Spencer Pratt has voiced strong criticism over the protracted ballot counting process in California, expressing his frustration as he trails behind progressive challenger Nithya Raman.
Despite initial confidence, bolstered by the oversight of Donald Trump’s Department of Justice, Pratt’s lead over Raman seemed secure enough to advance him to a runoff against current officeholder Karen Bass.
However, by Saturday evening, Pratt’s advantage had dwindled to a mere one-point margin following a fresh batch of ballots that saw Raman receiving more votes than both Pratt and fellow Democrat Bass.
In response, Pratt took to social media platform X on Saturday night, sharing a meme from the movie “A Beautiful Mind,” featuring Russell Crowe calculating complex equations, to express his dismay.
‘Me trying to figure out how votes get counted in LA,’ he captioned the post.
On Saturday, Raman managed to secure 40.2 percent of the newly counted ballots, adding 23,514 votes to her tally.
Bass followed with 19,312 votes, translating to 33 percent, while Pratt lagged behind with 10,336 votes, or 17.7 percent of the total.
Bass now has a lengthy lead over Pratt, with 34.8 percent of the vote counted so far to the former reality TV star’s 27.3 percent.
Spencer Pratt (pictured left) slammed California’s absurdly slow ballot counting process as he continued to lose ground to leftist insurgent Nithya Raman
However, socialist City Councilmember Raman now stands at 26.2 percent, trailing Pratt by just 7,400 votes.
There remains nearly a quarter of the city’s ballots left to count, but VoteHub reported Raman as ‘on track’ to face Bass in the runoff when the counting is finished.
It’s a different message from the one Pratt sent out just a day earlier.
‘Patience,’ the former Hills star posted to X Friday afternoon, along with several photos of himself outside of LA City Hall.
The Department of Justice has sent one of its attorneys to Los Angeles to observe the ballot-counting process, as President Donald Trump has once again claimed fraud as two key races have yet to be called.
The tedious process of counting all of California’s mail-in ballots has left the fate of Republicans Pratt and Steve Hilton hanging in the balance.
Billionaire activist Tom Steyer has creeped within five points of Hilton after today’s ballot drop, with fellow Democrat Xavier Becerra already confirmed for the runoff.
However, Hilton still remains favored to hang on by continuing to gain enough votes from more conservative parts of the state.
Raman (pictured) won 40.2 percent of all ballots counted on Saturday, adding 23,514 votes to her total
Bass (pictured right) came in second place, with 19,312 votes, or 33 percent, while Pratt finished with just 10,336, or 17.7 percent
Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Renner was spotted Friday walking through LA County’s central processing center, according to footage from Fox News, alongside a member of Democratic California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s team.
‘My office has a presence on the ground right now, is monitoring the situation closely, and stands ready to protect voters and ensure California’s election laws are followed,’ Bonta posted to X, sharing a story about the feds being on hand.
Bass will advance to a November runoff, but with so many ballots left outstanding, it remains unclear whether Pratt or progressive city council member Nithya Raman will be her opponent.
Because of California’s large Democratic population – and the fact that more left-leaning voters appeared to vote by mail and vote by mail later in the election process – the race is still expected to be a nail-biter for Hilton.
Mail-in ballots can be counted as long as they were dropped off by 8pm on Election Day.
Additionally, California has a history of taking days to count all those ballots.
Trump, who lost the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden due to the widespread use of mail-in ballots during the COVID-19 pandemic, has long pushed for states to do away with that voting method.
Since Election Day, he has claimed that the Democrats are cheating as the count has continued.
The tedious process of counting all of California’s mail-in ballots has left the fate of Republicans Pratt and Steve Hilton (pictured) hanging in the balance
Trump, who lost the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden due to the widespread use of mail-in ballots during the COVID-19 pandemic, has long pushed for states to do away with that voting method
‘Watch California, everybody!’ the President posted to Truth Social Thursday night. ‘Our Election process is as bad, or worse, than any Third World Country. The biggest difference is, they count their Votes much faster – They don’t wait seven days to tell you who won, rigging the Election during each and every one of them.’
‘Americans are ashamed of what is happening!’ Trump added.
Trump brought up the long waits again during his Friday trip to Wisconsin, a speech predominantly billed as a message to the state’s farmers.
‘Can you imagine, it’s four days, and they still aren’t even close to telling you who won. You know why? Because they’re rigging the election, that’s why,’ the President claimed.
The President used California to push Republican lawmakers to pass the Save America Act, a voting bill that would restrict the use of mail-in ballots and expand voter ID.
Despite Republicans having majorities in both houses, the Save America Act is stuck in the US Senate due to widespread Democratic opposition and several moderate GOP holdouts.
The press office for California’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, who is term-limited and thus cannot run for reelection, mused on X Thursday: ‘Why do Republicans hate that California counts every vote?’
Hilton has grumbled at the slow pace of the count, calling the process a ‘global laughing stock’ by pointing out that India can tally up 600 million ballots in one day.
‘We’re as confident as ever that we will make the top two,’ he said in an X post Thursday night.
Pratt has reacted to the wait by posting ‘God always wins’ Thursday afternoon.
His wife, reality TV star Heidi Montag, wrote, ‘Never give up, never surrender!’ Friday morning, though it was not entirely clear if she was referring to the LA mayoral election.
Montag has not explicitly backed her husband’s campaign on social media, instead writing cryptic posts and advertising her new music.
The day before, she had posted simply, ‘Croissants are magic.’
