What the hell do we have to lose? We're already in the dumps.
In a city long accustomed to the theater of reinvention, Spencer Pratt — reality television's self-styled villain turned crystal merchant turned political candidate — sought to convert personal grievance and public frustration into a mayoral mandate in Los Angeles. His campaign, animated by the ruins of his Palisades home and the exhaustion of Angelenos worn down by homelessness, crime, and slow recovery, found genuine resonance but could not overcome the arithmetic of a city where Republicans hold fewer than one in seven registered votes. The November runoff will belong to incumbent Karen Bass and progressive council member Nithya Raman, two figures shaped by conventional political life, as Los Angeles prepares to host the world in 2028 and reckon with the deeper question of what kind of city it wishes to be.
- A city seething over fire devastation, persistent homelessness, and a mayor who was abroad when disaster struck created the opening Pratt needed — but anger alone cannot rewrite a registration map.
- Pratt's campaign imagery was visceral: a man standing before the rubble of his own home, claiming he had felt the cost of failed leadership in his bones — though reports placed him comfortably at the Hotel Bel-Air throughout.
- Ordinary Angelenos, from fire-displaced homeowners still waiting for gas lines to lifelong Democrats longing for clean streets, found something in Pratt's outsider energy that polished politicians had stopped offering them.
- The structural ceiling was always there — no Republican has won the Los Angeles mayoralty since 1997, and even a billionaire spending $100 million on the same themes lost by nearly ten points just four years ago.
- With Pratt eliminated, the race narrows to Bass versus Raman, but the appetite for disruption he surfaced does not disappear with him — it waits for the next vessel willing to carry it.
Spencer Pratt's bid for the Los Angeles mayoralty ended in the primary, with the Associated Press confirming he would not advance to the November runoff. That contest will instead pit incumbent Karen Bass against progressive city council member Nithya Raman, closing one of the more improbable political chapters in recent memory.
Pratt arrived at the race carrying the full weight of his tabloid biography — a cast member on 'The Hills,' a memoir, a rap single, a crystal company — and transformed it into an outsider credential. His campaign focused relentlessly on homelessness, crime, and urban decay, themes that found genuine purchase among voters exhausted by the city's trajectory. The Palisades Fire, which destroyed his home and stands as the most destructive in Los Angeles history, gave his grievances a personal and photogenic urgency. He filmed campaign videos from a trailer parked on his property's ruins, though he was later reported to be staying at the Hotel Bel-Air with his family.
Some voters were persuaded. A Pacific Palisades real estate agent still waiting for his gas lines to be restored more than a year after the fire said he would take energy and common sense over experience. A 38-year-old lifelong Democrat voted for Pratt after his debate performance, saying she simply wanted the city she had grown up in back. Others were unmoved — one voter said she wanted anyone with a pulse other than Pratt, and cast her ballot for Raman despite sharing his frustrations with Bass.
The mathematics were always the deeper obstacle. Republicans make up less than 15 percent of registered voters in Los Angeles, and the city has not elected a Republican mayor since 1997. Billionaire Rick Caruso spent over $100 million on a nearly identical message in 2022 and lost by nearly ten points.
Pratt's life before the campaign had been a long sequence of reinventions — villain, tabloid fixture, bankrupt spendthrift, crystal evangelist, TikTok creator. After the fire he encouraged fans to stream his wife Heidi Montag's decade-old album, which briefly hit number one on iTunes. The campaign was, in many ways, another chapter in the same story.
The next mayor will inherit a city whose population is shrinking, whose homelessness crisis persists despite statistical gains, and whose entertainment industry is bleeding jobs to cheaper locations. In 2028, Los Angeles hosts the Olympics, placing its next leader on an international stage overseeing a $15 billion budget. Bass and Raman will compete for that role, while Pratt returns to the pursuit of attention that has always been his most consistent vocation.
Spencer Pratt's improbable campaign for Los Angeles mayor ended in the primary, denied a spot in the November runoff that will pit incumbent Karen Bass against progressive city council member Nithya Raman. The Associated Press made the determination official on Monday, closing a chapter in what had become one of the year's stranger political stories.
Pratt, who rose to fame as a cast member on "The Hills" and has spent the years since chasing headlines through various ventures—a memoir titled "The Guy You Loved to Hate," a rap single called "I'm a Celebrity," a crystal-selling company called Pratt Daddy—had positioned himself as an outsider willing to tackle the problems that have left many Angelenos exhausted. His campaign hammered relentlessly on homelessness, crime, and urban decay, themes that resonated with voters genuinely frightened about their city's trajectory. The mathematics of Los Angeles politics, however, proved insurmountable. Republicans account for less than 15 percent of registered voters in the city, and no Republican has won a mayoral race there since 1997.
