More Votes Cast for LA Mayor Than Governor in Every City Council District, Data Shows

Updated preliminary results from California’s primary election continue to highlight an unusual pattern in Los Angeles: more ballots cast in the local mayoral race than in the statewide gubernatorial contest across every single City Council district.

The analysis, compiled by redistricting and political data expert Paul Mitchell of Political Data Inc. (PDI), compares vote totals for the LA mayoral primary against the governor’s race in all 15 districts. The pattern persists even as more ballots are counted, with mayoral votes consistently outpacing gubernatorial ones.

Latest figures as of June 8-9 (with approximately 92-93% of expected votes tabulated) show:

• Incumbent Mayor Karen Bass advancing strongly with 275,992 votes (34.3%).
• DSA City Councilmember Nithya Raman surging into second place with 229,576 votes (28.5%).
• Reality TV star Spencer Pratt eliminated from contention with 207,757 votes (25.8%), trailing Raman by roughly 21,819 votes.

Raman is losing her own district (CD 4) and also more people are voting for mayor than for governor. Does that make sense? https://t.co/O5rrmUvVHR

— Josh Rainer (@JoshRainerGold) June 7, 2026

Pratt, a Republican and former star of “The Hills,” held a strong second-place position on Election Night based on in-person and early votes. However, as Los Angeles County processed subsequent drops of mail ballots, Raman steadily gained ground and overtook him. The late-count surge, heavily favoring socialist Raman, flipped the race for the second runoff spot. 

With no candidate reaching 50%, Bass and Raman will face off in the November general election runoff. Pratt’s elimination ends a spirited outsider campaign that drew national attention for highlighting issues like homelessness, wildfire recovery, crime, and infrastructure failures in Los Angeles.

This anomaly in district-level turnout remains striking. Examples from Mitchell’s breakdown include consistent edges for the mayoral race by hundreds to thousands of votes in districts such as 3, 4, and 11.

The gubernatorial primary, featuring high-profile candidates including Xavier Becerra (D, leading), Steve Hilton (R), and Tom Steyer (D), remains fluid at the statewide level but still trails local mayoral engagement in LA’s council districts. Standard voter behavior typically favors higher participation in top-of-ticket statewide races, making this reversal noteworthy.

Mitchell, Vice President of Political Data Inc. and principal of Redistricting Partners, is a veteran California elections data analyst. He previously served as the lead mapmaker for the congressional redistricting plan approved by voters via Proposition 50 in 2025, a measure that redrew district lines to reflect population shifts and prioritize Hispanic demographic growth.

Beyond raw turnout, Mitchell’s side-by-side data reveals unusual voter preference divergences. Certain districts showed strong support for Bass/Pratt in the mayoral contest but favored different combinations (e.g., Steyer/Becerra) in the governor’s race. These crossovers underscore questions about voter priorities—hyper-local issues like homelessness, crime, and housing versus Sacramento politics.

Statewide primary turnout remains low, with LA County around 32% as of recent updates. Yet the mayoral race appears to have driven (or recorded) higher marked ballots in these key areas. With roughly 148,000 votes still outstanding countywide, final certification is pending, but the district-level pattern holds in available data.

Election officials attribute shifts to standard mail-ballot processing under California law. However, the consistent mayoral-over-governor turnout, combined with the dramatic late movement that eliminated Pratt, has fueled ongoing controversies and questions about ballot harvesting, bullet voting, and the timing of drops.

President Donald Trump criticized California’s “rigged elections,” predicting that Steve Hilton will suffer Pratt’s fate.

California Globe will track final canvassing, any audits, and statements from the Secretary of State. In an era of heightened scrutiny, voters deserve full transparency on why local races seemingly out-engaged the governor’s contest in Los Angeles districts, and how Pratt’s early lead evaporated in the final counts. The numbers demand explanation.