Reality TV star Spencer Pratt is gaining traction in the race for Los Angeles mayor through his latest ad, which went viral online.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Hills\u201d reality TV show star\u2019s opponents say he is channeling President Donald Trump, but the populist messaging from his nontraditional campaign is resonating with voters, racking up more than 10 million views within a day.<\/p>\n
The emotional heart of Spencer Pratt\u2019s viral campaign ad<\/p>\n
In the video, he is seen walking around a wealthy neighborhood in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is where Mayor Bass lives. You notice something? Or here, where Nithya Raman\u2019s $3 million mansion sits,\u201d Pratt says in the 30-second ad, as he points to their homes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey don\u2019t have to live in the mess they\u2019ve created \u2014 where you live.\u201d<\/p>\n
The video then cuts to his mobile home.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is where I live,\u201d he says. \u201cThey let my home burn down. I know what the consequences of failed leadership are. That\u2019s why I\u2019m running for mayor, for my sons and the rest of us Angelenos that want to stop these corrupt politicians from destroying our city. We are going to get the golden age of Los Angeles back.\u201d<\/p>\n
The emotional anchor to Pratt\u2019s campaign is the 2025 Pacific Palisades fire that led to his home burning down. Pratt has said he considers it his mission \u201cto make sure the Palisades Fire isn\u2019t forgotten in the dustbin of history.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the Deseret News reported<\/a>, this unprecedented natural disaster led to the loss of 29 lives and resulted in more than $25 billion in property damage.<\/p>\n In the aftermath of the fire, LA Mayor Karen Bass faced scrutiny over covering up the city\u2019s mismanagement in response to the fire in an internal investigative report. The fact that Bass was on an official visit to Ghana at the time of the fires also drew backlash.<\/p>\n Since the incumbent\u2019s approval ratings are underwater, it creates an opportunity for another candidate to become mayor.<\/p>\n Democratic opponents react to Spencer Pratt\u2019s new ad<\/p>\n According to the latest polls<\/a>, Pratt received 11% of the support, compared to Bass\u2019s 24%.<\/p>\n Pratt is a registered Republican but he is running as an independent.<\/p>\n Los Angeles hasn\u2019t had a Republican mayor in two decades, but the polls<\/a> show that nearly half of Angelenos are undecided on whom they\u2019ll vote for in this election.<\/p>\n Pratt\u2019s latest ad, titled \u201cThey not like us,\u201d portrays his lack of political experience as a positive, highlighting his outsider image. It also promises \u201ca new golden age\u201d for this Southern California city.<\/p>\n Incumbent Mayor Bass\u2019 campaign said, \u201cSpencer is doing his best Trump impression.\u201d<\/p>\n Council Member Nithya Raman also noted Pratt took a page from Trump\u2019s playbook, noting, \u201cincendiary language, fear-mongering, and political stunts meant to divide and distract.\u201d<\/p>\n Raman added, \u201cFilming an ad outside my home, where my young children live, feels unnecessary and reckless.\u201d<\/p>\n Pratt responded by saying Raman is \u201cjust validating the entire premise of our commercial.<\/p>\n \u201cShe doesn\u2019t care if there are homeless drug addicts in front of your home, in front of your kids\u2019 school, but God help her if a man in a suit takes a picture on the public street for two minutes,\u201d Pratt said.<\/p>\n Spencer Pratt\u2019s budding support<\/p>\n Pratt has outraised Bass and Raman, as per the latest campaign finance reports released last week.<\/p>\n He raised $540,000 since announcing his candidacy, compared to Bass\u2019 $495,000 in the same period.<\/p>\n Most recently, Pratt also earned the support of Jeanie Buss, the owner of the Lakers, who donated the maximum allowable amount to Pratt\u2019s mayoral bid.<\/p>\n \u201cA donation like this is a double benefit,\u201d Dan Schnur, a longtime California political strategist and professor at USC, UC Berkeley and Pepperdine, told Mercury News<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cNot only is the money very helpful to the campaign, but a respected business and community leader like Buss lends an aura of credibility that\u2019s especially valuable to a nontraditional candidate like Pratt.\u201d<\/p>\n Of the $1,800 donation, Schnur added: \u201cIt\u2019s not quite as good as a check from LeBron, but it\u2019s pretty close.\u201d<\/p>\n Is Spencer Pratt conservative?<\/p>\n Pratt is a registered Republican but he is running as an independent. Los Angeles hasn\u2019t had a Republican mayor in two decades.<\/p>\n His views lean conservative on immigration; he said he would cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement<\/a> and end LA\u2019s sanctuary city status. Pratt also strongly advocated for increased public safety and a \u201ctreatment-first\u201d<\/a> approach to homelessness by prioritizing mental health care and addiction recovery.<\/p>\n He has also drawn attention from outspoken commentators, including Joe Rogan and Benny Johnson.<\/p>\n However, Pratt appears unable to distance his campaign from his reality TV background. Shortly after he launched his bid for mayor, Pratt\u2019s sister, Stephanie, slammed him, saying, \u201cA vote for him is a vote for stupidity.\u201d<\/p>\n Voted the \u201cGreatest Reality TV Villain\u201d in 2015, Pratt isn\u2019t afraid to leverage his polarizing image and position himself as the dark horse in this race.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Reality TV star Spencer Pratt is gaining traction in the race for Los Angeles mayor through his latest…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":767303,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,276,5413,2961,8604,224,5337,249286,5005,190258],"class_list":{"0":"post-767302","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-karen-bass","11":"tag-la","12":"tag-lakers","13":"tag-los-angeles","14":"tag-losangeles","15":"tag-nithya-raman","16":"tag-president-donald-trump","17":"tag-spencer-pratt"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116502807583151583","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=767302"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767302\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/767303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=767302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=767302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=767302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}