When former “The Hills” star Spencer Pratt announced that he’s running for Los Angeles mayor in February, It wasn’t exactly a headline-making story. Some may even have thought it was a spoof from the reality TV personality.
But when Pratt took to the stage of NBC and Telemundo Los Angeles’ LA mayoral debate Wednesday night, he surprised many. Maintaining his composure and mostly keeping his professional tone, Pratt reminded voters that unlike Mayor Karen Bass and LA City Councilmember Nithya Raman, he’s not a politician.
“I’m an outsider coming in here because we’ve had enough politicians. We want common sense,” Pratt said during the debate.
Political experts said the Palisades Fire survivor who lost his home to the wildfire was impressive and came off as an serious candidate.
“I think as a winner, to some extent, Spencer Pratt did present himself. He came across very early as authentic,” Loyola Marymount University political science professor Fernando Guerra said.
Despite some vitriolic and incendiary social media content that advocates for Pratt — and his outfit choices — the Republican did not “face-plant” at the debate, according to POLITICO’s California Playbook co-author Dustin Gardiner.
“Spencer Pratt managed to come off more serious than I think a lot of people expected,” Gardiner said. “You know, he’s famous for being a reality TV villain, so people might have expected more of a caricature, maybe a more sort of clownish appearance.”
One Palisades resident, McLean McGown said she was excited to hear what Pratt had to say Wednesday evening, especially on his proposals for fire response and homelessness.
“Something’s got to change, and that does not mean that’s a Democrat or a Republican issue. It is a human issue. And I think that’s what Spencer’s really driving home,” McGown said.
In NBCLA’s — unscientific– survey, more viewers thought Pratt had the best night than Bass and Raman.
Pratt’s first mayoral debate — one of the first public stages for him to produce himself to Los Angeles voters — appears to be a success. But it remains to be seen whether he could maintain the momentum and get support from other parts of LA, not just the Pacific Palisades and Malibu.
“He certainly didn’t speak to the east side of the city, the south side of the city, and I would even say the majority of the Valley from my perspective,” Guerra said.
When NBCLA asked some Boyle Heights voters about Pratt, they said they’re not familiar — other than he was in reality TV shows.
Even if Pratt wins every single vote coming from the Pacific Palisades, that won’t be enough to bring him an election victory; he will have to rally other communities to cross the mayoral finish line.
NBCLA reached out to Pratt’s campaign whether he plans to meet with voters in other parts of Los Angeles but did not hear back as of Thursday evening.