{"id":800784,"date":"2026-05-16T14:54:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T14:54:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/800784\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T14:54:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T14:54:19","slug":"can-spencer-pratt-ride-viral-videos-to-victory-in-la-mayor-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/800784\/","title":{"rendered":"Can Spencer Pratt ride viral videos to victory in LA mayor race?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n Spencer Pratt might be a candidate uniquely suited for the moment: An elder millennial with everywhere-all-the-time social media instincts, bluntly spelling out Los Angeles\u2019 challenges with homelessness<\/a>, crime and mismanagement<\/a> and laying blame at the feet of its entrenched Democratic establishment.\n <\/p>\n

\n The 42-year-old former reality television star\u2019s willingness to be raw and provocative, on the bet that authenticity is the coin of today\u2019s political realm, helps explain the growing buzz \u2014 particularly among Republicans who see in Pratt traits similar to those that catapulted Donald Trump into the White House twice \u2014 around his run against unpopular Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass ahead of the nominally nonpartisan June 2 primary.\n <\/p>\n

\n But it also might severely limit the ability of Pratt, a registered Republican, to win a general election once voters narrow the field to two candidates. And it explains why 72-year-old Bass and her allies are trying to set up a head-to-head race in November against Pratt, rather than facing a more nuanced campaign against her chief progressive rival, 44-year-old city councilwoman Nithya Raman.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cBeing louder doesn\u2019t necessarily mean that there\u2019s actual support for him in the city of L.A.,\u201d said Democratic strategist Michael Trujillo.\n <\/p>\n

\n Pratt\u2019s emergence has jolted a race that long looked much more likely to pit Bass against a challenger from her left. But with ballots already mailed to voters and Pratt drawing the nation\u2019s eyes to Los Angeles, the question voters will answer is whether the strains of dissatisfaction he is tapping into can overcome the reality of the city\u2019s deep-blue bent.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cFor as creative and as imaginative and as fun as Spencer Pratt\u2019s campaign is, they run into a real math equation come June 3, if they make the runoff,\u201d Trujillo said. \u201cThe fact that Spencer is still a registered Republican will be reasons one, two and three for Democrats to reject him.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

Why Spencer Pratt is trending\n <\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

Why Spencer Pratt is trending<\/p>\n

1:46<\/p>\n

\n Comparisons of Pratt and Trump are natural: Former reality television stars with scant political experience and penchants for sucking up most of the oxygen in an election. Plain-spoken, often combative language that can be jarring on the debate stage. Claims of simple and sweeping solutions to decades-old, intractable problems. Strategists analyzing polling and voter registration data and sensing a hard cap on their support \u2014 ceilings that Trump repeatedly broke through, and that Pratt is now attempting to shatter.\n <\/p>\n

\n However, Trump lost the county of Los Angeles, which encompasses the city, by 49 percentage points in 2016, 44 points in 2020 and 33 points in 2024 \u2014 and the city is bluer than the county. Registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans in the city of Los Angeles by about a four-to-one margin. Billionaire real estate developer Rick Caruso, an independent-turned-Democrat, tried to challenge Bass from the center in the 2022 mayoral election, and lost that race<\/a> by 10 points.\n <\/p>\n

\"In<\/p>\n

\n Pratt, the villain of \u201cThe Hills,\u201d will have to appeal much more broadly for voters to give him the opportunity he wants to become Los Angeles\u2019 hero.\n <\/p>\n

\n And he\u2019ll have to do so against the backdrop of a polarized national electorate, with Democrats seemingly motivated to vote in races up and down the ballot as a counter to Trump.\n <\/p>\n

\n The sense of momentum behind his campaign is driven in part by national buzz \u2014 seen most vividly in the reaction to an AI-generated video created by filmmaker Charles Curran portraying Pratt as Batman.\n <\/p>\n

\n In the video<\/a>, Pratt is fighting to save Los Angeles from the likes of Bass (portrayed as the Joker), Gov. Gavin Newsom, Kamala Harris, the state\u2019s former attorney general and senator before being elected vice president, and Democratic Socialists of America members. The three prominent Democrats are pelted with tomatoes. Pratt shared the video on his social media accounts.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cMaybe the best political ad of the year,\u201d former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said on X<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cHow could you not vote for this guy?\u201d asked<\/a> Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.\n <\/p>\n

\n The video spread among social media influencers aligned with Trump\u2019s \u201cMake America Great Again\u201d movement, where it was widely praised.\n <\/p>\n

\n That\u2019s the Catch-22 for Pratt. The reaction raising Pratt\u2019s profile nationally might be a boon for his fundraising and could fuel interest in his campaign. But it could also backfire among the voters who decide elections in Los Angeles \u2014 the majority of whom are Democrats who are still likely to approve of figures like Newsom and Harris. It\u2019s not clear whether the inroads Pratt has made with White voters on the Westside and in the San Fernando Valley extend to the city\u2019s broader, more diverse electorate.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cHis most challenging problem is the fact that he\u2019s a Republican and so much of the national attention around him has been leaning into the MAGA movement,\u201d said Christian Grose, a University of Southern California political science professor.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThe more he\u2019s associated with MAGA Republicanism, he will lose,\u201d he said. \u201cIf he could lean a little bit away from the Republican Party, he still would probably lose, but he\u2019s got a better chance.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Pratt launched his mayoral bid on January 7 \u2014 the one-year anniversary of the Palisades fire that destroyed his home and thousands of others.\n <\/p>\n

