Keep in mind that, in tight races particularly, the winner may not be known for days or weeks after Election Day. That's because early voting and mail-in ballots have fundamentally reshaped how votes are counted and when election results are known.
It was a good news, bad news kind of day for L.A. Mayor Karen Bass as she won enough votes Wednesday to advance to the general election in November.
The bad news? It looks like she's about to step into a brutal race against her closest competitor, reality TV star Spencer Pratt. And while ballots are still being counted, it's looking like City Councilmember Nithya Raman remains in third place.
Our limited-run newsletter Make It Make Sense unpacks the ballot count and results, then checks in regularly on officials voted into office and the measures voters pass.
Pratt and Raman are fighting for the chance to take on Bass in the battle to lead Los Angeles, which is home to nearly 4 million people. All eyes will be on any vote drops Thursday to see if Pratt's spot solidifies further. Stay tuned.
Following the first batches of results, Bass spoke to supporters and pledged to keep fighting for a chance to continue initiatives from her first term.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass speaks at her election party at the LINE Hotel on June 2, 2026 in Los Angeles.
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Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
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“We have laid a foundation, and we’re going to build on that foundation,” Bass said to a cheering crowd. “Tomorrow begins the second half of this journey.”
Pratt jumped into the race after his home in the Pacific Palisades burned down in the 2025 Palisades Fire. Late Tuesday night, he celebrated his early results while speaking with reporters outside his election watch party at Don Antonio’s, a restaurant on L.A.’s Westside.
“I’m going to prove to everyone this is for real, and I’m ready to run this city,” Pratt said.
Spencer Pratt, a candidate for L.A. mayor, speaks with reporters outside his election night party in West Los Angeles on June 2, 2026.
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He said he looked forward to debating Bass again, and furthering his message of aggressively enforcing laws against unhoused drug users.
Raman blamed a “MAGA machine” for advancing a “dark agenda” against her campaign’s vision for a city that works for everyone.
“We believe that Angelenos were hungry for that vision, and we were right,” Raman said at her election night event. “Here’s the reality: That vision threatens some very powerful forces.”
Nithya Raman, a candidate for L.A. mayor, speaks with reporters at an election night party in the L.A. Arts District on June 2, 2026.
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Many residents are struggling to pay rent. Some are trying to rebuild their homes after fires. Others want to move from the street into permanent housing or are navigating their lives under the threat of federal immigration raids or are struggling to find work in the entertainment industry.
The city’s next mayor will play a role in confronting all of those challenges.
The mayor of L.A. may not be as strong as mayors in other cities (the City Council wields more power in L.A. than in a city like New York, for example). But L.A.’s mayor has a big bully pulpit. They’re the face of the nation’s second-largest city, and they’re the chief executive of a government with a $14 billion budget.
Some of the biggest issues facing the next mayor will be the homelessness crisis, housing affordability, Palisades Fire recovery and preparation for the 2028 Olympics.
Bass, Raman and Pratt have presented very different visions for tackling these problems.
Here are just a few of the things the new mayor must grapple with:
Homelessness has been an especially intractable problem. In recent years, the city has spent more than $1 billion to get people off the streets and into affordable housing. That’s not even counting the additional federal, state and county funds deployed in L.A. to tackle the same problem. Yet more than 43,000 men, women and children remain unhoused.
The next mayor will need to decide whether to continue Bass’ Inside Safe program, which seeks to remove homeless encampments by offering people temporary housing, typically in a motel room.
Bass points to a reported 6% decline in the number of unhoused people in the city over the past two years as evidence of Inside Safe’s success.
However, critics say the official annual homelessness count has been riddled with problems. They also note that hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on expensive temporary housing, with only about a quarter of Inside Safe participants exiting to permanent housing.
Raman has said there are cheaper approaches that could house more people, while Pratt has focused on drug treatment and has promised to “get rid of” unhoused people.
On election day, L.A. voters expressed compassion and frustration with the city’s homelessness crisis.
Hector Perez, a South L.A. resident who voted at L.A. Academy Middle School, said unhoused people are now visible in every corner of the city.
“Their presence is becoming increasingly noticeable,” Perez said, speaking in Spanish. “What strikes me is seeing them on the Metro, on the beaches and in commercial areas… I believe they need support, or that we need to figure out the root causes of this entire problem.”
Ivan Hernandez, an 18-year-old senior at Ánimo Pat Brown Charter High School, said the rising numbers of unhoused people in his South L.A. neighborhood make some residents feel unsafe.
"When I'm walking, I tell my mom to go to the other side, because I don't want her to be attacked or robbed,” Hernandez said.
