Good morning, it’s Monday, June 8 and you can expect partial clouds with spots of sun (high 70s).
1. Nithya Raman overtakes Spencer Pratt, will likely advance to face Karen Bass on November ballot.
Mayor Karen Bass first responded with a shrug emoji.
It was just after 10:30 p.m. on the first Friday in February and there were less than 14 hours until the filing deadline for candidates to enter the Los Angeles mayor’s race. Despite a bruising year and brutal questions about her political future, L.A.’s first female mayor somehow still appeared poised to walk into a second term, with no serious competition in sight on that cloudy winter night.
Then the rumors began ricocheting wildly through the tightknit world of L.A. politicos.
A City Hall reporter soon took to X, posting that a “credible source” had told him that Raman, who had previously endorsed Bass, planned to enter the mayor’s race in the morning.
Bass opened the tweet and scrolled to Raman’s name in her contacts. She texted the post to Raman with no comment, just a single emoji of a woman with a quizzical expression on her face and her arms raised in a shrug.
A text message sent from Mayor Karen Bass to Councilmember Nithya Raman at 10:31 p.m. on February 6, the evening before Raman officially entered the mayoral race. (Text provided by Mayor Bass’ office in response to a public records request)
Raman did not respond to the mayor that night, according to messages L.A. Material obtained in a public records request. A mere 10 hours later, she showed up at a municipal building in downtown Los Angeles to enter the race.
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