In recent memory, the Los Angeles mayoral race has been about as much fun to follow as watching paint dry, but this year’s contest has become a first-rate spectacle. A democratic socialist and a political newcomer are challenging incumbent Karen Bass, whose record isn't doing her any favors. With just a couple of weeks until primary day, the race is tightening against a backdrop of voters frustrated with city leadership, many of whom remain undecided. Tonight was supposed to be the final debate, but it was canceled after two major candidates backed out. Amid all the chaos, a door has opened to an unexpected possibility: In the deep blue City of Angels, a Republican might have a real shot at winning.
Taking Los Angeles by Storm
Much of the attention drawn to this Los Angeles race can be attributed to the rise of Spencer Pratt, a former reality TV star who lost his home in the Palisades fire last year, a tragedy that is partly fueling his campaign. Pratt is a Republican, but he “will not serve either party,” he said on X. As mayor, he will “work with anyone who wants to help the City. No labels necessary.”
In the days leading to the May 6 debate, Pratt’s campaign advertisements went viral on social media, gaining millions of views. In one, he stands before two mansions and claims they’re the homes of his opponents, incumbent Mayor Karen Bass and Councilmember Nithya Raman, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. “They don’t have to live in the mess they’ve created — where you live,” he says. The next scene shows him standing in front of a mobile home. “This is where I live,” he says. “They let my home burn down.”
His two most recent ads were created by filmmaker Charles Curran. One is an AI-generated video that casts Bass as a Joker-like villain and Gov. Gavin Newsom as decadent royalty stuffing his face with cake. Pratt swoops in, dressed as a Batman-like hero. The next one depicts a utopian LA with safe streets, presumably under Pratt’s leadership. It opens with a firefighter saying, “Turns out, it’s a lot easier to fight fires when there’s water in the reservoirs.” In the next scene, a cop smiles and says he’s now allowed to arrest criminals – with handcuffs, he adds. Shortly after, a kid at a playground says it’s nice going to the park now that “it isn’t an open drug market.”
Curran’s videos emphasize Pratt’s number one priority, cleaning up the streets. “I believe that the overwhelming majority of our biggest problems all stem from the same root cause,” Pratt explained on his Substack. He goes on to say that zombie-like drug addicts passed out in the streets and using on sidewalks are scaring away tourists and making businesses close, which, in turn, “make Angelenos poorer, nobody can make ends meet, thousands flee the city, and the death spiral intensifies.”
A Battle in the City of Angels
Going into last week’s debate, Pratt’s internet dominance was already turning him into a favorite among many people – and not just in LA. His performance only bolstered his reputation as a serious contender.
The three leading candidates traded jabs over the Palisades fire, police hiring, and the city’s homelessness issue. Pratt blamed the fire on Bass. “One thousand firefighters were available,” he said, “but there [were] no engines available for them because of $17 million that [Fire] Chief [Kristin] Crowley had asked the mayor for nine weeks before, and Mayor Karen Bass denied it.”
At one point, Raman accused Bass and Pratt of working together to attack her so they could finish first and second in the June 2 primary, and then face each other in a runoff election. “They don’t want to run against me,” said Raman, “because my ideas ... are based on real results in my district.”
Pratt rejected the assertion that he was in cahoots with Bass, saying, “If I wanted to run against anybody, it would be the councilmember, who is terrible.”
Once Bass found the right moment, she touted her Inside Safe program, claiming it reduced homelessness by 17.5%. Raman also highlighted her work on the issue and suggested she decreased the number of homeless encampments in her district by 54%, promising to eliminate them citywide by 2030.
Pratt shot back and said neither of them has addressed the drug addicts living on the streets. “Inside Safe makes all of us outside unsafe,” he said. “The reality is, no matter how many beds you give these people, they are on super meth. They are on fentanyl.”
The Aftermath
Days after Bass took a beating on stage, she backed out of the final debate. She supposedly had plans to travel to Sacramento, “fighting for critical state funding for housing, homelessness, and Palisades recovery,” her campaign spokesperson, Alex Stack, said May 10. Yet Bass committed to the event in April. Not until after her bruising showdown with Pratt and Raman did she suddenly have a trip planned. What better way to avoid another difficult evening than to say you’re too busy handling the issues that your opponents just rebuked you for mismanaging?
But, according to Substack, LA voters saw last week that “Nithya Raman and Spencer Pratt are not up to the job as Mayor … So it’s time to move past debates.” That’s an interesting take considering an online poll from NBC Los Angeles showed 89% of viewers believed Pratt outperformed Bass and Raman.
The final debate was canceled after Raman declined to attend, which would've left only the lower-polling candidates on the stage. Pratt had already turned down the invitation weeks ago due to a scheduling conflict.
Unless one candidate wins an outright majority in the primary, the top two vote-getters will advance to the Nov. 3 general election. The last Republican to serve as LA mayor left office in 2001. But with frustration mounting among voters and no clear frontrunner, perhaps this could be the year Angelenos elect a GOP member to the position again. Pratt might not have any experience, but could he do worse than the incumbent?
“We don’t need a litany of complex and esoteric policy papers for each of these issues,” Pratt wrote on his Substack. “We simply need to do the most basic thing to root out the core problem and enforce the existing laws. It’s so simple, even a reality star can do it.”