\n Pratt has blamed Bass \u2014 who had broken a pledge not to travel overseas as mayor and was in Ghana at the time the fire broke out \u2014 for his home\u2019s destruction. Pratt, who had already built a massive social media following, immediately took to his channels to lambast Bass and her response to the fire.\n <\/p>\n

\"Spencer<\/p>\n

\n \u201cShe should have resigned on January 7, when she was in Ghana and everything was burning,\u201d Pratt said in an interview on the \u201cGood Guys\u201d podcast last month. \u201cShe decided to continue on this quest of destroying Los Angeles. And I personally would like my children to be able to grow up in an L.A. that I grew up in \u2014 a beautiful L.A.; an L.A. that had hopes and dreams.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n It\u2019s a message with some appeal in a city where some residents wear hats that say \u201cMake LA Entourage Again,\u201d harkening back to the vibes of Los Angeles between 2004 and 2011, when the HBO show aired.\n <\/p>\n

\n Pratt\u2019s social media feeds are a constant stream of examples of public disorder \u2014 a theme that\u2019s the focus of his advertising, too, including billboards.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cSick of the chaos? Ready to feel safe?\u201d says one billboard portraying a woman pushing a stroller through a burning \u201cZombieland.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Another portrays Pratt as a window washer and says: \u201cLet\u2019s clean LA together!\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n What\u2019s more complicated is solving the problems Pratt often highlights: homelessness, drug addiction, mental health, management of emergencies, a regulatory environment that stalls progress and more.\n <\/p>\n

\n In the podcast interview, Pratt said that solving the city\u2019s challenges is \u201ceasy,\u201d but said entrenched interests stand in the way.\n <\/p>\n

\n He often calls Bass \u201cMayor Basura,\u201d the Spanish word for trash. And Pratt\u2019s supporters have picked up on the AI portrayal of him as Batman, a superhero who can take on who they see as the city\u2019s villains.\n <\/p>\n

\n But Bass said that portrayal of Pratt \u201cplays into people\u2019s desperation.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI think oftentimes we look for somebody superhuman to save us,\u201d Bass said in an interview with CNN\u2019s Elex Michaelson<\/a>. \u201cThe reality is it never happens.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\"LA<\/p>\n

LA Mayor Responds to Spencer Pratt Sharing AI Videos\n <\/p>\n

LA Mayor Karen Bass discusses AI-generated videos targeting her on social media, including posts amplified by rival candidate Spencer Pratt, in an interview with CNN\u2019s Elex Michaelson.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

LA Mayor Responds to Spencer Pratt Sharing AI Videos<\/p>\n

2:03<\/p>\n

\n Still, California Republican strategist Matt Shupe argued that Pratt\u2019s campaign represents a \u201creal sort of lightning in a bottle opportunity\u201d in a city long controlled by Democrats.\n <\/p>\n

\n He compared Pratt to Democratic insurgents in New York City \u2014 Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez \u2014 in his ability to create viral moments, his use of campaign tactics that other candidates aren\u2019t using and his talent on camera.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThe party registration is not on the ballot,\u201d Shupe said. \u201cAnd so, that forces people to actually think about who they\u2019re voting for, rather than voting for the letter next to their name. And I think that will work in his favor.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n A recent debate hosted by NBC4<\/a> offered a vivid window into the mayoral race\u2019s dynamics.\n <\/p>\n

\n What was immediately clear: No candidate believes they are likely to top 50% in the primary, which means a runoff featuring the top two finishers in November will be necessary.\n <\/p>\n

\n Also clear was that Bass and Pratt want to run against each other \u2014 even though they won\u2019t say so. The two attacked Raman, the progressive councilwoman, repeatedly \u2014 which Raman noted, telling the crowd that \u201ceach of them thinks that running against each other is what\u2019s going to help them win.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Pratt shot back that he\u2019d rather run against Raman.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cYou think it\u2019s easier to run against the incumbent mayor with all the unions, or a random city council member who\u2019s been a failure for six years?\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n

\n Raman mocked Pratt for having \u201ca MAGA Republican\u2019s idea of what Los Angeles looks like.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Pratt, meanwhile, cast Bass and Raman as unserious about public safety and order. He chided Raman over a plan to deploy treatment teams to homeless encampments as part of an effort to reduce those encampments.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI will go below the Harbor Freeway tomorrow with her, and we can find some of these people she\u2019s going to offer treatment for. She\u2019s going to get stabbed in the neck,\u201d Pratt said. \u201cThese people do not want a bed. They want fentanyl or super-meth.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n What the primary will test is how voters are responding to Pratt\u2019s message: whether they are seeking a dramatic break from Los Angeles\u2019 leadership and policies, or whether he alienates those in a city that voted recently to approve a sales tax hike to fund anti-homelessness efforts.\n <\/p>\n

\n Pratt\u2019s best bet, Grose said, is if voters view him as \u201csome kind of fresh alternative\u201d who can appeal to a diverse cross-section of mainstream Democrats and independents.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThe biggest gift to Karen Bass,\u201d he said, \u201cwould be Spencer Pratt, Republican, in the general election.\u201d\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Spencer Pratt might be a candidate uniquely suited for the moment: An elder millennial with everywhere-all-the-time social media…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":800785,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,276,2961,224,5337],"class_list":{"0":"post-800784","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-la","11":"tag-los-angeles","12":"tag-losangeles"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116584833006922055","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/800784","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=800784"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/800784\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/800785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=800784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=800784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=800784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}