Data expert breaks down the possibilities in California's undecided races

The Los Angeles mayoral and California gubernatorial races remain undecided as new ballot totals show the gaps between candidates closing.

While incumbent Mayor Karen Bass has been projected to advance, it's still unclear who will join her in November's runoff election.

Former reality TV star Spencer Pratt held a commanding lead over Councilmember Nithya Raman in early results, but subsequent ballot counts show his share of the vote dropping. 

"Spencer Pratt has been losing share of the vote with every one of these new ballot dumps, and we expect that to continue," election data expert Paul Mitchell said. "The question is, will he drop? Will Nithya Raman rise? And at some point, will there be an inflection point where Nithya Raman would take over that second spot?"

The race for California governor also remains unresolved with Republican Steve Hilton holding his lead at the top, Democrat Xavier Becerra in second and Democrat Tom Steyer in third. However, new ballot totals show Steyer gaining some ground. 

Some data experts believe he could crack the top two as election workers continue to tally votes, but others have doubts. 

"The challenge there is that with these late voters, Hilton actually seems to be doing pretty well," Mitchell said. 

Conservative media and Republicans have blasted Gov. Gavin Newsom and state officials for the slow tally, with President Trump claiming fraud without evidence. 

"Just don't want cheating in our elections, and you see it happening in California. Those numbers are coming down rapidly. They found a lot of mail-in ballots last night, shockingly," Trump said. 

Election officials said it takes California longer to finalize election results because the state allows for voters to mail ballots up until the day of the election. Those ballots must be inspected and signatures verified. LA County Registrar Dean Logan addressed the criticism over the perceived slow count. 

"We have to make sure the ballots that were received latest in the process receive the same level of diligence, security and transparency as those that were cast three weeks before the election," Logan said.