Spencer Pratt celebrated an early lead in the Los Angeles mayoral race on Tuesday, urging Angelenos to vote ahead of November as Nithya Raman’s camp pushed back with optimism over still-to-be-counted mail ballots and a runoff against incumbent Mayor Karen Bass
Spencer Pratt stepped outside his election night party in Los Angeles on Tuesday with a clear message: he believes the race is already slipping away from Nithya Raman.
As Pratt spoke to press. he pointed to the early vote count and his standing ahead of the councilmember. saying. “The communists already lost.” Nearby. the incumbent Mayor Karen Bass emerged as one of the frontrunners in the race. and Bass was already confirmed as advancing in the runoff later Tuesday evening.
Pratt said he was encouraged by the numbers showing him polling about 10 points ahead of Councilmember Raman, with 47% of the vote reported. Still, he didn’t dress the moment up as a done deal. He told reporters there were “plenty of local constituents” left to win over.
“My message to those people that didn’t vote for me. Thank you for voting,” Pratt continued. “I’m excited that everyone voted today. One thing I’ve learned is a lot of people don’t vote. My goal by November. whether it’s you’re voting for me or you’re voting for Mayor Bass. I’m going to get more people to vote.”.
He leaned further into the theme. claiming Angelenos don’t vote and don’t care “enough about our city.” Pratt added that many people are giving up because they’ve “just accepted failure. ” arguing that change comes through turnout. “So to people who didn’t vote for me, thank you for voting and caring about your city,” he said. “I hope to switch you and show you you’re going to be voting for me in November. but regardless. we need 4 million people to vote in November.”.
Inside Raman’s election party, the energy was different. Even after trailing by approximately 35. 000 votes on election night. attendees described the mood as upbeat. banking on the mail-in ballots still to be counted. Several attendees told TheWrap they remained hopeful those ballots—historically said to skew left—could be the deciding factor to help Raman advance to a runoff against Mayor Karen Bass in November.
The room included a group of Los Angeles comedians who have publicly supported Raman, including Adam Conover and Milana Vayntrub. Conover told TheWrap that Raman was the first politician he wholeheartedly supported as an LA resident when she first ran for the city council in 2020. He also accused Pratt of describing the city in apocalyptic tones rather than the more optimistic vision Raman has espoused.
Earlier Tuesday. Raman spoke in a 12-minute address thanking her campaign team and volunteers. with her campaign saying they knocked on 1.5 million doors during a four-month blitz campaign that began in February. She filed to run minutes before the election deadline. Raman did not concede during her speech, saying there are thousands more votes still to be counted.
Jeremy Fuster contributed reporting to this story.
Spencer Pratt Nithya Raman Los Angeles mayoral race Karen Bass election night mail-in ballots Adam Conover Milana Vayntrub The Hills
Wait so Karen Bass is already in the runoff??
Spencer Pratt talking about “communists” like that’s gonna convince anyone… lol. Also 47% reported means like not even the full count right? people act like it’s over way too fast.
He says “plenty of local constituents” like he has a secret group of people. But if mail ballots still getting counted then why is he out here celebrating like a done deal. Sounds like he’s just mad Raman is up in the early numbers or something.
The whole thing is weird to me because LA always says “turnout” but then somehow the loudest people win anyway. Also I thought Spencer Pratt wasn’t even serious? Now he’s roasting people for not voting, but like, maybe people don’t vote because the candidates are literally Spencer Pratt and Nithya Raman?? idk. And “thank you for voting” feels kinda backwards when he’s campaigning too early.