Left-winger beats Republican to advance to LA mayor runoff

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Los Angeles — Left-wing candidate Nithya Raman will face incumbent Karen Bass in the Los Angeles mayor's runoff in November, knocking the Republican candidate backed by President Donald Trump out of the race, US media projected.

Raman, a Democratic Socialist on the Los Angeles City Council, held 28.5 percent of the votes as of late Monday, advancing past Republican Spencer Pratt, who was at 25.8 percent, according to the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk.

Multiple US media outlets, including CNN and NBC News, projected Raman had secured enough votes to advance to the runoff despite the primary ballot count remaining ongoing.

The second-place candidate will go head-to-head in November with incumbent Bass, a Democratic former congresswoman first elected to lead the second-largest US city in 2022, who has come under fire during her time in office.

"I'm incredibly honoured that voters have given us the opportunity to advance to the general election for Mayor of Los Angeles," Raman said in a statement posted on X.

"Now our fight for a healthier, safer, more affordable, and more joyful Los Angeles continues," she added.

Bass announced her win in a post on X, saying that "LA rejected Spencer Pratt and the MAGA agenda."

Pratt, a onetime reality TV villain whose house burned down in the devastating 2025 fires that hit the Los Angeles area, centred his campaign on widespread anger over the city's slow rebuild process, LA's potholed roads, its drug-addled homeless and a city hall seen as inefficient and in thrall to special interests.

His candidacy sat in second place after polls closed last Tuesday, but it has since slipped in the standings as mail-in votes have been counted.

Ballots in California are mailed out to all registered voters and are valid if they are postmarked by Election Day, meaning some do not even arrive at the counting centre until several days after polls close.

The process — and the sheer size of the state of 40 million residents — means California is always slow to finalise results, a fact that frustrates voters of all stripes.

A US federal prosecutor appointed by Trump, Bill Essayli, said he was investigating alleged fraud in the state's primary election, announcing his office would "follow the evidence wherever it leads and prosecute any violations of federal election law to the fullest extent."

The LA mayoral runoff vote will take place with the rest of the US midterm elections on Tuesday, November 3.