Bass, Raman, Pratt in Dead Heat as L.A. Mayoral Election Nears

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News, Daily News, Society & Culture, The Times, California

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🗓️ 1 June 2026

⏱️ 7 minutes

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Summary

The showdown for LA mayor is tighter than ever. New polling from UC Berkeley co-sponsored by the L.A. Times shows Karen Bass at 26%, City Council Member Nithya Raman at 25%, and former reality TV personality Spencer Pratt at 22%, meaning Bass has a statistically insignificant lead. Governor Gavin Newsom endorsed Bass, and she's secured support from major political groups. But Pratt's anti-establishment campaign is gaining traction. Voters will also decide seven City Council seats, the City Attorney, Controller, three School Board spots, and ballot measures on hotel and cannabis taxes. On the county level, races include Sheriff, Board of Supervisors, a healthcare sales tax, and Superior Court judge positions. If you plan to vote by mail in the California primary, it's not too late. You can drop your ballot at an official drop box, take it to a polling center by 8 p.m. on election day Tuesday, June 2, or mail it. But if you send it by mail, your ballot must be postmarked on or before June 2. If you missed the voter registration deadline in May, you can still cast a ballot through the same-day conditional voter registration process by heading to a vote center or county election office. Read more at https://www.latimes.com

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is an LA Times Studios podcast.
0:09.6	California's primary election is just days away.
0:12.6	So if you're still figuring out how to vote, what's on the ballot or which races to watch,
0:17.7	here's what you need to know before Tuesday, June 2nd.
0:21.1	The showdown for mayor of Los Angeles continues, with polling showing incumbent mayor Karen Bass
0:26.8	holding a statistically insignificant lead. According to polling of likely voters from UC Berkeley,
0:33.4	co-sponsored by the Times, it's a super tight race. Bass is at 26% with city council member
0:39.8	Nathia Rahman clocking it at 25%. And former reality TV personality, Spencer Pratt, at 22%.
0:47.0	And so you have the Republican conservatives represented by Pratt who, you know, are about 15 to 20 percent.
0:55.5	They never win because everybody always coalesces against them.
0:58.9	There are no really significant Republicans in Los Angeles or anywhere nearby.
1:04.1	Then you have the establishment, basically, from Mayor Bradley in 73 to the present with Mayor Bass over 50, 60 years of ruling LA.
1:15.6	And then you have the DSA that has just emerged in the last 10 years.
1:19.5	But then you also have this moderate Democrat business type, you know,
1:24.2	kind of a lot of the principles that you've seen in the in the abundance movement.
1:29.3	Fernando Guerra is the founding director of the Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola
1:33.6	Marymount University.
1:35.4	He says no candidate is poised to win the election outright.
1:39.3	Any of those three candidates, Bass, Pratt or Rahman, could appear in a head-to-head runoff election in November.
1:46.2	But here's another wrinkle in the polling and in the race.
1:49.7	Two of the top candidates are fairly unpopular.
1:53.0	Bass and Pratt both have an unfavorability rating of 57%.
	...

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