Spencer Pratt, reality TV star, Palisades fire victim, and registered Republican running as an Independent, sat in second place in the Los Angeles mayoral primary Wednesday morning, leading Democratic city councilmember Nithya Raman by more than 40,000 votes with roughly 60% of ballots counted.
Raman, 44, held back tears at her downtown Los Angeles watch party Tuesday evening as the gap widened. Pratt, 42, struck a different tone entirely at his own event.
The early returns, attributed to the Associated Press by The U.S. Sun, showed Pratt pulling 30% of the vote to Raman's 22%. Incumbent Mayor Karen Bass led the field with about 35%, securing her spot in the November general election. If the numbers hold, Bass will face either Pratt or Raman in the fall, and right now, the political newcomer from "The Hills" is the one with momentum.
Pratt launched his campaign in January, weeks after the Palisades fires tore through Los Angeles and destroyed his $3 million home. He turned personal loss into a populist pitch, channeling the frustration of thousands of fire-affected voters who watched their city burn while its mayor was out of the country.
Bass was traveling in Africa when the wildfires broke out. More than 100,000 people signed a petition calling for her immediate resignation in the aftermath.
Pratt made the city's failures the centerpiece of his candidacy. At his election night watch party, he laid out the case plainly:
"I got in this because as a citizen I felt like my city failed myself, my neighbors, my family. Mayor Bass has allowed the city to become covered in potholes. Then there's the moms who want to be able to go to the parks and not see anybody shooting up fentanyl with their pants off."
No focus groups. No consultant-speak. Just a man who lost his house telling voters their government let them down. Whatever you think of Pratt's celebrity background, that message clearly landed with a sizable chunk of the Los Angeles electorate.
Raman did not help her own cause. In May, the councilmember proposed a motion seeking to restrict outdoor grilling for residents living in Red Flag Warning areas. The motion called on residents to "cease all activities that increase risk of fire, such as the use of outdoor barbecues or fire pits."
Fellow Democratic Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez blocked the proposal swiftly and did not mince words. Rodriguez called the idea "tone deaf."
"The last thing Angelenos need is a ban on hosting a carne asada in their own backyard. We know that so many of the fires that are actually impacting neighborhoods have often been derived from other activities that are not being enforced on."
When your own party colleagues are publicly slapping down your policy ideas as out of touch, the voters tend to notice. Pratt certainly did. He responded on X with a video of himself grilling, overlaid with the text "HAPPY SMOKE 4TH," and captioned it: "COME AND TAKE IT."
It was the kind of move that drives political professionals up the wall, and resonates with regular people who are tired of being told what they can and cannot do in their own yards while the city can't manage basic services.
Pratt's candidacy drew endorsements from an eclectic roster. Podcast giant Joe Rogan backed his run. So did Paris Hilton and actor James Woods. President Trump offered his own nod of approval on May 20, telling reporters he supported the reality star's bid.
"I'd like to see him do well. He's a character. I heard he's a big MAGA person. He's doing well."
Pratt filed as an Independent despite being a registered Republican, a strategic choice in a city where the GOP label alone can sink a candidacy. But the coalition he assembled suggests something broader than party affiliation. Celebrity backers, a presidential endorsement, and a message rooted in lived experience with government failure gave Pratt a profile no traditional first-time candidate could manufacture.
Karen Bass, 72, will appear on the November ballot. She assumed office in December 2022 and is seeking a second term. But a 35% showing in a primary where a reality TV star is nipping at your heels is not a position of strength.
Bass carries the weight of the wildfire response, or lack of one. The image of a mayor abroad while her city burned has not faded. The petition demanding her resignation drew six figures' worth of signatures. And now the voters who are angriest about the city's direction have a candidate who speaks their language, literally and figuratively.
Pratt summed up his own mood on election night simply enough:
"I literally could not be more excited."
Raman, for her part, offered a gracious concession-adjacent speech at her downtown event, even as the numbers turned against her.
"Los Angeles is the most magical city in the entire world. Win or lose, I am so proud to be an Angelino and I'm so grateful to call this extraordinary city my home. No matter what happens in this election, I will never stop fighting for it."
Roughly 40% of votes remained uncounted as of Wednesday. The race for second place is not officially settled. Raman could still close the gap, though erasing a 40,000-vote deficit with the remaining ballots would require a significant shift in the outstanding precincts.
If Pratt holds on, November's general election becomes one of the most unusual mayoral contests in modern American politics: a 72-year-old Democratic incumbent who was out of the country during the worst disaster in her city's recent memory, versus a 42-year-old reality TV personality who lost his home in that same disaster and decided to run for office.
Los Angeles voters asked their government for competence after the fires. They got a grilling ban proposal from one candidate and an absentee response from another. Pratt offered them anger they recognized as their own. Forty thousand votes say that counted for something.
When the people in charge fail badly enough, the people outside the system start to look pretty good by comparison.
