Nithya Raman edges out Spencer Pratt to face Karen Bass in LA mayoral runoff
Center Left
Progressive challenger to face incumbent mayor in November as former reality star Pratt trails behindNithya Raman, a progressive Los Angeles city council member, has advanced to the November runoff for LA mayor, edging out former reality TV villain Spencer Pratt for the chance to face incumbent mayor Karen Bass.Pratt, who decided to run for mayor after his Pacific Palisades home burned down in the 2025 wildfires, held a lead over Raman for days. But as ballot processing from last week’s election continued, the city councillor pulled ahead. Continue reading...
Vice President JD Vance announced Monday night that he had forwarded a criminal referral to the Justice Department (DOJ) regarding allegations of fraud against Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Keith Ellison, the state’s attorney general.“I’ve referred these allegations to DOJ’s new Fraud Division for criminal investigation,” Vance said in a statement released on social media. “Minnesota state officials are not above the law, and if they facilitated fraud, lied under oath about what they knew, or harassed and [intimidated] whistleblowers, they must face justice.”Vance was tapped by President Donald Trump to become his “fraud czar,” and the announcement represents Vance’s first major referral for criminal investigation.Addressing alleged fraud has become a key priority in the second Trump administration, a priority that gained renewed attention in the wake of the controversial fraud investigation by influencer Nick Shirley into Somali daycares in Minnesota.I’ve referred these allegations to DOJ’s new Fraud Division for criminal investigation. Minnesota state officials are not above the law, and if they facilitated fraud, lied under oath about what they knew, or harassed and intimated whistleblowers, they must face justice. https://t.co/EatSBh9Gh6 pic.twitter.com/7JeFcgkTV0— JD Vance (@JDVance) June 9, 2026
The race for the next California governor began with 61 official candidates looking to replace Democrat Gavin Newsom, with no clear early frontrunner. The top two candidates, regardless of party affiliation, proceed to the general election in November.Former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra (D) and former Fox News host and small-business owner Steve Hilton (R) received the most votes in Tuesday’s primary election and will advance to the general election, according to Decision Desk HQ and RealClearPolitics. As of Tuesday morning, other election aggregators, including the Associated Press and NBC News, have confirmed Becerra’s spot in November’s runoff election, but not yet Hilton’s.'Enough with this disastrous system — universal mail-in chaos is killing election integrity and transparency.'With 83% of the votes counted, Becerra received 2,177,556, Hilton received 1,975,062, and Democratic candidate Tom Steyer received 1,759,328. Hilton held a 2.7-point lead over Steyer as of Tuesday morning.With many Democrats in the race and the party failing to coalesce behind one candidate, there was early speculation that two Republicans, Hilton and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, might be the two candidates to advance to the general election.However, in the final days leading up to the primary, Becerra began to pull ahead in the polls. An Emerson College poll, which surveyed registered voters from May 27 to 28, reported Becerra with a stronger lead, securing 28% of the vote, followed by Steyer with 22%, Hilton with 21%, and Bianco with 12%.RELATED: California Democrats’ search for a front-runner: Polls show 26% of voters undecided in fast-approaching gubernatorial race Xavier Becerra. ETIENNE LAURENT/AFPGetty Images.Steyer has criticized Becerra, labeling him a “corporate Democrat.”“For too long, we’ve had a system where corporations buy off politicians to protect their profits,” Steyer said during a campaign rally. “If that sounds familiar, it’s because that’s the story of Xavier Becerra’s campaign.”RELATED: Democrats narrow field in California’s crowded gubernatorial race to avoid primary disaster Steve Hilton. Mario Tama/Getty Images.Hilton’s campaign criticized California for its vote-counting delay, calling it an “ABSOLUTE DISGRACE.”“California’s election machine is a slow-motion disaster deliberately dragging out vote counts for 35 DAYS while the rest of the world tallies hundreds of millions in hours,” his campaign wrote. “Enough with this disastrous system — universal mail-in chaos is killing election integrity and transparency.”Hilton stated that he will wait for the AP to call the race before declaring a victory. “Thank you so much for all your congratulations! We always said we would wait for@AP_RaceCalls before declaring victory so we're not popping the champagne just yet ... but it's definitely time for a beer!” Hilton said.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
For Spencer Pratt's supporters, the last four days of the Los Angeles mayoral primary vote-counting and conclusion were like a gut punch delivered in slow motion.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has spent more than two decades winning Republican primaries in South Carolina without ever being forced into a runoff, but a sizable bloc of undecided voters could test that streak Tuesday in the state’s primary elections. A Citadel poll published last week found that 18% of likely Republican primary voters are […]
A Trump megadonor got demolished on live television Monday night after demanding the country trust his voter fraud claims — then refusing to cite a single source to back them up.Hal Lambert, a Republican megadonor and regular on CNN's "NewsNight," clashed with CNN commentator Charles Blow and anchor Abby Phillip over President Donald Trump's long-debunked claims that the 2020 election was stolen.Lambert insisted there were "problems" in Georgia and Arizona. As he fumbled for specifics, Blow had heard enough."Oh my god!" Blow exclaimed."What were they, Hal? It's been six years," Phillip pressed.Lambert never answered. He pivoted to fraud in Medicare, Medicaid, and H-1B visas instead. Blow wasn't buying it."The more that you lie, the more we're going to push back on the fact that you are lying," Blow fired back. "You don't have a single source in your whole body."Blow then wielded the conservative Heritage Foundation's own Election Fraud Database against Lambert. A Brookings Institution analysis of Heritage's data found that in Pennsylvania, the group had to reach back 30 years — spanning 32 elections and more than 100 million ballots — to scrape together just 39 fraud cases. None changed the outcome."In 30 years, they've tracked 32 elections, 100 million votes. They have found 39 total cases of voter fraud," Blow said. "So you think the Heritage Foundation is absurd?"Lambert's response: "That's absurd! That's absurd! That's absurd!"The Brennan Center for Justice has found the Heritage cases represent a "molecular fraction" of total votes cast nationwide. Just 10 cases of in-person voter impersonation appear across the entire database.Phillip finally called it."To be honest, Hal, you're not saying anything of substance," she said.Lambert's exit line: "We'll see what the viewers think."
All eyes are on a key U.S. Senate race in Maine, where democratic senate hopeful Graham Platner, who has weathered a series of scandals, is likely to win a chance to unseat longtime Maine Senator Susan Collins in the general election. NBC’s Ryan Nobles reports for TODAY.