Republican candidate Spencer Pratt was never going to be the next mayor of Los Angeles, a city where 70% of voters chose Democrat Kamala Harris over President Donald Trump in 2024. But Pratt did have a shot at beating Trump’s 26.5% of the vote, an accomplishment which would have secured him one of the top two spots and pushed him into the general election.

On election night, it seemed as though Pratt had done just that, collecting 30% of the vote compared to Mayor Karen Bass’s 35% and City Councilwoman Nithya Raman’s 22%. But California does not have an Election Day — it has an election month. As more and more mail-in ballots were counted, Raman caught up and passed Pratt, 27.1%-26.7%. What was a 40,000-vote Pratt lead on June 3 turned into a 3,000-vote Raman advantage by June 7. And by June 8, Raman’s lead expanded to over 20,000 votes, ending Pratt’s campaign.