When Los Angeles voters headed to the polls on Tuesday, June 2, to elect their next mayor, few expected the race would become a lightning rod for national election skepticism. Yet that’s precisely what unfolded as vote counting stretched on—and celebrity reality-TV personality Spencer Pratt watched his initial momentum slip away.
Pratt, 42, had positioned himself as a viable second-place candidate behind incumbent Mayor Karen Bass. But as ballots continued to be counted over the following week, Los Angeles City Council member Nithya Raman, 44, overtook him for the crucial second slot that would advance to November’s runoff. NBC News confirmed the shift on Sunday, June 7, leaving Pratt explaining the outcome via Instagram:“Me trying to figure out how votes get counted in LA.”
That confusion didn’t stay confined to social media. President Donald Trump, 79, seized on the delayed results to amplify doubts about election integrity.“Not possible for Spencer Pratt to have lost the L.A. runoffs after the big lead he had,”Trump wrote via Truth Social on Monday, June 8.“3rd World Nation. Rigged Elections!”He also took aim at Republican Steve Hilton’s gubernatorial race, which remains uncalled in California.
The timing and pace of counting in Los Angeles—stretching well beyond election night—have become a flashpoint in the broader election-integrity debate. During the Monday, June 8, episode of The View, cohosts tackled the issue head-on. Alyssa Farah Griffin argued that slow counting breeds distrust:“People tend not to trust elections when it takes a really long time to count votes. L.A. and California in general need to figure out how to do it quicker. Change the laws so you can do it in one day. Florida has a lot of mail-in and they get results the same night.”
Sunny Hostin countered that precision trumps speed:“It does take a long time to be right,”she said, applauding the county for“taking their time to count the votes.”
The real tension here isn’t about Pratt himself—his candidacy was always a long shot. It’s about whether election administration timelines fuel legitimate concerns or unfounded conspiracy. As votes continue to be tallied and the runoff between Bass and either Raman or another candidate takes shape, Los Angeles has become a case study in how procedure shapes public confidence. The question isn’t whether the count is right—it’s whether voters believe the system itself is trustworthy enough to wait for the answer.
About the Author
Ava Hart
Ava Hart is a contributor to LocalBeat, covering local news and community stories.
