Nithya Raman, a progressive Los Angeles city council member, pulls ahead of Spencer Pratt in the race for second place needed to face Mayor Karen Bass in the November runoff. Multiple outlets report that Raman had trailed Pratt for several days, but as additional ballots are processed and counted—particularly remaining vote totals from the weekend—Raman gains ground and takes a narrow lead. Decision Desk HQ figures cited by one outlet show Raman moving closer to second place, while another reports she overtakes Pratt after the next batch of ballots is released. By late weekend counts, Raman’s lead is small, with at least one report putting her ahead by about 0.4 percentage points, or a few thousand votes, as turnout remains only partially counted. Bass is described as already having enough votes to advance to the runoff. Pratt, a Republican and former reality TV star, has been portrayed as frustrated by the pace of vote counting, while Raman is characterized across reports as closing in on and then passing Pratt for the position that determines who competes with Bass.