Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt questioned California’s vote-counting system for the first time Saturday night as his lead over Councilwoman Nithya Raman shrank.
Pratt, who is competing against Raman in the primary to challenge Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, held a less than 10,000-vote lead over Raman as of Saturday night, after leading by about 40,000 votes on Wednesday morning.
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As of 11:30 p.m., Pratt had received 27.3% of the vote, and Raman received 26.2%, with 77.% of the expected vote having been counted. Polls closed on Tuesday.
Pratt responded to the narrowing margin in a post on X with the caption, “Me trying to figure out how votes get counted in LA.”
The comment comes one day after First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli debunked a claim circulating on social media that Pratt received zero new votes in a vote-count update. The claim had been amplified by Elon Musk, and President Donald Trump has long raised concerns about mail-in voting and election fraud.
The top two finishers in the primary advance to a Nov. 3 runoff against Bass, who secured a spot on Wednesday.
California’s election results often take longer to finalize because of the state’s widespread use of mail-in voting. Election officials must review and verify mailed ballots, including some that arrive days later, before certifying the results.
Essayli noted on Saturday night that an election fraud tipline had been set up, saying “people have been contacting our office wanting to provide information.” He said to report potential election fraud if “a ballot arrived at your home for someone who has never lived there, you were told someone already voted in your name, or you witnessed someone filling out ballots for others without their knowledge.”
Between Thursday evening and Friday evening, Raman received twice as many votes as Pratt.
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Bass was elected mayor in 2022 and has been endorsed by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA). Raman is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America who serves Los Angeles’ 4th district.
Pratt, a former reality TV star, has held Bass responsible for his house being burned down during the Southern California wildfires of January 2025. The Republican has surged in popularity in recent months, creating the possibility of a non-Democratic candidate becoming an elected official in the left-leaning state.
