Pratt says L.A. homeless will head to Seattle

Spencer Pratt, a Los Angeles mayoral candidate, claimed in an interview that if elected, unhoused people in L.A. would move to Seattle to take advantage of its drug laws. Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson rejected the premise in a separate interview, saying homelessn

Spencer Pratt didn’t just argue that Los Angeles has a homelessness problem. In an interview on ABC with Josh Haskell. the Republican candidate laid out a scenario in which the city’s unhoused population would relocate—apparently to take advantage of what he described as more permissive drug laws in Seattle.

“These people, when I unplug them … they’re all going to Seattle where the mayor will welcome them,” Pratt told Haskell.

The remark landed as L.A. ballots are still being counted and Pratt remains in second place, keeping him in range of a potential November general election against current Mayor Karen Bass.

Pratt has made the homeless crisis a central campaign issue. at times posting images of unhoused people on social media accounts. In the same ABC interview from late May. he also struck a harsher tone. saying: “They’re not homeless. they’re drug addicts.” He added. “They’re choosing to be on the street because they want to do drugs. they don’t want rules. they don’t want to listen. they want to have animals to abuse. This idea that they’re forced on the street right now is a lie.”.

And when he talked about what he says is causing people to stay outdoors, he went even further. Pratt alleged, without evidence, that nonprofit groups and nongovernmental organizations were busing unhoused people into Los Angeles.

In his campaign materials on his website. Pratt lays out a different approach from the one Los Angeles is pursuing now. He says that if elected mayor. he would “dismantle” the city’s effort to address homelessness and replace it with a “treatment-led recovery model that addresses mental illness and addiction as the primary drivers of chronic homelessness.”.

When Haskell pressed Pratt’s case in the ABC interview, Pratt framed street homelessness in blunt terms: he alleged people are living on the streets “because they’re an addict, and you can do fentanyl and super meth on the sidewalk without repercussions.”

Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson pushed back on that entire framing in an interview with Fox 13 Seattle’s Hana Kim on Wednesday.

“What is driving homelessness is housing costs,” Wilson said when asked about Pratt’s claim. “There is a very, very clear correlation between housing costs and homelessness, and that does not mean that drugs are not a factor. They absolutely are a factor.”

Wilson did not directly mention Pratt in her response, but she acknowledged a moment of audience reaction during a Seattle CityClub event when Pratt was brought up. “Was that a cheer?” Wilson asked. “I’m not going to respond to him, but I’ll respond to you all.”

The disagreement turns on what each side believes is most responsible for the crisis—an argument that becomes harder to resolve when the numbers are already moving politics across the country. Pratt pointed to L.A.’s “more than 40. 000 homeless” as evidence that the city’s situation is tied to behavior and permissiveness. Wilson pointed to the broader economic reality that. for major cities. sheltering and stabilizing people often begins with the cost of housing.

Previous research has made that connection in stark terms. A 2023 Pew Charitable Trust analysis found a “direct link between high housing costs and high rates of homelessness. ” stating: “Housing costs explain far more of the difference in rates of homelessness than variables such as substance use disorder. mental health. weather. the strength of the social safety net. poverty. or economic conditions.”.

Wilson’s response kept one foot in that housing-driven reality while acknowledging the practical complications Pratt’s argument downplays. She said drug use remains a part of the work, but that services are often required to make housing programs succeed.

“Helping someone out of homelessness is not as simple as putting a roof over their head,” Wilson said. “That is why. as we’re doing our shelter acceleration. we’re being incredibly intentional about pairing shelter with services. with case management. with drug treatment. with behavioral health services. with all of the support that someone might need to get onto a better path.”.

What sits under the public back-and-forth is a clash over cause and consequence: Pratt described homelessness as largely driven by addiction and the lack of repercussions. then suggested that changing the “rules” would cause people to migrate. Wilson answered with a different foundation—housing costs—and insisted that even if drugs play a role. solving homelessness in real life requires more than swapping policy talking points for slogans.

Spencer Pratt Katie Wilson Los Angeles mayoral election Seattle mayor homelessness housing costs drug treatment fentanyl meth Pew Charitable Trust Karen Bass