Pratt's candidacy gained particular force after the Palisades Fire destroyed his home last year—the most destructive fire in the city's history. He appeared in campaign videos standing before a trailer parked on the ruins of his property, declaring that he understood the consequences of failed leadership because he had lived them. The imagery was potent, though TMZ later reported that Pratt was actually living with his wife and two young children at the luxurious Hotel Bel-Air. His outrage at Bass, who was on a presidential delegation to Ghana when the fire began and has faced criticism for the slow pace of rebuilding, tapped into broader frustration with the Democratic mayor's stewardship.
Some voters were willing to overlook Pratt's complete lack of political experience. Dennis Kamrany, a Pacific Palisades real estate agent still waiting for his home's gas lines to be reconnected more than a year after the fire, said he preferred someone with energy and common sense policies over traditional politicians. "What the hell do we have to lose?" he asked. "We're already in the dumps. Give somebody else a shot." Susie Tho, a 38-year-old Democrat born and raised in Los Angeles, voted for Pratt after being impressed by his debate performance. She said she simply wanted clean, safe streets and missed the city she had grown up in.
Yet others remained skeptical. Deanna Crane said she wanted "anyone with a pulse other than Spencer Pratt" for mayor, and despite sharing his frustrations with Bass's handling of the fires, she voted for Raman instead. The math was simply against him. Billionaire Rick Caruso had faced similar odds in 2022, spending over $100 million of his own money on a campaign centered on public safety, and lost to Bass by nearly 10 points.
Pratt's path to this moment had been a long accumulation of tabloid moments and reinventions. He joined "The Hills" in its second season as the boyfriend of Heidi Montag, and the couple leaned into their roles as fame-seeking villains, publishing a guide to becoming a tabloid fixture in 2009, the year they married. He claimed responsibility for spreading rumors about a sex tape involving Lauren Conrad, then denied it. He and Montag divorced, then claimed the divorce was faked to boost her music career. He was arrested and jailed in Costa Rica for attempting to board a flight with a firearm. In 2018, he revealed that he had spent through a $10 million net worth pursuing a lavish lifestyle—$4,000 bottles of wine, $1 million worth of crystals.
After losing his home in the Palisades Fire, Pratt pivoted to TikTok videos for income, pursued a reality show about rebuilding, and encouraged fans to stream Montag's 15-year-old album "Superficial," which hit number one on iTunes with help from celebrities like Paris Hilton and Flavor Flav. "Who needs a house, who needs clothes, who needs anything but this level of clout, pop, superstardom?" he posted on Instagram.
The next mayor of Los Angeles will inherit a city facing steep challenges. The region's population is falling as residents flee high taxes, traffic, and the cost of living. Homelessness persists despite statistical improvements, with makeshift encampments and rusting RVs still commonplace. Hollywood jobs have been leaving for cheaper filming locations. The restaurant industry has been struggling. In 2028, Los Angeles will host the Olympics, meaning the next mayor will become an international figure overseeing a $15 billion budget and 50,000 municipal workers. Bass will face Raman in that race, while Pratt returns to the life that made him famous—the endless pursuit of attention in a city that has always been willing to provide it.
Citações Notáveis
I'd rather have someone that's a fighter, that has energy, that's young, that is talking about common sense policies. What the hell do we have to lose? We're already in the dumps.— Dennis Kamrany, Pacific Palisades resident and Pratt supporter
I just wanted a clean and safe street for my child to grow up in. I miss the LA that I grew up in.— Susie Tho, Los Angeles voter who supported Pratt
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why did Pratt think he could win in a city where Republicans are less than 15 percent of voters?
He didn't think he could win in the traditional sense. He was betting that voter anger about homelessness and the fires would transcend party registration—that people were desperate enough to overlook everything else.
Did the fire actually help him, or hurt him?
Both. It gave him a genuine grievance and a visual story to tell. But it also exposed him—living in a hotel while claiming to understand the suffering of people in trailers made him look opportunistic to people already skeptical.
What's striking is that some voters knew all about his past and voted for him anyway.
Right. Susie Tho watched him debate and thought he was sharp. Dennis Kamrany didn't care about his tabloid history—he cared that Pratt seemed like someone who would actually fight. For them, his outsider status wasn't a liability. It was the point.
But he still lost. What does that tell us about Los Angeles?
That anger and frustration aren't enough to overcome structural reality. You can tap into genuine pain, but if the math is against you—if your party is 15 percent of the electorate—you're still going to lose. The city wanted change, but not enough to bet on Spencer Pratt.
What happens to him now?
He goes back to what he knows. TikTok videos, his wife's music, the endless performance. He's spent two decades turning his life into content. A failed mayoral campaign is just another chapter in that story.