by the county registrar.
“I’m incredibly honored that voters have given us the opportunity to advance to the general election for Mayor of Los Angeles,” Raman said in a statement to TheWrap Monday. “To the thousands of supporters who knocked on doors, made calls, sent texts, donated and opened their homes for events across the city, and to everyone else who made this moment possible: thank you, from the bottom of my heart.”
“Now our fight for a healthier, safer, more affordable, and more joyful Los Angeles continues,” she continued. “For too long, City Hall has prioritized giving political advantage to powerful interests that fund elections. Meanwhile, working people pay the price in higher rents, depleted services and a city that has stopped working for them. If you’re as frustrated by the broken status quo as I am, I hope you’ll join our movement to build a city that works for everyone.”
The city announced that Mayor Bass would advance to the runoff on election night. She maintained her lead over the other candidates, collecting 34.3% of the vote. However, because a candidate needed more than 50% of the vote to avoid a runoff and win outright, Bass fell short of securing reelection on election night. She is the first incumbent to head into a runoff since 2005.
In the latest batch of ballots, Raman led with 33,378 votes, followed by Bass with 25,121 and Pratt with 14,672. The councilmember won approximately 45.6% of all newly counted ballots, compared with 34.3% for Bass and 20.1% for Pratt.
As of noon Monday, L.A. County had 368,180 ballots left to process.
A Bass-Raman runoff did not seem possible earlier in the race. The former “Hills” star gained popularity online and from some prominent Hollywood donors, but even Democratic fundraisers like Haim Saban were not enough to sway Angelenos to vote the registered Republican with no political experience into office.
Councilmember Raman, who had previously endorsed Mayor Bass and her campaign, entered the mayoral race to run against her less than an hour before the filing deadline. She was first elected to the Los Angeles City Council in 2020 over then-incumbent David Ryu, marking the first time since 2003 that a city council candidate in L.A. had defeated an incumbent.
Raman earned endorsements from groups like Housing Action Coalition, Abundant Housing LA and Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE), as well as support from Hollywood talent like Mike Schur, Adam Scott, Rachel Bloom, Aidy Bryant and Vanessa Bayer.
The Democratic Socialists of America LA recommended a vote for Raman but did not fully endorse her as a mayoral candidate as the organization’s endorsements come with organized canvasses and fundraising on the candidates’ behalf.
The Bass campaign has already shifted its strategy from targeting Pratt to solely laying into Councilmember Raman.
“A campaign against Nithya Raman, who allows encampments near schools and cuts the police force, is one Mayor Bass looks forward to winning,” Douglas Herman, Bass’ campaign strategist, said Monday.
TheWrap reached out to Pratt’s campaign for comment.
