Incumbent Mayor Karen Bass secured first place in the Los Angeles mayoral primary with about 34.3% to 34.8% of the vote, according to multiple sources [1, 2, 3].

Reality star and Republican Spencer Pratt and City Councilmember Nithya Raman, a progressive Democrat, are locked in a close contest for the second runoff spot. Vote shares for Pratt range from 25.8% to 27.3%, while Raman’s range from 26.2% to 28.6% [1, 2, 3]. The top two vote-getters advance to the November runoff since no candidate won more than 50% [2, 3].

Ballot counting has continued in Los Angeles County since the June 2 primary. Officials are still processing ballots postmarked on or before June 2 and received by June 9, extending the count nearly a week beyond Election Day [2, 3]. Late ballots counted on June 8 heavily favored Raman, with 23,514 votes to Pratt’s 10,336. That batch pushed Raman either narrowly ahead or close behind Pratt, depending on the source [2]. As of June 8, one source reported Pratt led Raman by about 7,494 votes (around 1%), while another showed Raman overtaking Pratt by roughly 3,000 votes (0.4%) [2, 3].

Pratt’s campaign attracted attention for viral AI-generated videos and his stance on Los Angeles wildfire response and homelessness policies [1]. Pratt also posted on social media criticizing the slow counting process, quipping, "Me trying to figure out how votes get counted in LA." [2].

The Republican National Committee and former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy sharply criticized California’s delayed ballot counting and blamed Governor Gavin Newsom for electoral law changes. McCarthy said, "When Gavin Newsom was elected governor of California, you knew who was elected in a day to two days. Now it takes more than weeks, almost a month." He questioned, "Why did we get here? Gavin changed a number of election laws in which you want to see is what did he do and why did he cause it?" [2, 3].

Los Angeles County expects to complete the final official results by July 2, with the California Secretary of State scheduled to certify the election by July 10 [2, 3].