Socialist Nithya Raman Who Pushed To Reform ‘Mansion Tax’ Surges Ahead of Reality Star Spencer Pratt in L.A. Mayor’s Race

Nearly a week after the California primaries, a fierce battle has broken out for the final spot in the Los Angeles mayoral runoff election, with former reality TV star Spencer Pratt and City Council Member Nithya Raman now locked in a neck-and-neck race.

The morning after the nonpartisan June 2 vote, Pratt, a registered Republican running as an independent, looked poised to join Mayor Karen Bass on the November ballot after the Democrat incumbent comfortably advanced in first place. 

But as mail-in ballots were being tallied over the following days, the progressive Democrat Raman began chipping away at Pratt's 8.1-percentage point advantage.

By Sunday, Raman, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, edged just ahead of the "The Hills" alum, moving into second place behind Bass with a razor-thin lead of just over 3,000 votes.

With an estimated 150,000 ballots still left to be processed by election officials, the contest remains too close to call as of Monday.

Republicans question shifting results

According to the latest numbers from the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, Bass currently has 34.68% of the vote, followed by Raman with 27.12%, with Pratt bringing up the rear with 26.69%.  

Prominent Republicans, led by President Donald Trump, questioned Raman's late surge and alleged, without providing any evidence, that it was the result of ballot tampering.

"No way this could have happened. Rigged Election!" Trump posted on Truth Social early Monday.

Pratt on Sunday shared with his nearly 2 million Instagram followers a meme from the movie "A Beautiful Mind" showing Russell Crowe as mathematician John Nash doing calculations on a board, writing in an accompanying post: "Me trying to figure out how votes get counted in LA." 

California elections often take take days to decide due to the proliferation of mail-in ballots, which are counted if they are postmarked by Election Day and arrive at an election office within seven days.

The ballots are mostly counted in the order they are received, so the last ones to arrive are usually the last ones to be processed.

Election data cited by the Associated Press indicates that many registered Democrats returned their mail-in ballots near the deadline, which could explain Raman's vote tally rising over the weekend to surpass Pratt's.

Raman's housing platform

Raman, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, is running on addressing housing affordability challenges by aggressively accelerating construction and introducing greater density in more parts of L.A., including single-family neighborhoods.

Earlier this year, Raman proposed putting a measure on the ballot to exempt newly built multifamily, commercial, and mixed-use building from the Measure ULA, commonly known as a "mansion tax," for 15 years.

The controversial transfer tax imposes a 4% levy on property sales of $5.3 million to $10.6 million, and a 5.5% levy on sales over $10.6 million. Contrary to its moniker, Measure ULA is not limited to mansions: It applies to all real estate priced at over $5 million, including apartment buildings, commercial properties, and vacant lots.

Raman, who previously endorsed the tax, in January admitted that it has had the unintended consequence of slowing the development of multifamily and mixed-use housing.

"We are sabotaging ourselves," the council member said in January. "A policy that unintentionally stalls housing production undermines the very goal that voters asked us to achieve."

As mayor, Raman promises to mandate that city departments respond to approve any housing project that is compliant with current zoning within 60 days.

Bass, who is politically more conservative than the left-of-center Raman, has called for restricitng multifamily projects to commercial main streets rather than residential neighborhoods.

She also asked Gov. Gavin Newsom to veto state legislation that would allow denser development near transit stops in areas zoned for single-family homes.

On Measure ULA, Bass previously asked state lawmakers to withdraw a bill aimed at reforming the tax, arguing that more tweaks were needed to get the policy right.

Pratt zeroes in on homelessness

Meanwhile, Pratt has made combating homelessness the centerpiece of his mayoral campaign. 

"I got in this because as a citizen, I felt like my city failed—myself, my neighbors, my family," he said, after accusing Mayor Bass of allowing L.A. to become a place where unhoused drug addicts are "shooting up fentanyl with their pants off."

On the issue of housing, Pratt has promised to accelerate construction and bring 20,000 new apartments to downtown L.A. by “getting rid of” homeless people camping outing vacant buildings. 

Pratt also has been a relentless critic of Bass’s leadership during last year’s devastating wildfires, which scorched through his upscale neighborhood of Pacific Palisaded and destroyed the $2.5 million home he shared with his wife, Heidi Montag, and their two children.

Pratt and Montag have said they cannot afford to rebuild their three-bedroom and have been living in a rental since January 2025. 

Ahead of the primary, Pratt announced that he would move out of L.A. if he is not elected mayor, arguing that he does not want to raise his children in a city he characterized as being filled with "naked zombies." With Pratt now projected to miss the runoff, it's unclear if he intends to follow through on his threat.