Spencer Pratt has slipped to third place in the Los Angeles mayoral primary election as socialist candidate Nithya Raman made a surprising leap into second place.
Initially, Pratt, known for his role in “The Hills,” appeared poised to challenge incumbent Mayor Karen Bass in a runoff, especially with former President Donald Trump already voicing suspicions of election fraud.
On Sunday, Pratt took to social media to voice his frustration over the drawn-out vote-counting process.
‘Remember everyone…we are still in the lead, and we’ve got allllllll the way til July 6th to keep counting,’ he wrote, captioning a photo of Raman crying on election night.
Trump, who has been a vocal critic of mail-in voting since his 2020 presidential election defeat to Joe Biden, has been urging states to abandon the practice, which was expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Throughout the ongoing vote tally, Trump has accused Democrats of engaging in dishonest practices.
In a post on Truth Social Thursday night, the former President wrote, “Watch California, everybody! 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.”
Spencer Pratt fell to third place in the Los Angeles mayoral primary election as socialist candidate Nithya Raman surged into second
As of Sunday night’s ballot drop in California, Raman (pictured) has now overtaken Pratt for second place by 3,000 votes and is now favored to win
‘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.
‘They’re not the only ones who know where to find votes.’
Bass retains her lead over the two challengers with 34.7 percent after 83 percent of the ballots were counted.
Raman is now in second place with 27.1 percent of the vote, with Pratt trailing in third with 26.7 percent.
The Daily Mail has reached out to both Pratt and Raman for comment.
Pratt’s messages have become increasingly more desperate after preaching calm just two days earlier.
‘Patience,’ the former Hills star posted to X Friday afternoon, along with several photos of him outside LA City Hall.
The Department of Justice has sent one of its attorneys to the city to observe the ballot counting process, as President Donald Trump has once again claimed fraud as two 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.
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.
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!’ on 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.’
This is a developing story.
