UMVA has learned that reality TV star-turned-mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt is on track to advance past the open primary for Los Angeles Mayor, potentially setting up a November runoff election against Incumbent Mayor Karen Bass.
As the vote totals continue to roll in, Pratt is currently trailing Bass by a slim margin, while leading Democrat LA City Councilwoman Nithya Raman by a significant gap. The two top vote-getters will advance to a runoff if no candidate receives over 50% of the vote.
According to information obtained by UMVA, roughly 40% of the vote totals showed Pratt in second place, trailing Bass by just 10 points in the three-way race. He further led Raman by nearly eight points, putting Pratt in a position to force a runoff between himself and Bass.
Notably, the in-person vote is expected to swing heavily in Pratt's favor. Analysts predict that if Pratt performs well among in-person voters, he could narrow the margin with Bass and increase his lead over Raman.
However, the late-arriving mail-in votes, which are expected to comprise roughly a third of the total vote, could take days to arrive under California's vote-by-mail system. This delay has raised concerns about the potential for fraudulent activity.
As the night progresses, additional vote totals are expected to be released. At 11:45 pm ET, after in-person mail-in ballot drop-offs, Pratt had closed in on Bass and extended his lead over Raman with 30.3% of the roughly 310,000 votes counted.
Sources close to the election have confirmed to UMVA that Pratt is expected to force a runoff election, according to the polls. A recent poll showed Pratt actually leading Bass in deep-blue Los Angeles, setting the stage for a highly competitive runoff election.
