In the latest Los Angeles mayoral campaign finance period, Spencer Pratt reported raising $2.72 million between April 19 and May 16—nearly 10 times what Mayor Karen Bass raised—keeping his campaign near the top as the June 2 primary approaches.
Ballots have already begun going out by mail in Los Angeles. and Spencer Pratt is heading into the final stretch with a war chest that dwarfs the funding he’s facing from Karen Bass. In the newest campaign finance filings. Pratt reported bringing in $2.72 million between April 19 and May 16. compared with Bass’s $283. 000 during the same reporting window.
Pratt, a former reality TV star, reported a total of $3.26 million in contributions, edging Bass’s $3.13 million. The numbers show why the race is feeling tighter than it did when the contest first began to crystallize.
Rounding out the top tier, Councilmember Nithya Raman reported a total of more than $931,000 through the May 16 filing period and nearly $401,000 since April 19. A notable piece of her fundraising: $60,000 came in the form of a loan from Raman to her campaign.
The fight for who advances to the general election in November turns on that same question—whether any candidate can pull enough votes in the June 2 primary to avoid a runoff. Opinion polls show Bass leading, but not by a wide enough margin to escape the possibility of a second round. If no candidate wins a majority next month, the top two vote-getters will face each other in the Nov. 3 general election.
Pratt’s latest fundraising. and the way the campaign has continued to pull money while the primary clock runs. has drawn attention even among political consultants outside his orbit. Mike Murphy, a longtime political consultant and former chief advisor to Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, said Pratt’s contributions “indicate he has a good chance” of garnering enough votes to make a runoff.
But Murphy also flagged the suspense inside the numbers. He questioned why Pratt hadn’t already moved more aggressively on the airwaves. given the amount of money now on hand. If Pratt spends a million bucks—or a million-five—on media and digital. on TV and cable. even some linear TV. Murphy said he believes it could give the campaign an “real edge” to get into a runoff with Bass. Then he pointed to the timeline itself: “But I’m curious why he hasn’t done that a week ago. because the clock is ticking.”.
Pratt’s filings show he has spent at least $500,000 on digital advertising and billboards. His campaign also reported that it has slightly more money left to spend than the other leading candidates: $1.42 million remaining. compared with Bass’s approximately $1.32 million. Miller’s nearly $1.3 million. and Raman’s $1 million.
Raman’s team, meanwhile, used its donations to secure $1.26 million in public matching funds, receiving the maximum amount possible. Bass secured $1 million in public matching funds.
The filings also show a separate contest bubbling underneath the mayoral top line. Tech entrepreneur Adam Miller reported about $276,000 in contributions and $4 million in loans he made to his campaign, trailing far behind the leading candidates in opinion polls.
Across the campaign ledgers, spending patterns sharpen the picture of where each team believes its path lies. Among the mayoral candidates. Bass’s campaign has spent the most on the race so far. $3.66 million. outpacing Miller at $3.18 million. Pratt reported $2.39 million in expenditures, and Raman $1.52 million in spending. Community organizer Rae Huang’s campaign has raised the fourth-most money so far. at more than $308. 000. followed by longtime L.A. city engineer Asaad Alnajjar, who has netted about $142,000 in contributions.
Outside the mayoral field, other citywide races also appear shaped by money and organization. City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto has raised about $864. 000 for her reelection campaign. while Marissa Roy. a state deputy attorney general endorsed by the local chapter of Democratic Socialists of America. raised nearly $682. 000. For City Controller. Kenneth Mejia has a far smaller war chest than challenger Zach Sokoloff. who is on sabbatical from his role as a senior vice president at Hackman Capital Partners. Mejia has brought in less than $150. 000 in direct contributions. while Sokoloff has raised more than $1 million in direct contributions from candidate committees through the latest filing period. Mejia’s team used their donations to secure more than $400,000 in public matching funds.
And in a striking detail outside standard committee money, Sokoloff’s mother, Sheryl, has contributed $5 million to her son’s campaign as an independent expenditure since May 7.
Back in the mayor’s race. the source of the cash helps explain why Pratt’s numbers look so different on paper. Pratt’s fame as a reality star—and support from fellow Republicans including a signal of support from President Trump—helped pull donations from supporters across L.A. County and across the U.S. His campaign reported more than $671. 000 in unitemized contributions of less than $100 each since April 19. versus less than $24. 000 for Raman and less than $2. 900 of the small donations for Bass.
The campaigns for Pratt and Bass—both benefiting from national name recognition—have also attracted the most non-California contributions of the candidates. with each bringing in about $940. 000 of the $2.26 million the race has seen flow in from donors in other states. Raman has raised about $197,000 from other states. The filings do not show where unitemized donations came from. leaving unclear where that larger pool of smaller contributions—especially Pratt’s—originated.
Overall, the filings show Pratt’s donor base is more concentrated in California than his opponents’ smaller donor percentages suggest. Sixty-seven percent of Pratt’s donors listed addresses in California. versus 84% of Bass’ donors and 86% of contributors to Raman’s campaign. Bass has received the most from L.A. County residents with at least $2.29 million, followed by Pratt with at least $1.1 million and Raman with more than $731,000.
Even as the fundraising totals tilt toward Pratt, Murphy cautioned that money isn’t the same thing as votes. He said it remains to be seen if Pratt can garner enough support to ultimately win election as mayor. While the race is nonpartisan, Pratt is a registered Republican in a city that is overwhelmingly Democratic. “The Pratt hype might be bigger than the Pratt support with voters in the city of L.A.,” Murphy said.
Los Angeles mayoral race Spencer Pratt Karen Bass Nithya Raman Adam Miller campaign finance June 2 primary runoff public matching funds digital advertising