Spencer Pratt loses ground to Democrat while Hilton maintains lead in latest California ballot batch drop

Spencer Pratt, Steve Hilton lose ground to Democrats in latest California ballot batch drop

Former reality star Pratt still leads Raman, but gained under 6,000 votes compared to her 10,000 in latest count

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Jesse Watters: California's mail-in ballot system is slow by design

Fox News host Jesse Watters details how California's mail-in ballot system is designed for slowness on 'Jesse Watters Primetime.'

Former reality star Spencer Pratt’s lead over Councilwoman Nithya Raman in the Los Angeles mayoral contest narrowed Thursday, while Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton slid behind Democrat Tom Steyer.

Following the devastating Los Angeles wildfires, California’s key elections have taken on national significance, serving as critical testing grounds for the future of progressive leadership.

Pratt, a registered Republican, sits far behind incumbent Democratic Mayor Karen Bass for a chance to advance to the November general election. Bass has already secured enough votes to advance.

With 163,549 votes in Los Angeles' latest tabulation, Pratt maintains a near 6% lead on Raman, who has 130,473 votes, according to the Thursday vote count from Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder and the County Clerk.

A Fox News Digital review of an archived version of Los Angeles' official vote tally shows that Raman gained over 10,000 votes in the latest count compared to under 6,000 for Pratt. At the previous count, Pratt had 157,116 votes compared to Raman's 119,809.

LA CITY COUNCILWOMAN PREVIOUSLY BACKED BY DSA RUNNING FOR MAYOR IN PRIMARY CHALLENGE TO BASS

Mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt hosts a campaign block party on 10th Avenue in Los Angeles on May 20, 2026. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

CALIFORNIA ELECTION RESULTS STILL UNDECIDED AS LOS ANGELES BEGINS COUNTING BALLOTS

In the governor's race, billionaire Democrat Tom Steyer surged past Republican candidate Steve Hilton after the latest count. The batch boosted the billionaire, adding nearly 24,000 votes to his count, almost double the 12,309 votes that Hilton received.

HILTON, BECERRA IN THE LEAD WITH VOTES STILL BEING COUNTED IN BATTLE FOR CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR

Democratic candidate Tom Steyer attends a debate in the race for governor of California, hosted by the San Francisco Examiner and CBS, in San Francisco, California, on May 14, 2026. (Carlos Barria/REUTERS)

Both candidates trail frontrunner Xavier Becerra, the former Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary under President Joe Biden. Becerra saw his vote total jump from 390,154 to 418,130 in the county registrar's Thursday count.

Like the mayoral race, if no candidate receives more than 50% of the votes in the gubernatorial race, the top two candidates will advance to a November runoff.

Former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, a Democratic gubernatorial candidate, speaks during a roundtable discussion with representatives from the Child Guidance Center in Santa Ana on Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (Leonard Ortiz/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images)

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While California's polls closed on June 2, it could take weeks for results to be final. The state did not have its official final results from the 2024 election until state Secretary of State Shirley Weber certified the election results in December, 38 days later.

A bipartisan bill has since passed in 2025 requiring "non-problematic" votes to be counted within 13 days.

The state leads the nation in mail-in ballots, with 81% of voters sending their choices by post in 2024, nearly double the national average of 43% for 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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