Spencer Pratt, who for a brief moment went from a reality show to possibly the next mayor of Los Angeles, is back as the person on this reality show.
The Associated Press late Monday afternoon officially awarded second place to his progressive challenger Nithya Raman, six days after the city councilor steadily advanced as more and more ballots were counted. A fresh batch of votes on Monday took Raman’s lead from 3,000 votes when he started the day to more than 21,000 votes by its end. With only 8%, or 650,000, of ballots outstanding, Raman’s lead was deemed insurmountable, and the Associated Press called it insurmountable.
As of 6pm PT, Pratt has not conceded, and it remains to be seen whether he will dispute the results for unknown reasons or accept defeat graciously. Raman also did not address his supporters in any way.
Raman will now face incumbent Mayor Karen Bass in a November runoff in a battle between two once-Democratic allies who will argue over whether the city needs a steady moderate hand or a new progressive hand to combat the many issues it faces.
Pratt rattled the system by calling out Democrats’ complacency and exploiting anger among independents and even many Democrats over the city’s handling of the 2025 wildfires and homelessness crisis. But while he may have delivered a compelling message, his nomination may have been carried by the messenger — a registered Republican candidate in a liberal town — where many voters believed a fresh voice of a different kind would be better equipped to solve challenges.
Despite the early lead as Republican votes emerge, the race in the end may not be particularly close — the current three-point lead could expand to four or five by the time the final tally comes in. Raman (currently 28.5 percent of the vote and rising) will end up closer to Bass (34.3 percent) than Pratt (25.8 percent) below her.
However, Bratt’s ability to muster more than 200,000 votes, even as someone who had never run for office before, highlighted his high levels of discontent and perhaps opened the door to other outside candidates in the future who could better muster that disgust.
Pratt — who was so certain of a run-in with Bass on election night that she told reporters “she knows it’s on” — will likely use his newfound fame to continue his irritating ways, though it’s not yet clear whether that’s as a news commentator, on social media or in another capacity in future elections.
Raman was viewed as a rookie when she entered the race at the 11th hour to challenge Bass, and for a while it appeared that her splitting the Democratic vote with Bass would prevent the incumbent from reaching 50 percent and open a lane for Brat to challenge her. But Raman’s instincts proved correct when they defied expectations. You will now look to do it again against your favorite bass.
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