New Leader In Los Angeles Mayor Race as More Ballots Counted

Republicans are raising serious concerns after late-arriving ballots dramatically reshaped the Los Angeles mayoral primary, pushing right-leaning candidate Spencer Pratt out of the top two after he had led the field shortly after Election Day.

The latest ballot update elevated two left-wing Democrats above Pratt, even though Pratt had been the top vote-getter the day after last Tuesday’s primary.

Socialist Los Angeles City Council member Nithya Raman, who had been sitting in third place and appeared to be outside the fall runoff, benefited heavily from the late-ballot surge.

Raman is now in second place behind incumbent Mayor Karen Bass, while Pratt has slipped to third.

Under California’s top-two system, only the two highest vote-getters advance to the general election, meaning Pratt is currently on the outside looking in.

“Pratt, a Republican, had led earlier in the day, but the latest tally now shows Raman, a Democrat, ahead by more than 3,000 votes, or about 0.4 percentage points, in the officially nonpartisan mayoral race,” Fox News reported, citing The Associated Press’s vote tallies.

The Associated Press has not yet called the race.

California’s election system allows mail ballots to arrive up to seven days after polls close, as long as they are postmarked by Election Day.

That extended counting window has become a major flashpoint for Republicans, who argue that prolonged ballot tabulation damages public trust and creates the appearance of shifting outcomes long after voters believed the election had ended.

Conservatives erupted after the latest update.

“A magical late mail performance for Raman. Shocker. THEY DID IT RIGHT IN FRONT OF US! Outlaw election month, outlaw late mail in ballots, and require universal voter ID and citizenship!” Florida’s Voice chief content officer Eric Daugherty wrote on the X platform.

The Republican National Committee also highlighted California’s slow count on its website.

“The California primary ended on June 2, 2026; yet California is still counting ballots,” the RNC website tracker counting the seconds since polls closed said as of late Sunday.

“The state’s election system is a complete joke. The RNC is tracking every hour it takes California to finish the count,” it added.

Pratt and other Republicans have continued criticizing the process, arguing that voters deserve faster results, clear chain-of-custody safeguards, and greater transparency while outstanding ballots are being reviewed days after Election Day.

Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) pointed directly to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s election policies during an appearance on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”

“The question to the rest of the world is what happened to California elections? Well, I’ll tell you, it’s Gavin Newsom,” former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”

“When Gavin Newsom was elected governor of California, you knew who was elected in a day to two days. Now it takes more than weeks, almost a month,” he continued.

“Why did we get here?” McCarthy continued. “Gavin changed a number of election laws in which you want to see is what did he do and why did he cause it?”

McCarthy repeated the same criticism while warning that California’s election system has become unrecognizable compared with how quickly results were once reported.

“The question to the rest of the world is what happened to California elections? Well, I’ll tell you, it’s Gavin Newsom,” McCarthy told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.” “When Gavin Newsom was elected governor of California, you knew who was elected in a day to two days. Now it takes more than weeks, almost a month.”

“Why did we get here?” McCarthy continued. “Gavin changed a number of election laws in which you want to see is what did he do and why did he cause it?”

President Donald Trump also weighed in Thursday, accusing “Dumocrats” of stealing California elections amid the delayed vote count and saying the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating.

Trump made the comments as California continued counting ballots from the state’s jungle primaries for governor and Los Angeles mayor.

“There’s BIG cheating by the Dumocrats in California. Votes are all tied up. May not be in for weeks. Under investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles. Why the vote counting DELAY???” Trump posted.

“Look what’s happening in California, the Dumocrats, right before our very eyes, are stealing the Vote. I hope the Republicans are watching so that they can finally pass THE SAVE AMERICA ACT!” Trump posted Thursday afternoon.

For Republicans, the Los Angeles mayoral race has become another example of what they call “election month,” where outcomes appear to change as late-arriving ballots are counted well after polls close.

Supporters of stronger election safeguards argue that the issue is simple: Election Day should produce timely, transparent results that voters can trust.

Instead, California’s system continues to fuel suspicion by allowing ballots to arrive days after Election Day and by taking extended periods to finalize races that carry major political consequences.

The Pratt-Raman shift is likely to intensify Republican calls for federal election reforms, including voter ID, proof of citizenship requirements, tighter mail-ballot deadlines, and an end to extended post-election counting windows.

With President Trump pushing the SAVE America Act and Republicans demanding stricter election rules, California’s slow count may become a central example in the national fight over election integrity before the midterms.