Just over 56% of L.A.-area renters are considered cost burdened under federal government standards, meaning they spend more than 30% of their income on rent alone. The next mayor will need to put forward plans for bringing those costs down.
Sydney Bonner voted at a church in South L.A. She said she hoped the city’s next leader could do a better job of connecting low-income tenants with housing support, such as Section 8 vouchers.
“I wish [the city] could do something to speed up the process and make it a little more fair, the way that they decide who to give vouchers to and what are the requirements,” Bonner said.
One task for the next mayor will be steering the city’s plan for denser housing development — including in some neighborhoods zoned for single-family homes — under SB 79. This new state law allows denser apartment buildings up to nine stories tall near train and rapid bus stops.
Housing advocates say the law’s strategy of putting more homes near major transit hubs is important to expanding the city’s affordable housing stock. But Bass asked California Gov. Gavin Newsom to veto SB 79, and she has repeatedly blocked efforts to allow new apartment buildings in the nearly three-quarters of L.A. residential land zoned for single-family homes.
Bass’ strategy has appealed to many homeowners groups who oppose development near them. But challenger Nithya Raman has said neighborhoods across the city will need to accept more density in order to tackle the city’s housing shortage.
Pratt has opposed SB 79, wrongly claiming it would bring high-rises to the Pacific Palisades. He has also criticized Bass and other L.A. leaders for a perceived lack of results from billions of dollars in spending on housing and homelessness programs.
Encino voter David Gostine said he voted for Pratt to change how the city spends its tax revenue.
“We want to see L.A. have a balanced budget. Really we just spend so much money here,” Gostine said. “Get rid of all the waste. There’s just so much waste.”
The January 2025 fire killed 12 people and burned nearly 7,000 structures. Property and capital losses were between $76 billion and $131 billion, without accounting for insurance or settlement proceeds, according to the UCLA Anderson School of Management.
Pratt, who lost his home in the Palisades Fire, has blamed Bass for what he sees as the city’s incompetent response to the fire and the recovery process.
The next mayor will be expected to fight for the city to continue receiving federal disaster aid recovery money. Homeowners will also want the mayor to streamline the permitting process as they rebuild their homes.
The size of the Los Angeles Police Department has dropped to fewer than 8,700 officers — down from 10,000 just a few years ago.
The next mayor will have to decide whether to pour more resources into increasing the size of the department or to support further reductions.
Bass has said she has accelerated officer hiring. Raman wants to maintain staffing levels while improving 911 response times. Pratt has said he intends to prioritize policing, crack down on retail theft and enforce quality of life and public safety laws.
The next mayor will preside over preparations for the 2028 Olympic Games, guiding the allocation of city resources to accommodate up to 15 million visitors.
Bass has focused on expanding public transit and streamlining city permitting ahead of the games. Pratt has said the city is not ready to host the event, due to widespread street homelessness. Raman has pledged to cut street homelessness in half by the 2028 Games.
If any candidate wins more than 50% of the votes in the June primary election, they will win the office outright. If no one cracks 50%, the top two vote-getters will proceed to a November runoff.
For LAist's charts showing vote counts, we get numbers directly from the L.A. County and Orange County registrars of voters for local races. Totals are updated on our site as soon as possible after the registrars provide new tallies. For statewide races, counts come from the California Secretary of State's Office.
Keep in mind that, in tight races particularly, the winner may not be determined for days or weeks after election day. That's because early voting and mail-in ballots have fundamentally reshaped how votes are counted and when election results are known. In L.A. County, for example, updates on the counting are expected to continue through June 26. After the polls closed on election night, we had updates to the official count regularly into the early hours Wednesday. After that, updates have been daily around 5 p.m. Expect updates on the following days: June 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 16, 18, 24 and 26. Final results must be certified by July 10.
Our priority during the vote count will be sharing outcomes and election calls only when they have been thoroughly checked and vetted by journalists. To that end, we will report when candidates concede and otherwise rely on NPR and the Associated Press for race calls (before official results). We will not report the calls or projections of other news outlets. You can find more about NPR's and the AP's process for counting votes and calling races here, here and here.
You can track the status of your ballot through California's BallotTrax website.
If your mail-in ballot has any problems (like a missing or mismatched signature), your county registrar must contact you to give you a chance to fix it.
The California Secretary of State's Office is required to certify the final vote tallies by July 10, marking the official end of the 2026 primary election.
LAist's Voter Game Plan will be back in the fall to help you prepare for the Nov. 3 general election.
What questions do you have about this election?
You ask, and we'll answer: Whether it's about who's funding the campaigns or how to track your ballot, we're here to help you understand the 2026 election
LAist reporters Julia Barajas, Mariana Dale, Aaron Schrank and Elly Yu and LAist senior editor Rene Lynch contributed to this report.
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