In a surprising turn of events, the Los Angeles mayoral primary has become the center of a heated debate. As vote counts continue to be tallied, progressive Democratic candidate Nithya Raman has taken the lead over Republican contender Spencer Prattsetting the stage for a runoff against incumbent mayor Karen Bass.
The election has drawn the attention of high-profile figures, including billionaire Elon Musk and former President Donald Trumpboth of whom have raised questions about the integrity of the process.
Vote Counts and Shifting Leads
According to the Associated Presswith 83% of the votes counted, Raman holds a narrow lead with 27.1% of the vote, just slightly ahead of Pratt’s 26.7%. Bass has already been projected to advance to the runoff, leaving the second spot to be decided between Raman and Pratt.
Initially, Pratt held the lead when the first batch of votes was released last Tuesday. However, as late and mail-in ballots, which tend to favor Democratic candidates, were added to the count, Raman gradually closed the gap and eventually surpassed Pratt on Sunday.
Elon Musk’s Social Media Activity
Elon Musk, known for his influential presence on social media, has been actively sharing posts that question the legitimacy of the election results. On Sunday, Musk reshared a post by venture capitalist Shaun Maguire that read, “It takes a conspiracy theorist to believe California’s election is secure.”
Musk further amplified several posts suggesting that Raman’s surge in the polls was a “statistical impossibility,” despite Los Angeles being a deeply Democratic city. He also reshared a user’s question to Grok, the platform’s AI chatbot, which falsely claimed that Pratt had received 0 votes after a significant drop in the ballot count. This post had already been flagged with a community note citing a Department of Justice statement disproving the claim.
Adding to the controversy, Musk proposed interviewing “1,000 homeless people” in the Skid Row neighborhood to determine their voting preferences, a suggestion that has been met with skepticism.
Donald Trump’s Allegations
Musk’s remarks echo similar claims made by Donald Trump, who last week accused Democrats of attempting to “steal” the California primaries from Republican candidates Pratt and gubernatorial hopeful Steve Hilton. Trump has repeatedly criticized the use of mail-in ballots, a method he has long opposed, and has made unfounded claims about the 2026 election.
Trump also asserted that the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles was investigating the voting process. On Sunday night, he took to Truth Social to reiterate his allegations, stating, “Two great Republican Candidates are being cheated, and so is America, which if the Dumocrats are able to fulfill their mission, great trouble and consternation will follow.”
As some outlets called the mayoral race in favor of Raman early on Monday, Trump posted again, declaring, “No way this could have happened. Rigged Election!”
The response from California Governor Gavin Newsom‘s press office was swift and dismissive, replying to Trump on X with, “There isn’t a bigger sore loser in the country. Back to bed grandpa!”
