Two registered Democrats will square off for mayor of Los Angeles this November after Decision Desk HQ called the primary race for Nithya Raman on Sunday, projecting her into the runoff alongside incumbent Karen Bass and pushing reality television star Spencer Pratt, the lone registered Republican in contention, to third place.

With roughly 87 percent of votes tallied, Bass led the non-partisan field at 34.68 percent. Raman secured the second slot at 27.12 percent, edging Pratt, who finished at 26.69 percent. The margin between Raman and Pratt, less than half a percentage point, tightened steadily throughout the week as California's mail-in ballots were counted.

The result means L.A. voters will choose between two Democrats in the general election. For a city battered by wildfires, a homelessness crisis, and persistent questions about public safety, the absence of any center-right alternative on the November ballot is a telling outcome, and one that says as much about California's electoral machinery as it does about the candidates themselves.

How Pratt's election-night lead disappeared

On election night, Pratt held the lead over Raman. That advantage shrank day by day as mail-in ballots arrived and were processed. By Sunday, the gap had flipped entirely.

The pattern is familiar in California. As Breitbart reported, CNN noted that California elections often take several days to resolve because the state runs a largely mail-in system in which properly postmarked ballots received up to seven days after Election Day can be counted. CNN added that votes reported after election night in California tend to shift toward Democrats because they typically include mail ballots cast closer to Election Day itself.

That built-in structural tilt is worth pausing on. In a state where late-arriving mail ballots reliably break one direction, any Republican candidate who leads on election night faces a familiar countdown, not toward confirmation, but toward erosion.

Bass locked up her spot in the runoff early, on June 2. The real drama was always the fight for second place.

Pratt refuses to concede

Pratt had not conceded as of Sunday. Earlier that day, he posted a defiant message suggesting his campaign would wait until every last ballot was counted:

"Remember everyone...we are still in the lead, and we've got allllllll the way til July 6th to keep counting. They're not the only ones who know where to find votes."

The July 6 date aligns with California's window for receiving late-arriving mail ballots. Whether the remaining uncounted votes, roughly 13 percent of the total, can close a gap that has only widened against Pratt is an open question. But the trajectory has not been kind to him. Every new batch of ballots moved the numbers in Raman's direction.

Pratt's tone carried a note of suspicion about the counting process. His phrase, "They're not the only ones who know where to find votes", stopped short of a formal allegation but signaled he views the post-election-night shift with skepticism. Whether that skepticism translates into any formal challenge remains to be seen.

A city stuck with one-party options

The Los Angeles mayoral race is officially non-partisan. In practice, the projected November matchup between Bass and Raman gives voters a choice between two Democrats, an incumbent and a challenger running to her left.

That is the structural reality of big-city politics in California. The primary winnows the field. The general election ratifies the primary's verdict. And Republican or conservative-leaning voters, who gave Pratt more than a quarter of the primary vote, are left without a candidate in the fall.

Bass, the incumbent, earned just over a third of the vote. Raman, who won the second slot, pulled roughly 27 percent. Together they commanded about 62 percent of the counted ballots. Pratt's 26.69 percent share was no small showing for a first-time candidate best known for cable television, but it was not enough to survive the mail-ballot math.

What the numbers show

The vote breakdown, with roughly 87 percent of ballots counted:

• Karen Bass (Democrat): 34.68%
• Nithya Raman (Democrat): 27.12%
• Spencer Pratt (Republican): 26.69%

Decision Desk HQ made the call for Raman on Sunday. The total number of votes cast has not been disclosed in available reporting, nor has the official election authority released a final certified count.

The road to November

Bass and Raman now head toward a runoff in a city that has spent the last several years lurching from crisis to crisis. Los Angeles residents dealing with homelessness, housing costs, public safety concerns, and wildfire recovery will get to choose between two candidates who share a party label but may differ on emphasis and approach.

For conservative voters in L.A., the lesson is blunt. Even when a Republican candidate leads on election night, California's mail-ballot infrastructure can methodically erase that advantage in the days that follow. The system is legal. It is established. And it consistently favors one side.

Whether Pratt's remaining hope, that the final 13 percent of uncounted ballots might reverse his slide, has any realistic basis is unclear. The trend line since election night has pointed in one direction only.

Several questions remain unanswered. Has Pratt formally conceded since Sunday? Will his campaign mount a legal or procedural challenge? And how many total ballots were cast in a race that drew national attention partly because of Pratt's celebrity?

None of that changes the bottom line. Los Angeles is on track for a November runoff between two Democrats. The city's voters asked for an alternative. The system delivered more of the same.

When the machinery always finishes the count in one direction, the election-night scoreboard is just a rough draft, and the final copy reads the same way every time.