Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is heading to a November run-off after failing to secure the 50% threshold required to win outright in the primary.
With 63% of the vote counted, Bass sits at 35%, leaving the door open for either reality television star Spencer Pratt or far-left council member Nithya Raman to challenge her for the leadership of America's second-largest city.
The election comes at a critical juncture for Los Angeles, which continues to grapple with a severe homelessness crisis and the fallout from the catastrophic Palisades Fire. Bass has faced intense scrutiny over her administration's response to the blaze, which destroyed thousands of homes and resulted in 12 deaths.
Spencer Pratt, a political outsider, has centered his campaign on the reality that Los Angeles has become unsafe and unclean under current leadership, advocating for mandatory drug treatment to address the homelessness epidemic.
Meanwhile, Nithya Raman, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, has attempted to outflank Bass from the left, criticizing the mayor for not doing enough to solve the city's housing and homelessness woes.
As the city prepares to host the 2028 Olympics, voters are clearly dissatisfied with the status quo in a state that has been run by liberal policies for over a decade.
The primary results reflect a broader political landscape in California, where residents are struggling with the highest cost of living in the nation and a governor's race that has become the most expensive in history.
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