Independent candidate Spencer Pratt fell short of the runoff in the Los Angeles Mayor’s race, and U.S. Sen. Rick Scott questions the legitimacy of the process in the Democratic stronghold.
Scott wrote Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche and Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon to urge a probe into alleged election irregularities, including charges that opposition candidates paid the unhoused to vote.
“Americans expect and deserve elections that are free, fair, transparent, and efficient. California clearly does not want to meet those standards. Between troubling reports of fraudulent ballots being submitted, people paying homeless people to cast ballots, and delays in ballot counting, everyone paying attention is troubled by the process. The American people deserve answers,” Scott said Friday.
Scott’s letter notes that the U.S. AG’s office prosecuted a petition circulator in Los Angeles for allegedly paying people to register to vote, using addresses where they didn’t live, which would compound the fraud if proven true.
He adds that “many Americans do not view this case as an isolated incident, but as part of a broader pattern of vulnerabilities that have undermined public confidence in our elections.”
Furthermore, he claims the Los Angeles mayoral race “focused renewed attention on ballot processing, vote‑by‑mail procedures, and overall election administration in the city.”
Election irregularities notwithstanding, Pratt would have needed to compel non-Republicans to support him to have a shot in the race. More than half the voters in the city are registered Democrats. Less than 19% are Republicans, and the remainder are registered independents.
Pratt ran as an independent, in part because the GOP brand doesn’t help in the city. Nevertheless, his campaign was boosted by Republican politicians like Scott and news outlets like the California Post and Fox News.
