Bombshell LA mayors race projection changes everything with Nithya Raman and Spencer Pratt neck and neck

Polymarket is projecting Nithya Raman is going to progress to the LA mayoral runoff in November after the latest drop of ballots put her within 1% of Spencer Pratt, sparking fury from the right.With roughly 78% of ballots counted as of Sunday morning, Karen Bass remains comfortably in first place with 34.8% of the vote.But the battle for second place has tightened considerably.Reality television star Pratt now holds 27.3% of the vote, while Raman has climbed to 26.2%, leaving the two candidates separated by just 7,494 votes, according to the Associated Press.It comes amid renewed questions over the Golden State’s excruciatingly slow election count, with the Trump administration and local federal prosecutors investigating claims of election fraud.The narrowing margin comes after Pratt maintained a second-place lead for several days following Tuesday’s primary election.Prediction market Polymarket now projects Raman has a 99% chance of advancing to the runoff, while Pratt’s chances have collapsed to just 1%.A similar pattern has emerged on Kalshi, where Raman’s odds have surged to 97% and Pratt’s have fallen to 3%.From as far back as May 11 to Election Night on Tuesday, the former reality TV star had more than a 75% chance to advance out of the primary, according to the betting platform Kalshi.Election officials still have nearly 200,000 ballots left to count, the majority of which are mail ballots which tend to swing towards left-wing candidates.Another batch is expected to drop Sunday evening.

The dramatic shift in the race has also transformed the betting markets.A bettor who placed a $100 wager on Raman earlier in the week when she was given roughly a 20% chance of advancing would have stood to win several hundred dollars if she secured a runoff spot.Now, however, the potential payout on the same $100 bet had shrunk dramatically as traders increasingly viewed her runoff berth as all but certain.A $100 bet on Spencer Pratt could pay out more than $1,00...