Los Angeles mayoral primary remains too close to call as Pratt trails Raman, Trump allies allege fraud

LOS ANGELES (AP) and others reported a fast-changing race for the second spot in Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’s Nov. 3 runoff on Monday, June 8, with Nithya Raman moving back into second place and separating from Republican candidate Spencer Pratt as additional mail ballots continued to be processed. The Associated Press reported that the runoff participants were still “too early to call” because late-arriving and late-counted ballots remained, with officials estimating that roughly 150,000 ballots were left to be counted as of Sunday’s update.

The primary is nonpartisan, and Election Day results posted earlier were described by AP as semi-official. In AP’s summary of the evolving tally, Bass held a lead over the rest of the field that widened after Election Night, while Raman closed on Pratt. AP reported that Bass’s lead over Pratt had grown to nearly 8 percentage points and that Raman led Pratt by about 0.4 percentage points, or roughly 3,100 votes.

The vote-counting developments were accompanied by renewed fraud allegations from Trump and supporters, AP reported “claims of fraud, without providing evidence.” AP also said Trump suggested the Department of Justice would investigate and tied his comments to concerns that preferred candidates could be pushed out of the top two positions as late mail ballots are counted.

Separate reporting earlier in the week described federal involvement connected to the fraud allegations. The Associated Press reported that the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles said it had opened “multiple election fraud investigations” related to California’s elections and sent a prosecutor to the county’s vote-counting center. The same AP report said the visit included an overview of the public observation program and a walkthrough of ballot tabulation operations, and it noted that election officials routinely host observers representing a range of interests.

California’s statewide election rules require a prolonged canvass in which results may shift as specific ballot categories are processed. California Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber’s office said the vote count process continues for up to 30 days after Election Day and that counties must report final results to the Secretary of State by July 3, 2026. The Secretary of State’s guidance also emphasized that calls and concessions by media and candidates rely on semi-official results and that results are not final until the official statewide certification after county canvasses.

The Secretary of State’s posted deadlines for the June 2, 2026 primary list key steps in the canvass timeline, including that vote-by-mail ballots must be postmarked by Election Day and received by the county within seven days, and that counties must certify results by July 2, with one electronic complete copy to be sent to the Secretary of State by July 3. Those deadlines align with the broader explanation that official totals can change during the canvass period, particularly for ballots that are counted later than Election Night.

Los Angeles election officials scheduled the city’s 2026 Primary Nominating Election for June 2, 2026, with the General Municipal Election on November 3, 2026. The runoff mechanism depends on who finishes first and second in the top-two race for mayor, but as of June 8 the official canvass was still underway, and the final order remained subject to further updates until county certification and statewide reporting deadlines are met. The ongoing federal posture described by AP means legal and investigative activity could continue in parallel with the administrative vote-counting schedule.