(Daily Signal)—Spencer Pratt, the reality television villain turned Los Angeles mayoral candidate, is on track for a showdown with incumbent Democrat Mayor Karen Bass.
While Pratt has not yet officially locked in a top-two finish, returns coming in from the Golden State on Wednesday morning show him in second place and maintaining a comfortable lead over Los Angeles Councilmember Nithya Raman, according to the Associated Press.
Bass, however, held the top spot with 36.7% of the vote just after 10 p.m. PDT when the Associated Press determined she would advance to the November general election. The call for Bass came in with less than 50% of the estimated vote counted.
Meanwhile, Pratt had captured 29.6% of the vote, a strong second place. Raman trailed in third with 20.8% of the vote.
Under Los Angeles election rules, candidates compete in a nonpartisan primary. If no candidate receives a majority of votes, the top two finishers advance to the general election.
“The communists already lost,” Pratt said Tuesday night in an interview with reporters outside of his election night party, seeming to reference his opponents Nithya Raman and Karen Bass.
Bass was elected mayor of Los Angeles in 2022 after a six-term stint in Congress. She is seeking a second term.
“We’re going to build a city where parents and kids do not have to navigate tents, because in the nation’s second largest city, there should never be anybody that is sleeping on our streets. We are a city that can deal with this and we have been doing it, and we are going to continue,” Bass said in remarks to supporters Tuesday night.
The race unfolded amid ongoing concerns over housing affordability, homelessness, public safety, and wildfire recovery.
Pratt drew attention to Angelenos with his unconventional campaign that relied heavily on social media and viral AI campaign videos.
Throughout the race, Pratt presented himself as an alternative to the city’s political establishment and has been outspoken about the mayor’s management of the Palisades fires and homelessness throughout the city.
Pratt was inspired to joined the mayoral race because of the Bass administration’s response to the the January 2025 Palisades fires, in which Pratt lost his home.
Now, Pratt appears poised for a November showdown with the mayor he blames for the loss of his home.