Karen Bass Leads Early, Spencer Pratt Close Behind

Early results from the Los Angeles mayoral race on Tuesday put incumbent Karen Bass on top with 37%, while reality star Spencer Pratt follows closely at 30%. If no candidate clears 50%, Bass and Pratt will head to a Nov. 3 runoff unless the race shifts—leaving

By Tuesday evening, the race for Los Angeles mayor felt less like a debate and more like a countdown.

Incumbent Mayor Karen Bass emerged ahead in early results, leading with 37% of the vote. Spencer Pratt—the reality star known for MTV’s “The Hills”—was not far behind at 30%, keeping pressure on Bass as the numbers came in.

Councilmember Nithya Raman held 20% of the vote, putting Pratt about 10 percentage points clear of her. With the possibility that no candidate tops 50%, the rules point to a familiar outcome: if none reach a majority Tuesday, the top two will face off in the Nov. 3 general election.

Bass’s position has a particular weight in this cycle. In the 2022 mayoral primary, Rick Caruso initially led Bass with primarily vote center and early mail-in ballots on election night. Bass had to wait through a week of additional counting to take the top spot. and she ultimately won the November runoff by nine points.

This time, the uncertainty is already showing up in projections. UC Berkeley–Los Angeles Times predicted a tight race among likely voters, with Bass at 26% and Raman at 25% in the primary election, while Pratt sat close behind at 22%.

In March, Bass had 25% support, Raman had 17%, and Pratt had 14%, with 26% still undecided—numbers that pointed to limited growth for the incumbent compared to her challengers.

The campaign’s story has been shaped as much by politics as by culture. and Pratt’s presence has pushed that collision hard into public view. Since the candidates entered the race. the debate over who should lead the second-largest city in the country has spilled far beyond L.A.’s jurisdiction. Pratt’s AI campaign videos and his staunch supporters helped create a social media “hive mind. ” and his last-minute. half-hearted endorsement from President Donald Trump added another jolt to the online attention.

Outside the hype, the stakes for Bass are rooted in last year’s disasters. The incumbent faced an uphill battle for reelection after the city’s handling of the Palisades and Altadena fires, which destroyed more than 15,000 structures and left 12 people dead.

Pratt, for his part, entered the race a year after his own house burned in the Palisades fire, positioning his bid as a challenge to the leadership he said permitted the catastrophe.

Raman’s campaign carried a different origin story. She was a staunch supporter of Bass before filing her candidacy for mayor hours before the deadline on Feb. 7.

All three leading candidates have also leaned into pitching support for the entertainment industry. and the early visibility has been unmistakable. Jane Fonda, Vice President Kamala Harris, Samuel L. Jackson, and Jenifer Lewis were among Bass’s supporters. David Foster, Brian Grazer, Jeanie Buss, and Brett Ratner endorsed Pratt.

Raman, whose husband works as a writer-producer in the business, earned support from Mike Schur, Adam Scott, Lake Bell, Rachel Bloom, Aidy Bryant, and Vanessa Bayer.

Bass is the first incumbent mayor to advance to a runoff since 2005. If Tuesday’s results hold—and if no candidate clears more than 50%—the next chapter will determine how quickly those early numbers turn into something lasting. or whether the race slips into the kind of week-long counting scramble that previously decided it.

Los Angeles mayoral race Karen Bass Spencer Pratt Nithya Raman MTV The Hills Palisades fire Altadena fires UC Berkeley Los Angeles Times prediction Nov. 3 general election entertainment endorsements