President Donald Trump expressed concern on Monday that the Los Angeles mayoral race was manipulated in favor of Democrats, after the leading Republican candidate saw his lead fall away, appearing to dash hopes of flipping the seat red.
In Los Angeles, the top two vote-getters in the primary advance to the general election, regardless of party affiliation. Last Tuesday, incumbent Mayor Karen Bass secured the top spot headed into November, but the race for second place remained too close to call, with officials counting mail-in ballots all week to determine whether Republican candidate Spencer Pratt’s narrow lead over progressive Councilwoman Nithya Raman would hold.
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As election results trickled in on Sunday evening, showing Pratt trailing Raman for the first time, Trump, who has previously criticized California’s slow ballot-counting process, alleged the race was “rigged.”
“No way this could have happened. Rigged Election!” the president wrote in a post to Truth Social, hours after NBC published an interview where he stormed out after a tense back-and-forth over his claims about the California elections.
“Do you think it’s appropriate that they have an election and five days later, they’re nowhere close to picking a winner?” the president said, appearing to refer both to the mayoral race and California’s gubernatorial race. “Do you know why they’re doing that? Because they’re cheating on the election… We’re like a third-world country.”
The Associated Press has not yet called the mayoral race, as ballots are still being counted. Raman holds a lead of just over 3,100 votes, with 27.1% of the ballots, compared to Pratt’s 26.7%. As of Monday morning, 83% of ballots have been counted, six days after the election was held, according to the outlet.
The gubernatorial race has also not yet been called, with 72% of ballots counted thus far. Similar to the mayoral race, the top two vote-getters will proceed to the general election, regardless of party. Former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, a Democrat, has secured the top spot. Republican Steve Hilton and Democrat Tom Steyer remain locked in a battle for second place. As of Monday morning, Hilton holds a lead of over 4%, as officials continue to count mail-in ballots, according to the Associated Press.
Like Trump, Pratt and other Republicans are suggesting there are election integrity issues in the state, which they believe could undermine a fair process in both elections.
“A net swing of more than 43,000 votes since Tuesday…,” Pratt said in a post to X Sunday evening, referencing the swing toward Raman since election night, when he held a lead of around 40,000 votes.
“43,000, huh? Where have I seen that number before…?” he added, linking to an article saying Los Angeles’s homeless population is just over 43,000. “Probably nothing.”
Conservative media personality Katie Miller, who holds ties to the White House, and Rep. Abe Hamadeh (R-AZ) were among others raising concerns.
“Watching California reenact a VERY familiar playbook by flooding the system with unverifiable mail-in ballots while deliberately staggering the count to chip away at the Republican candidate,” Hamadeh said Sunday. “This is a joke. Everyone sees what’s happening.”
SPENCER PRATT QUESTIONS HOW VOTES GET COUNTED IN CALIFORNIA AS LEAD OVER NITHYA RAMAN SHRINKS
Amid the allegations, a top Justice Department official in California said that the state is blocking a federal audit of its voter rolls and raised long-standing federal concerns about voter roll maintenance, ballot harvesting, and loose registration laws.
“If California genuinely wants voters to trust its elections, it should open its records, not fight to keep them closed,” U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said. “What are they afraid of?”
