Inside Nithya Raman's Campaign That Knocked Trump-Backed Spencer Pratt Out of the Los Angeles Mayor's Race

Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman pulled off one of the biggest surprises of California's 2026 election cycle, overtaking reality television star Spencer Pratt and advancing to the November runoff against incumbent Mayor Karen Bass despite trailing on election night and facing attacks from conservatives, including President Donald Trump.

Raman's surge came as late-counted mail ballots steadily erased Pratt's early lead. By Monday, she had moved ahead by more than 3,000 votes, securing second place in the city's nonpartisan primary and effectively ending Pratt's unlikely mayoral bid. The result prompted Trump and other conservatives to question California's ballot-counting process, despite election officials pointing to the state's longstanding system that allows mail ballots postmarked by Election Day to be counted after the election.

The race had become a national political spectacle. Pratt, a Republican best known for MTV's The Hills, built his campaign around frustration over homelessness, public safety and the city's response to the devastating 2025 Palisades Fire, which destroyed his home. Trump endorsed Pratt and amplified claims that California's election system was unfair as Raman gained ground in the final count.

But Raman's campaign succeeded by mobilizing a very different coalition. The progressive councilmember, who first gained national attention by unseating an incumbent city council member in 2020, focused her mayoral bid on housing affordability, homelessness reform, city services and government accountability. Announcing her candidacy in February, Raman argued that Los Angeles residents were frustrated with the status quo and demanded a more aggressive response to the city's housing and cost-of-living crises.

"We need a city that works for everyone," Raman said when launching her campaign, arguing that Los Angeles needed greater accountability and faster action on its most pressing problems. Her message resonated strongly with younger voters, renters and progressive neighborhoods stretching from Hollywood to Highland Park and Silver Lake, where she built overwhelming margins.

Political analysts say geography and demographics ultimately decided the race. While Pratt performed strongly in fire-affected neighborhoods, affluent Westside communities and parts of the San Fernando Valley, Raman consistently dominated precincts with younger and more progressive voters.

As mail ballots from those areas continued to arrive, her vote share climbed with every update. "She's continued to gain at a rate that means she will eventually catch up," political data analyst Paul Mitchell told the Los Angeles Times as the count narrowed. Democratic strategist Michael Trujillo was even more blunt: "I think it's over."

Raman now advances to a November showdown with Bass that will test whether Los Angeles voters want to continue the mayor's approach to homelessness and public safety or move further left. If elected, Raman would become the city's first South Asian mayor and one of the most prominent progressive leaders in the country.

For now, however, her most immediate accomplishment may be eliminating the candidate backed by Trump in one of America's most Democratic major cities, proving that even a celebrity-driven campaign fueled by national conservative attention was not enough to overcome Los Angeles' progressive political base.