Reality-TV figure Spencer Pratt says he can “shake up city hall” as he campaigns for Los Angeles mayor against Karen Bass ahead of June 2.
Los Angeles mayoral politics is getting a surprising jolt: Spencer Pratt, a former reality TV star with no prior elected office, is arguing that he can “shake up city hall” while challenging incumbent Mayor Karen Bass in one of the country’s most closely watched local races.
Pratt, 42, told CBS News in an exclusive interview that he doesn’t believe the city’s current direction is working.. A registered Republican. he first became widely known in the mid-2000s as the so-called resident villain on MTV’s “The Hills.” Now. he is pitching himself as a political outsider in a city that. for decades. has leaned heavily Democratic.
Polls put Pratt in second place in the mayoral race for the second-largest city in the United States.. Los Angeles has not had a Republican mayor since 2001, when Richard Riordan was elected in 1993 and served two terms.. Political observers say the uphill nature of the task is partly about party mismatch. with one view that Pratt has not only entered a “very blue” environment but is also closely associated with Donald Trump and Republicans.
Melanie Mason. Politico’s California bureau chief. said Pratt faces a difficult path in convincing voters to “take a chance” on a novice politician—especially one whose political alignment has been closely tied to Trump and Republicans.. Pratt, for his part, insists he can still change the political landscape in Los Angeles.
In the campaign trail’s pitch, Pratt says he expects his message to translate even if his background is unconventional.. He pointed to his Democratic-leaning supporter base in Los Angeles. saying. “Thankfully all my supporters in Los Angeles are Democrats.” He framed his agenda around practical city services: fixing streets and getting lights working. along with a central pledge that residents should feel safe.
The decision to run, Pratt says, was not originally planned.. He told interviewers that his entry into the race changed last year after he lost his home to the devastating Palisades Fire.. He portrayed that loss as a turning point and said he felt compelled to step in so his sons could one day return to the Los Angeles he described as beautiful and safe.
Pratt also linked his candidacy to frustration with what he called failures by elected officials. In his account, the devastation and aftermath are part of what led him to demand change in the city’s leadership, especially as he argues that the current approach is not delivering.
The incumbent, Mayor Karen Bass, has been heavily criticized for her response to the Los Angeles fires.. A year after the Palisades Fire. Bass said she felt good that more than 400 homes were under construction and that more than 800 homes had been approved to be built—comments that emerged as part of the broader political debate about recovery and rebuilding.
Bass is seeking reelection in a nonpartisan election scheduled for June 2.. If no candidate wins a majority of the vote, the top two finishers will meet again in a Nov.. 3 runoff, a structure that can make early voting totals especially consequential for candidates trying to separate themselves from the pack.
The election is already set up for a high-stakes confrontation.. Bass faced off in a heated debate against Pratt and Los Angeles City Councilmember and mayoral candidate Nithya Raman on Wednesday.. With two challengers on the stage. the race is set up as much around leadership style and priorities as it is around policy.
Pratt. who said he often faced accusations of intentionally dramatic behavior during “The Hills. ” argued that voters will ultimately see that he is being authentic in the way he lays out his platform.. He suggested that his reality TV persona was shaped by producers and pay. while insisting that the stakes in Los Angeles are different now.
He said there is no “strategy” that can replace the reality of standing in an Airstream in a burned-out town. and he framed his campaign as both calculated and driven by lived experience.. For him. authenticity is part of the argument for why voters should take a chance on someone without formal political experience.
That pitch lands against the broader political fact that Los Angeles has long been governed by Democratic leadership and has not had a Republican mayor in more than two decades.. Pratt’s supporters and critics will likely weigh that history differently—one side seeing a needed shake-up. the other viewing party alignment and electoral precedent as major obstacles.
Meanwhile, the fire-recovery dispute remains a defining fault line in the race. Bass’s defense of progress—grounded in construction and approvals—contrasts with Pratt’s insistence that failures by politicians are still shaping residents’ sense of insecurity and delayed return to normal life.
As the June 2 election approaches. the race’s nonpartisan format may determine how much of the electorate Pratt can broaden beyond his base. while Bass and Raman try to consolidate support.. For Pratt. the central question is whether a message focused on streets. lights. and public safety can overcome skepticism about his lack of political experience and his national political associations.
Spencer Pratt Los Angeles mayoral election Karen Bass Palisades Fire city hall shake up nonpartisan June 2 race