Late LA ballots could boost Raman to challenge Bass in November

In the LA mayoral race, Nithya Raman narrowed Spencer Pratt’s earlier lead as vote counts trickle in, but Pratt still led about 29.35% to Raman’s 23.42% with hundreds of thousands of ballots still to be counted. Analysts say Raman could benefit from later ballots—typically more Democratic and progressive—but catching Pratt would require a large share of the remaining votes, making her pursuit a difficult long shot. PR notes that Pratt’s margin has been shrinking, but he may still hold enough votes to reach Bass in November, with the AP having already called one runoff spot for Bass. Ballots postmarked by Election Day can arrive up to seven days later, so totals will continue to change as counting continues.