Spencer Pratt extends lead over woke LA mayoral rival Nithya Raman as decaying City of Angels rallies behind him

By LAURA PARNABY, US SENIOR NEWS REPORTER Published: 17:24, 3 June 2026 | Updated: 17:25, 3 June 2026 Spencer Pratt has extended his lead over rival Nithya Raman in the close-run race to become the next mayor of Los Angeles - though votes are still being counted.  Incumbent Democrat Mayor Karen Bass has advanced to the runoff election with 34.8 percent of the votes so far, while Pratt is edging a close second with 30.44 percent.  Meanwhile, City Councilwoman Raman, Pratt's left-leaning rival, is trailing third place with just 22.32 percent. Sixty-three percent of the votes have been counted so far. If one candidate wins more than 50 percent of the vote from Tuesday night's primary, they become the new mayor of California's biggest city outright.  However, if none of the hopefuls reach the majority threshold, the top two finishers advance to a head-to-head contest in November.  Early counts indicate that registered Republican Pratt, 42, will be up against Bass, 72, who has run the city since 2022.  The Hills reality TV star said he is ready to face off with Bass. 'We can do debates every Friday if she would like,' he told reporters on Tuesday night. 'I got in this because I felt like my city failed myself, my neighbors,' he continued, painting a dark image of the current state of LA and sharing what he wants to fix, including to 'help those homeless people.' Spencer Pratt has extended his lead over rival Nithya Raman in the close-run race to become the next mayor of Los Angeles - though votes are still being counted Raman burst into tears as early results showed she fell into a distant third place in the race  Pratt's primary night party was attended by a host of A-listers including his wife, fellow reality TV star Heidi Montag Pratt argued that he has Democratic as well as Republican supporters, boiling his campaign down to a single line: 'I'm an Angeleno who said enough is enough, and I had to step up.' 'I'm going to show everybody that I'm their mayor,' he said, clearly enthused, before wrapping his remarks. 'I'm going to go get some tacos.' Meanwhile, Raman burst into tears as early results showed she fell into a distant third place in the race.  The left-wing candidate wept on stage as she paid tribute to her children, saying her dwindling campaign had been 'about building a city that is worthy of you.'  The councilwoman was a front-runner early in the race, but her support nosedived as she campaigned on a raft of woke policies, including raising taxes, maintaining Los Angeles' 'Sanctuary City' status, and opposing bans on homeless encampments near schools.  Meanwhile, Bass has acknowledged that her time in office has been bumpy but pointed to reductions in homelessness and a historically low homicide rate in the nation’s second-most populous city.  She is a former member of Congress and the first Black woman to serve as mayor. Incumbent Democrat Mayor Karen Bass has advanced to the runoff election with 34.8 percent of the votes so far. Early counts indicate that registered Republican Pratt, 42, will be up against Bass, 72, who has run the city since 2022, in a face-to-face contest in November  Pratt's primary night party was attended by a host of A-listers including his wife, fellow reality TV star Heidi Montag.  His campaign has been fueled by their $3 million home burning down in the 2025 Palisades Fire, as he harnessed resident rage at the city's response to the infernos to build his political platform.  Pratt has pledged to combat the city's sprawling homeless encampments, while blaming Bass for allowing them to proliferate.  Like Donald Trump, he has presented himself as a candidate who will topple bureaucracy and make real change in the city.  He has pledged to streamline the chain of command for emergencies like the wildfires, and reduce inefficiencies in the permit process to allow victims to rebuild more quickly.  Pratt has also vowed to hire more LAPD officers and use a treatment-first approach to homelessness.  California has been considered a Democratic stronghold in recent years, but this was not always the case.  The state has had more Republican governors than Democratic ones in the past 60 years, the most recent being the Austrian-American actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who held the office from 2003 to 2011. 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