Los Angeles Mayor Bass Advances to Runoff With Progressive Democrat
Incumbent Mayor Karen Bass is projected to advance to the November runoff. Councilmember Nithya Raman and political newcomer Spencer Pratt remain in contention for the second spot as additional ballots are tallied.
foxnews.comLos Angeles officials project that incumbent Mayor Karen Bass will advance to the November general election. Councilmember Nithya Raman and political newcomer Spencer Pratt continue to compete for the second runoff position. At 39.3 percent of ballots counted, Bass held 117,579 votes.
At 42.4 percent counted, Bass reached 130,429 votes while Pratt remained at 86,323. Election officials have stated that Los Angeles County can take nearly a month to complete the tally. California law permits ballots postmarked by Election Day to arrive afterward.
Batches of mail ballots continue to arrive and alter the totals days after the June primary. The delayed counting of overwhelmingly Democratic mail and urban ballots in Los Angeles continued the expected pattern that favored Bass and Raman, with Pratt's early in-person lead naturally eroding as later Democratic-heavy batches were tabulated.
Betting markets initially gave Pratt roughly a 25 percent chance of reaching the runoff. Those odds have since reversed following later ballot batches.
" No publicly released evidence has documented any claim of irregularities in the Los Angeles count. Election officials have not announced any changes to the counting schedule or procedures. Supporters of the current system say the extended counting period protects access and accuracy.
They argue that same-day results would risk excluding valid ballots.
