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Bass and Raman Advance in LA Mayoral Primary as Pratt Falls to Third

Neutral summary

Spencer Pratt, the reality television personality best known from 'The Hills', ran a genuinely competitive enough campaign to dominate news coverage of the Los Angeles mayoral race, but Sunday's primary results pushed him into third place, ending his path to City Hall. Incumbent Mayor Karen Bass and City Council member Nithya Raman emerged as the top two finishers, setting up a November runoff under California's top-two primary system, which advances the leading candidates regardless of party. Raman, a progressive councilmember, surged past Pratt late in the count to claim second place. The race drew national attention partly because of Pratt's celebrity profile and partly because President Trump weighed in after the results became clear, calling California elections 'crooked' and warning of 'great trouble and consternation' if Republicans are locked out of the general election. California's jungle primary format is a perennial source of friction for national Republicans, since a crowded field of GOP-adjacent candidates can split a vote and collectively fall short of the top two. Bass now faces a rematch-style general election against a challenger from the left, while Pratt's third-place finish closes what was one of the more unusual chapters in a city that has, admittedly, seen a few of those.

What the left has said

Inferred left

“Bass and Raman Advance in LA Primary, Trump Attacks California Election Rules”

Karen Bass and Nithya Raman's advance to the November runoff is a straightforward outcome for left-leaning coverage, which frames the result as a contest between two progressive women over who can best address Los Angeles's housing crisis and its still-smoldering recovery from the January wildfires. Raman, a City Council member who built her profile on tenant protections and neighborhood planning, is cast as the insurgent challenger to an incumbent whose tenure has been marked by persistent homelessness and the fires. The more pointed angle for left-leaning outlets is Trump's post-election broadside: his 'crooked' accusation against California election officials, and his threat of unspecified federal consequences, is framed as an attempt to delegitimize a democratic result he disliked. Pratt's campaign, in this telling, was a Trump-aligned distraction rather than a serious candidacy.

What the right says

Right

“Trump Warns California Over 'Crooked' Election as GOP Shut Out of LA Runoff”

For right-leaning outlets, It is less about Bass versus Raman and more about what they frame as a structurally rigged electoral system. California's top-two primary format is the villain here: a fragmented Republican and conservative vote, split among multiple candidates including Pratt, produces a November ballot with no GOP option, which is exactly the outcome Trump flagged when he called the system 'crooked' and threatened 'great trouble and consternation.' The New York Post leads with Trump's reaction, not the vote tallies, positioning his anger as a legitimate warning to state officials rather than sour grapes. Pratt is treated sympathetically as a candidate who energized an underrepresented coalition but was defeated by a process designed to produce outcomes like this one.