Spencer Pratt's Lead Shrinks as Nithya Raman Closes Gap in LA Mayor Race

The battle for the second spot in Los Angeles's mayoral runoff is tightening considerably. As vote counting continues, Spencer Pratt's advantage over City Councilmember Nithya Raman has narrowed significantly.

According to the latest Saturday update from NBC 4 Los Angeles, Pratt holds 27.3% of votes with 184,000 ballots, while Raman has 26.2% with 177,000 votes. With approximately 77.7% of expected votes counted, the gap between them has become razor-thin.

Incumbent Karen Bass has already secured her position in the November 3 runoff with 34.8% of the vote and 235,000 ballots cast in her favor.

The race operates under a system requiring any candidate to achieve 50% of the vote to win outright. Since no candidate appears poised to reach that threshold, the top two finishers will advance to November's general election.

As additional mail-in ballots continue to be tallied, Raman's vote total has been climbing steadily. Democratic consultant Michael Trujillo, who is not affiliated with any of the campaigns, told the LA Times that momentum appears to be shifting. "I think it's over," Trujillo said. "It appears Nithya will be in the runoff. Pratt doesn't appear to be growing much more."

There is no announced timeline for when final results will be released. The 2022 Los Angeles mayoral election required a full week to complete its count.