SouthernWorldwide.com – The latest batch of California ballot counts shows shifts in key races, with former reality star Spencer Pratt seeing his lead narrow against Councilwoman Nithya Raman in the Los Angeles mayoral contest. Simultaneously, Republican gubernatorial hopeful Steve Hilton has fallen behind Democrat Tom Steyer.
These significant elections in California are gaining national attention, particularly in the wake of the devastating Los Angeles wildfires. They are seen as crucial testing grounds for the trajectory of progressive leadership in the United States.
Spencer Pratt, who is a registered Republican, is currently far behind the incumbent Democratic Mayor Karen Bass. Bass has already secured enough votes to advance to the November general election, effectively ending Pratt’s bid for that stage.
According to the latest tabulation released on Thursday, Pratt has garnered 163,549 votes in the Los Angeles mayoral race. This places him with a nearly 6% lead over Councilwoman Nithya Raman, who has accumulated 130,473 votes. These figures are based on the vote count provided by the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder and the County Clerk.
In the race for California Governor, billionaire Democrat Tom Steyer has overtaken Republican candidate Steve Hilton following the most recent ballot count. This new batch of votes significantly boosted Steyer’s total, adding nearly 24,000 votes to his tally. In comparison, Hilton received 12,309 votes from the same batch.
Both Steyer and Hilton are trailing behind the frontrunner, Xavier Becerra. Becerra, the former Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary under President Joe Biden, saw his vote total increase from 390,154 to 418,130 in the Thursday count by the county registrar.
Similar to the Los Angeles mayoral race, if no candidate secures more than 50% of the votes in the gubernatorial election, the top two contenders will proceed to a runoff election scheduled for November.
Although California’s polls closed on June 2, it is important to note that the final election results may take several weeks to be determined. The state has a history of extended counting periods; for instance, the official final results from the 2024 election were not certified by State Secretary of State Shirley Weber until December, a period of 38 days after the polls closed.
To address this extended timeline, a bipartisan bill was passed in 2025. This legislation mandates that “non-problematic” votes be counted within a 13-day period, aiming to expedite the process.
California is a leader in the use of mail-in ballots across the nation. In 2024, a substantial 81% of voters chose to cast their ballots by mail. This figure is nearly double the national average of 43% for the same year, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
