As Pratt Gets Bad News, California Vote-Counting Fuels Conservative Distrust

For Spencer Pratt’s supporters, the last four days of the Los Angeles mayoral primary vote-counting and conclusion were like a gut punch delivered in slow motion. On election night, their candidate held a lead of roughly 40,000 votes over Democratic Socialist City Councilwoman Nithya Raman, a margin that seemed to validate Pratt’s social media insurgency – and set up a November runoff against incumbent Mayor Karen Bass. By Sunday evening, six days later, that lead had evaporated entirely. Raman had pulled ahead by more than 3,100 votes, crushing Pratt’s long-shot dream of flipping Los Angeles City Hall red. “A net...