A left-wing challenger advanced to a runoff in the Los Angeles mayoral election against incumbent Karen Bass on Monday, as mail-in ballots boosted the candidate to second place ahead of a reality star. Nithya Raman, a Democratic Socialist on the Los Angeles City Council, held 28.5 percent of the votes as of Monday night, advancing past Republican Spencer Pratt who was at 25.8 percent, according to the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk. Close battle until the end Multiple US media outlets, including CNN and NBC News, projected Raman had secured enough votes to advance to the runoff despite the primary ballot count remaining ongoing. The second-place candidate will go head-to-head in November with incumbent Bass, a Democratic former congresswoman first elected to lead the second-largest US city in 2022, who has come under fire during her time in office. "I'm incredibly honored that voters have given us the opportunity to advance to the general election for Mayor of Los Angeles," Raman said in a statement posted on X on Monday night. "Now our fight for a healthier, safer, more affordable, and more joyful Los Angeles continues," she added. Pratt, a onetime reality TV villain whose house burned down in the devastating 2025 fires that hit the Los Angeles area, centered his campaign on widespread anger over the city's slow rebuild process, LA's potholed roads, its drug-addled homeless and a city hall seen as inefficient and in thrall to special interests.