Prospects Have Dimmed For Spender Pratt, Los Angeles (My New Column) -- And A Shorter Version of "What's Jon Reading" - A Compendium Of Interesting Things I Found Online This Week
I am perusing the web all week, and I write about some of the things I find. But I there is so much great stuff that I do not write about, but I collect for this Saturday column. Enjoy.
This Saturday feature, which is a labor of love for me, is packed with amazing content. It’s very popular. For those of you who subscribe ($70/year, $7/month), this column is a thank you for your support of my independent work. Below the paywall are a lot of interesting things to read that you might not find online, but I did. Things you will want to read!
But first, let’s preview my new California Post column “above the paywall” and give you a free link to read it!
THANK YOU for being part of this project and for putting a spotlight on California politics!
The race for second place in the L.A. mayor’s contest has shifted dramatically since Election Night, with Nithya Raman cutting Pratt’s lead to just 20,672 votes — and more than 200,000 ballots still to count.
Los Angeles County is still counting ballots — and the race for second place in the mayor’s contest is tightening fast, in ways that should alarm anyone hoping the city is ready for a change in direction.
Spencer Pratt led comfortably on Election Night. Today, that lead has been slashed to just 20,672 votes, with well over 200,000 ballots still to count. In Friday’s update alone, Raman netted more than 12,000 votes on Pratt — receiving more than twice as many votes as he did in a single ballot drop.
In my full California Post column, I break down the latest numbers in detail — and what they mean for Pratt, for City Councilwoman Nithya Raman, and for the future direction of Los Angeles.
The broader point is not simply about one mayoral race.
It is about what happens when a common-sense, solutions-oriented candidate runs in a city that may not yet be ready to change course. Pratt’s campaign has focused on quality of life, public safety, homelessness, and basic competence at City Hall. Those are not fringe issues. They are the things Angelenos say they care about most. And yet, the late-ballot trend is running hard against him.
If Pratt cannot make the runoff, some Angelenos may decide the city is beyond saving — and start calling U-Haul.
I also look at the governor’s race, where Steve Hilton appears strongly positioned to advance against Xavier Becerra — and where Tom Steyer’s path has gone from difficult to mathematically improbable. Hilton leads Steyer by more than 336,000 votes, with roughly 3.1 million ballots still left statewide. Barring a dramatic and unlikely collapse, California voters may get something they won’t have in the L.A. mayor’s race: a real debate between two candidates offering fundamentally different visions for the state’s future.
California elections don’t end on Election Night anymore. They unfold over days and weeks, as late ballots quietly reshape results that voters thought were settled. There is no evidence of fraud in this count. But when outcomes shift this dramatically after Election Day, public confidence takes a hit — and that matters too.
👉 Read my full column in the California Post HERE. (No Paywall)
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OK, this column is like a big tree. You can see only some of it above the ground. But all of the roots go deep underneath…Below the paywall is SO MUCH MORE.
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