UC Berkeley–Los Angeles Times Poll Shows Karen Bass, Nithya Raman, Spencer Pratt Locked In Tight Race

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass entered a knife-edge contest for reelection as a UC Berkeley–Los Angeles Times poll released Thursday put Bass at 26% among likely voters, with Nithya Raman at 25% and Spencer Pratt at 22% just days before the June 2 primary.

“LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The race for Los Angeles mayor is tightening significantly, according to a new poll, and it's shaking up the campaign trail as incumbent Mayor Karen Bass fights for re-election”

ABC

Politico reported that 63 percent of voters said Los Angeles is on the “wrong track,” while 24 percent said they’re going in the “right direction,” framing Bass’s tight position as a sign of voter dissatisfaction with the city’s direction.

ABC

KTLA said the race was tightening less than a week before the June 2 primary, with Raman and Pratt each surging by eight percentage points since the last survey while Bass’ support remained flat.

The Los Angeles Times described the lead as “statistically insignificant,” and said the poll found Bass, Raman and Pratt all within the margin of error, with Mark DiCamillo telling the paper, “It’s going to boil down to turnout.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom offered Bass’s campaign for reelection his endorsement on Thursday, saying, “The work Karen Bass is doing in Los Angeles is making our entire state stronger,” while also pointing to an 18% decline in homelessness.

Newsom’s endorsement came as the same UC Berkeley–Los Angeles Times poll showed Bass at 26% support among likely voters, followed by Raman at 25% and Pratt at 22%, according to the Washington Examiner.

CNBC

CNBC reported that Pratt, best known for “The Hills,” was polling at 22% among likely voters in the new UC Berkeley-Los Angeles Times poll, and said he rejected the “MAGA Republican” label while framing his bid as a nonpartisan race.

Pratt told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street,” “I only got into the race because nobody else was going to run,” and he added, “I do a nonpartisan race.”

The June 2 primary is structured so that if no candidate wins more than 50% in Tuesday’s primary, the top two finishers advance to a November runoff, and CNBC said Pratt’s path hinges on finishing ahead of Raman even without winning outright.

“A new poll shows the race for Los Angeles’ next mayor is tightening less than a week before the June 2 primary”

KTLA

The Los Angeles Times reported that the poll found 10% of voters were still undecided, down from 26% in a March 9-15 survey by Berkeley IGS, and it said the survey was conducted between May 19 and 24 with a margin of error of around 3% in either direction.

NBC Los Angeles said the top two vote-getters will advance to the November runoff election, and it noted about half a million mail-in ballots had been returned as of this week in Los Angeles County, with about 5.8 million registered voters in LA County.

ABC said the race is tightening significantly, with Bass at 26%, Raman at 25%, and Pratt at 22% in the poll, while Rae Huang was at 9% and Adam Miller at 5% and “Ten percent of voters in the poll are still undecided.”