In Los Angeles’ mayoral primary, progressive City Councilwoman Nithya Raman is closing in on reality TV’s Spencer Pratt to face off against incumbent Mayor Karen Bass.
CA governor candidates Steyer, Hilton, Becerra speak on primary night
California governor candidates Tom Steyer, Steve Hilton and Xavier Becerra speak as primary ballots continue to be counted on election night.
Election results in California’s primaries are harkening back to MTV’s reality sensation “The Hills” as its former villain, Spencer Pratt, loses ground in the Los Angeles mayoral race.
Meanwhile, billionaire businessman Tom Steyer, a Democrat, still lags behind British-born Republican political strategist Steve Hilton in the race to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom, an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump.
The candidate that advances to the November general election will face off against Xavier Becerra, a former U.S. health secretary who was already selected to move forward by Golden State voters.
The respective California races have given voters an up-close look at “jungle primaries” in the nation’s most populous state. That means the top two candidates advance regardless of their party.
California has garnered outsized national attention as onlookers await the outcome of both primary elections. A political outsider, the conservative Pratt has relied on frustrations from incumbent Mayor Karen Bass’ handling of last year’s Los Angeles wildfires in his longshot candidacy to unseat the former congresswoman.
And all eyes have remained on Democrats as they seek to succeed Newsom in the gubernatorial competition. Former U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell, once considered a frontrunner, resigned from Congress on April 14 amid sexual misconduct allegations, and dropped out of the race.
Did Spencer Pratt win? Nithya Raman closing in on ‘The Hills’ alum
In the Los Angeles mayoral race, City Councilwoman Nithya Raman has closed in on Pratt. While Bass will advance to the November general election, currently in first place with 34.81% of the vote, Raman is now a closer third with 26.21% to Pratt’s current second place standing of 27.32%. Ballots are still being counted in the primary election.
On June 5, Bass was followed by Pratt at 28.24% and Raman at 24.89%, according to the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk. Raman’s 1.32-percentage-point jump since Friday has been significant for her campaign.
The Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk processed 156,965 ballots on June 6. The total number of ballots processed is 1,774,846, according to the office. That’s 30.12% of registered voters.
Will Steve Hilton or Tom Steyer fight to replace Gavin Newsom?
The race to face former health secretary Becerra remains essentially unchanged. Republican challenger Steve Hilton now has 26.1% compared to 26.4% the previous day. Steyer saw another slight uptick – still in third with 21.3% up from 21.1% – according to the California Secretary of State’s office
From the outset, the gubernatorial contest has attracted national attention. Former Vice President Kamala Harris announced last July that she would not seek the governorship, raising questions about another presidential bid.
Sen. Alex Padilla, the state’s senior senator, declined to run in November 2025. Rep. Katie Porter faced widespread controversy after a video leaked of her berating a former congressional staffer, but she later used the viral backlash in a campaign ad. “Now, could you guys please get out of my shot?” Porter joked.
June 7 is the sixth day state election officials in California are processing primary ballots postmarked by Election Day, after in-person voting ended June 2. Trump, who bestowed his coveted endorsement to Hilton over Sheriff Chad Bianco, has scrutinized the slow-moving counting.
In a series of posts on his Truth Social media platform, Trump, without providing proof, wrote that Democrats are “stealing the vote” in the governor’s race.
Pratt also posted a meme June 6 casting doubt on Los Angeles election security. He wrote, “Me trying to figure out how votes get counted in LA.”
California election officials have explained that the count will take time due to the state’s deluge of mail-in ballots.
“The rest is still unwritten” as singer Natasha Bedingfield proclaims in the “Hills” theme song, used by Raman in a closing campaign ad.
Contributing: Terry Collins, Paris Barazza
