Bass heads to runoff in Los Angeles as Iowa GOP pick falls short

Karen Bass will have to defend her seat in a November runoff after early returns in Los Angeles showed the incumbent mayor leading but falling short of the majority she needed to avoid a second round. The June 2 primary put Bass ahead of a crowded field of 14 challengers in the city’s nonpartisan race, with City Councilmember Nithya Raman and reality television star Spencer Pratt among the names in the mix for the other runoff spot. Los Angeles will hold its general municipal election on November 3, 2026.

The result underscored a familiar political current in the city: voters were willing to keep Bass in the game, but not yet to close the contest. In a race defined by a large field and a low bar for advancement, the presence of Raman, a sitting council member, and Pratt, a celebrity outsider, pointed to a fragmented electorate and an appetite for alternatives. Bass is seeking a second term, and the runoff will now become a sharper test of whether she can consolidate support beyond her first-place finish.

Iowa delivered a different kind of warning shot. Republican voters there rejected Randy Feenstra in the governor’s primary after President Donald Trump had endorsed him late in the race. Zach Lahn, a businessman and farmer, emerged as the Republican nominee after Feenstra conceded, turning a contest that had been framed around Trump’s backing into an unexpected setback for the party’s preferred candidate.

The Iowa result matters well beyond the state line because Gov. Kim Reynolds chose not to seek a third term, creating Iowa’s first open-seat gubernatorial race since 2006. Democrats are betting that opening can produce a breakthrough. State Auditor Rob Sand was unopposed in the Democratic primary and will face Lahn in the November 3 general election, giving Democrats a candidate with a clear path into a race that now carries unusual significance.

For both parties, the June 2 primaries offered an early map of the midterm mood. In Los Angeles, the runoff showed a city still sorting through dissatisfaction, celebrity politics and local governing experience. In Iowa, Feenstra’s loss suggested that a Trump endorsement, even at the last minute, could not by itself settle a competitive Republican field. Together, the two races hinted at an electorate that is still open to change and a fall campaign season that could be shaped as much by impatience as by ideology.