The prolonged process of tallying California’s mail-in ballots has left the political futures of Republicans Spencer Pratt and Steve Hilton uncertain. According to the Associated Press, only 64% of votes in the Los Angeles mayoral race have been accounted for since the election on Tuesday. Spencer Pratt, a former reality TV personality, is attempting to challenge the current Democratic Mayor, Karen Bass, after losing his $3 million home in the Palisades fire last year. Currently, Pratt trails in second place. While Bass is set to move forward to a November runoff, the question remains whether Pratt or progressive city council member Nithya Raman will face her. Recent data from the New York Times shows Raman holding a slight advantage over Pratt, based on the 60,000 ballots processed on Wednesday and Thursday. Typically, mail-in voters in California skew Democratic, potentially affecting Pratt’s narrow 7-point lead. Despite Pratt being a registered Republican, the Los Angeles mayoral candidates are listed without party affiliations due to California’s unique jungle primary system. Over in the governor’s race, Steve Hilton is maintaining a lead, with an estimated 60% of the votes counted.
Hilton Holds Slim Lead in Tight Race
The London-born Hilton, who previously made a name for himself on Fox News, holds a slim lead over leading Democrat and former health and human services secretary Xavier Becerra. Becerra is marginally ahead of Democratic billionaire Tom Steyer by about six points. However, given California’s predominately Democratic electorate and the tendency for more liberal voters to cast mail-in ballots closer to Election Day, Hilton’s race remains highly competitive and unpredictable.
Mail-In Ballots Delay Final Results
Mail-in ballots in California are valid as long as they are submitted by 8 pm on Election Day, and historically, the state takes several days to complete the count. Former President Donald Trump, who attributed his 2020 loss to Joe Biden to the widespread use of mail-in voting during the pandemic, has consistently advocated for its elimination. Since the recent Election Day, Trump has accused Democrats of engaging in fraudulent activities as the counting continues.
Trump Slams California’s Election Process
‘Watch California, everybody!’ the President posted to Truth Social Thursday night. ‘Our Election process is as bad, or worse, than any Third World Country. The biggest difference is, they count their Votes much faster – They don’t wait seven days to tell you who won, rigging the Election during each and every one of them.’ ‘Americans are ashamed of what is happening!’ Trump added. The President used California to push Republican lawmakers to pass the Save America Act, a voting bill that would restrict the use of mail-in ballots and expand voter ID.
Senate Stalemate Fuels Voting Debate
Despite Republicans having majorities in both houses, the Save America Act is stuck in the US Senate due to widespread Democratic opposition and several moderate GOP holdouts. The press office for California’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, who is term-limited and thus cannot run for reelection, mused on X Thursday: ‘Why do Republicans hate that California counts every vote?’ Hilton has grumbled at the slow pace of the count, calling the process a ‘global laughing stock’ by pointing out that India can tally up 600 million ballots in one day. ‘We’re as confident as ever that we will make the top two,’ he said in an X post Thursday night. Pratt has reacted to the wait by posting ‘God always wins’ Thursday afternoon. His wife, reality TV star Heidi Montag, wrote, ‘Never give up, never surrender!’ Friday morning, though it was not entirely clear if she was referring to the LA mayoral election. , instead writing cryptic posts and advertising her new music. The day before, she had posted simply, ‘Croissants are magic.’
