Nithya Raman closes to within 1% of Spencer Pratt in LA mayor race

Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman has cut Spencer Pratt’s lead to about one percentage point after recent ballot drops, trailing him by roughly 3,113 votes. The update followed a batch that counted about 50,000 ballots in the city, with roughly 130,000 ballots still outstanding. Mayor candidate Karen Bass remains in clear first place. If Raman overtakes Pratt for second, she would move into the November runoff against Bass, shifting the race from a celebrity insurgent contest to an establishment-versus-progressive matchup.