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Karen Bass Just Responded to Nithya Raman's Surge—and It Sounded a Lot Like Spencer Pratt

Dmitri Bolt
Dmitri Bolt  |  June 08, 2026 4:00 PM

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass responded to surging competitor Nithya Raman’s lead over Spencer Pratt in the city’s mayoral primary, as Raman appears likely to advance to face Bass in November. 

The only problem is that the campaign’s dig at Raman is one Pratt himself has leveled as he sought to challenge the far-left policies that have turned one of America’s most iconic cities into a disaster. Nor does Bass have much room to criticize since her own party’s policies have pushed people like Raman further to the left.

“We look forward to winning a contest against an opponent who allows encampments near schools and fights against hiring more cops, yet is MIA on saving Hollywood jobs and fighting back when ICE invades LA,” Alex Stack, a campaign spokesperson for Bass, said in a statement. 

The point was a key attack Pratt used against Raman, presented as an example of the kinds of policies he argues are embraced by the left in Los Angeles, and a result of figures like Bass and the city’s Democratic establishment.

This comes as Raman has surged in the polls following the counting of mail-in ballots, which typically favor left-wing candidates. While Pratt initially led by more than 40,000 votes after Tuesday’s primary, Raman had surpassed him by Monday and now leads the Republican by roughly 3,000 votes. 

While many Republicans have treated this as the end of the party’s hopes in the Los Angeles mayoral race, Pratt remains optimistic, with thousands of ballots still left to be counted. He may yet be able to pull off a primary victory.

"Folks, we're dealing with a fraction of a percentage point difference, there's still hundreds of thousands of votes outstanding, and LA officials have given us the next 3 weeks to count," he wrote on X. "Let's git-r-dun!"