Spencer Pratt Warned LA This Would Happen. Now Nithya Raman Is Blowing Past Karen Bass.

Spencer Pratt didn't make the November runoff, but his warning did.

The latest UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll has DSA-backed City Councilmember Nithya Raman at 39 percent and Mayor Karen Bass at 28 percent. The DSA, which has called for defunding the police and abolishing prisons, endorsed Raman's mayoral run earlier this month. Another 33 percent of likely voters haven't chosen either candidate. The online survey of 2,150 likely Los Angeles voters was conducted Sept. 15-20 and has a margin of error of about three percentage points. 

Pratt had a simple response.

I told everyone that if you don’t vote for me, Raman will beat Bass. That’s why she entered the race 10 minutes before the clerk's office closed. She knew I was gonna destroy Bass 1-on-1. Good luck LA. pic.twitter.com/00aaxVDTgb

— Spencer Pratt (@spencerpratt) September 23, 2026

And this wasn't Pratt taking a victory lap off one friendly poll. RedState covered his primary surprise in June, when he initially ran second behind Bass and ahead of Raman as the first election-night returns came in.

More ballots came in, Raman passed Pratt and took the second runoff spot.

The new poll found that 63 percent of people who supported Pratt in June remain undecided. Of those who have picked one of the two remaining candidates, 22 percent backed Bass, and 16 percent chose Raman.

That makes Pratt more than a guy posting from the sidelines. A candidate who did not survive the primary left behind a voter bloc large enough to scramble the runoff.

Bass has another problem in the numbers. Just 28 percent of likely voters viewed her favorably, while 63 percent viewed her unfavorably. Raman was essentially even, with 40 percent favorable and 39 percent unfavorable. 

Bass dismissed the survey as an “outlier poll” that “means very little with 40 days to go,” while Raman argued that it reflected growing momentum for her campaign. 

One big number keeps this from being anything close to settled: 33 percent of likely voters are still undecided. Poll director Mark DiCamillo called that “extraordinarily unusual” this late in the race. That's a huge pile of votes still sitting there with six weeks to go.

Kalshi noticed, too. After the poll dropped, its Los Angeles mayoral contract moved Raman to 58 percent and Bass to 42 percent. The traders got the memo.

Bass is now trying to hold off a candidate backed by several major labor groups and the DSA. The November choice is an incumbent Democrat against a DSA-backed councilmember, while Pratt, who spent the primary pounding the city's record on homelessness, public safety and basic services, watches from outside the race.

RedState has already covered Bass and Raman trading blame over Los Angeles' homelessness crisis, including Raman's removal as chair of the City Council's Housing and Homelessness Committee. And just Wednesday, Pratt again went after Bass over her comments about California's one-party political landscape.

Pratt wasn't exactly subtle during the primary. He hammered homelessness, public safety, basic city services, and the response to the Palisades fire, which destroyed his own home. Much of his campaign came back to the same complaint: The people running Los Angeles had not earned another free pass.

Pratt won't get his Bass one-on-one. Instead, the matchup he kept warning about is the one Los Angeles got, and the latest poll has Raman 11 points ahead.

“Good luck LA,” indeed. 

Editor's Note: The Democrat Party has been infected by socialism, and it's spreading FAST. Democrats are claiming there's nothing to worry about, but we know the truth.

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