Los Angeles, California - A challenger from the left advanced to a runoff in the Los Angeles mayoral election against incumbent Karen Bass on Monday, as mail-in ballots boosted the candidate to second place ahead of a reality star.

Nithya Raman, a democratic socialist on the Los Angeles City Council, held 28.5% of the votes as of Monday night, advancing past Republican Spencer Pratt who was at 25.8%, according to the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk.

Multiple media outlets, including CNN and NBC News, projected Raman had secured enough votes to advance to the runoff despite the primary ballot count remaining ongoing.

The second-place candidate will go head-to-head in November with incumbent Bass, a Democratic former congresswoman first elected to lead the second-largest US city in 2022, who has come under fire during her time in office.

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"I'm incredibly honored that voters have given us the opportunity to advance to the general election for Mayor of Los Angeles," Raman said in a statement posted on X on Monday night.

"Now our fight for a healthier, safer, more affordable, and more joyful Los Angeles continues," she added.

Pratt, a onetime reality TV villain whose house burned down in the devastating 2025 fires that hit the Los Angeles area, centered his campaign on widespread anger over the city's slow rebuild process, LA's potholed roads, its homelessness crisis, and a city hall seen as inefficient and in thrall to special interests.

His candidacy sat in second place after polls closed last Tuesday, but it has since slipped in the standings as mail-in votes have been counted.

Ballots in California are mailed out to all registered voters and are valid if they are postmarked by Election Day, meaning some do not even arrive at the counting center until several days after polls close.

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The process – and the sheer size of the state of 40 million residents – means California is always slow to finalize results, a fact that frustrates voters of all stripes.

A federal prosecutor appointed by President Donald Trump, Bill Essayli, said he was investigating alleged fraud in the state's primary election, announcing his office would "follow the evidence wherever it leads and prosecute any violations of federal election law to the fullest extent."

The LA mayoral runoff vote will take place with the rest of the midterm elections on Tuesday, November 3.