Los Angeles mayoral candidate Nithya Raman broke down in tears Tuesday night as early vote returns showed the far-Left city councilmember in third place.
Incumbent Mayor Karen Bass officially secured a spot in November’s runoff election, while reality television star Spencer Pratt and Raman battle for the second spot. If no one receives a majority of the vote, the top two vote-getters advance to the November election.
With roughly 63% of the vote counted, Bass led the field with 34.8% support, according to Associated Press results. Pratt is holding the second-place spot with 30.4%, while Raman trails in third at 22.3%.
WATCH FROM TODAY’S EPISODE OF MORNING WIRE:
Raman, who is aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America, launched a last-minute challenge to Bass and campaigned to peel away support from the mayor’s Left flank. On Tuesday night, she fought back tears as she addressed supporters in downtown Los Angeles.
“I hope you know that everything every person in this room is fighting for in this campaign has been about building a city that’s worthy of you and every child in this city,” Raman said.
Nithya Raman walked out to her campaign funeral in literal tears last night
She can’t hide her disappointment at the red wave that showed out in LA Mayoral race
Angelenos are taking their city back from the grip of incompetence. pic.twitter.com/8q1ybdgQmG
— Danny De Urbina (@dannydeurbina) June 3, 2026
Raman, who represents Los Angeles City Council District 4 and serves as chair of the council’s Housing and Homelessness Committee, has made homelessness a central issue of her campaign.
Her campaign promised to halve the number of people living in encampments by the 2028 Olympic Games.
“The most painful crisis facing Los Angeles right now is homelessness,” Raman said in a campaign ad. “It’s the reason I first decided to run for office. My young children were seeing the crisis on the streets every day. It’s not okay for anyone to be sleeping on the sidewalk in the world’s richest country.”
Raman’s detractors argue her record on homelessness paints a different picture. She has touted efforts to remove 500 people off the streets and into interim housing, which is only 0.7% of Los Angeles’s homeless population, The Daily Wire previously reported.
At a 2024 event, attendees booed Raman after she argued that a 500-foot buffer between homeless encampments and schools would not make children safer.
Pratt, whose savvy social media-centered campaign has captivated much of the country, struck a more defiant tone.
“She knows it’s on. I hope she’s ready,” Pratt said Tuesday night when asked about a potential runoff against the incumbent mayor. “I literally could not be more excited.”
“She knows it’s on. I hope she’s ready.” Let’s go Spencer Pratt! #PrattSummer pic.twitter.com/STygzD86QZ
— Jackie Terribile for SC Statehouse (@JackieforSC) June 3, 2026
The leftist city councilmember is not out of the race yet. The remaining ballots to be counted include a substantial number of vote-by-mail ballots, which traditionally lean Democratic.
