Vice President JD Vance said Monday that the outcome of the Los Angeles mayoral primary election raised concerns, with two Democrats now set to face off in November after a late count of mail-in ballots shifted Spencer Pratt from second place to third.
Current Mayor Karen Bass and Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman will compete in the general election for control of City Hall. Under California's top-two system, no candidate received more than 50 percent in the March primary, triggering a runoff between the two leading vote-getters.
Pratt, a reality television personality known for his role on "The Simple Life," had been running second in initial counts before Raman overtook him as mail-in ballots were processed over the weekend. The shift eliminated the Republican from contention and set up a Democrat-versus-Democrat general election contest.
"## What the Left Is Saying"
Democratic officials and progressive analysts have attributed the vote-counting pattern to normal voting behavior rather than irregularities. They note that Democratic and progressive voters in California historically favor mail-in voting at higher rates than Republicans, meaning late-arriving ballots tend to skew toward left-leaning candidates.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom's office declined to comment specifically on Vance's remarks but emphasized confidence in the state's election infrastructure. The Governor has previously defended California's vote-by-mail system as secure and accurate.
Election law experts cited by multiple California news outlets pointed out that the pattern of Democratic mail-in votes favoring Raman over Pratt was consistent with historical voting trends in Los Angeles, a city where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by nearly 2 million. "This is exactly what we would expect given LA's electorate," one election analyst told reporters.
"## What the Right Is Saying"
Vice President Vance expressed skepticism during an interview with Fox News host Jesse Watters on Monday evening. "The problem here with this whole thing is, how is it that you had Karen Bass in first place, Spencer Pratt in second place, and then this other woman was in third place," Vance said. "You would expect these mail-in ballots to kind of meet that same basic pattern."
President Trump also weighed in on the California results, calling the primary election "rigged" during public remarks. The President stormed out of a subsequent NBC News interview after correspondent Kristen Welker pressed him on the claim.
Republican National Committee officials said they were monitoring the situation and reviewing ballot-counting procedures in Los Angeles County. A party spokesperson noted that the late shift from Pratt to Raman warranted scrutiny, though no formal challenge had been filed as of Monday evening.
"## What the Numbers Show"
According to final certified results from the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder, Karen Bass received approximately 42 percent of the vote in initial counts. Nithya Raman finished with roughly 31 percent after mail-in ballots were fully processed, while Spencer Pratt dropped to third place with approximately 27 percent.
The shift occurred over several days as county officials counted mail-in ballots that arrived close to Election Day, a legally permissible practice under California law. Ballots postmarked by Election Day and received within seven days of the election are still eligible for counting.
Registered Democrats in Los Angeles County number approximately 2.5 million compared to roughly 600,000 registered Republicans, making Democrats outnumber their GOP counterparts by nearly 2 million voters in the county.
"## The Bottom Line"
The Los Angeles mayoral race now heads to November with two Democratic candidates competing for the city's top executive position. Incumbent Karen Bass will face Nithya Raman, a City Council member who ran on a platform of housing reform and government accountability.
Federal officials have not announced any investigation into the California primary results as of Monday night. The Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder's office has defended its vote-counting timeline as consistent with state law and standard election procedures.
Vance's comments add to a broader pattern of Republican scrutiny of mail-in voting procedures in Democratic-leaning states following the 2024 election cycle. Election security experts stress that California's vote-by-mail system includes multiple verification safeguards, including signature matching and ballot tracking for registered voters.