Washington | Kerala-born Nithya Raman has surged ahead to second place in the primary election for Los Angeles Mayor, edging past reality TV star Spencer Pratt. He appears set to take on incumbent Karen Bass in November.

Bass, 72, a former Democratic Congresswoman who has already advanced to the November runoff, remained in the lead with 34.7 per cent of the vote, according to the updated tally released by the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk's office.

The primary election for the Mayor's post took place on January 2 and 80 per cent of the ballots have been counted so far.

Raman, 44, who has steadily gained ground as the count has progressed, had 27.1 per cent, enough to overtake Pratt by a little more than 3,000 votes.

Pratt, a Republican, had been running in second place since election night, but slipped to the third position with 26.69 per cent of the votes.

Raman has been a Los Angeles councilwoman since 2020, when she defeated incumbent council member David Ryu, a victory that was described as a "political earthquake". She was re-elected in 2024.

A Los Angeles mayoral candidate can win outright by receiving more than 50 per cent of the votes in the primary. Otherwise, the top two finishers, regardless of party, advance to a November runoff in the nonpartisan race.

Raman moved to Louisiana from India when she was six. She earned a bachelor's degree in political theory from Harvard University and then a master's degree in urban planning from MIT