Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass did not win her reelection bid outright. She failed to clear the majority needed to avoid a runoff, meaning voters will get a second look at her record in November.

Under Los Angeles’ top-two rule, if no candidate secures 50 percent of the vote, the top two finishers advance to a November 3 runoff election. Bass made the cut. The question is who joins her.

In early returns, Spencer Pratt has been projected as the second-place finisher—an outsider who built his campaign around critiquing Bass’s record on wildfire response, homelessness, rising crime, and city government inefficiency. Pratt ran as a critic, not an apologist. He targeted Bass over the city’s wildfire response, the ongoing homelessness crisis, increasing crime rates, and accusations that local government fails to serve residents.

The establishment expected an easy coronation for Bass, who carries the backing of California’s Democratic machine including Governor Gavin Newsom, with major Democratic figures committed to her victory. Yet she still could not close out her campaign in one round.

President Trump previously signaled support for Pratt, drawing national attention to a race political elites wanted to remain local and quiet. Preliminary results indicate Pratt has secured second place, with his margin over fellow Democratic candidate Nithya Raman too large for her to overcome. The top two candidates will face off in the November runoff election.

The city also faces pre-election incidents under review, including reports of burned ballots and vandalism at a voting center. However, these incidents have not been shown to alter the final results.

An incumbent mayor with strong institutional backing got dragged into a November showdown by a challenger who refused to play along—giving Pratt significant leverage for the next five months.