What Happened
The Guardian reported that Spencer Pratt, a registered Republican with zero government experience and a tabloid history dating to the late 2000s, campaigned for Los Angeles mayor and lost the June primary to two more qualified candidates.
Progressive city councilor Nithya Raman won the primary with 28.6% of the vote, according to The Guardian, pushing incumbent Mayor Karen Bass (34.3%) into a November runoff. Pratt, despite intensive social media promotion and Trump's endorsement, secured only 25.8% of votes.
Pratt launched his campaign in January 2025 after losing his Pacific Palisades home in the deadly Los Angeles wildfires. He amplified wildfire recovery frustrations, homelessness complaints, and cost-of-living crises on social media. The Guardian reported his campaign included reshares of AI-generated videos showing Los Angeles in apocalyptic conditions, generating national attention and online virality.
Why This Matters
Los Angeles is one of the most expensive U.S. cities, short approximately 270,000 affordable housing units, with nearly 44,000 unhoused residents. Real policy debates on homelessness, housing, fire preparedness, and municipal spending are necessary and urgent.
But a mayoral race is still a mayoral race. It requires some understanding of how cities actually work, what a mayor actually does, and why voters might care about credentials. Pratt had none of these things, which made his campaign entertaining political theater rather than a serious alternative.
The Dumb Part With The Trumpification Strategy
The dumb part is that Trump's endorsement, while it made national headlines, appears to have been a liability in a city where Trump is deeply unpopular. The Guardian noted that Los Angeles has not elected a Republican mayor since Richard Riordan (1993-2001).
Pratt tried to distance himself from partisan allegiances, emphasizing the race was non-partisan while simultaneously amplifying MAGA-adjacent messaging and Trump support. This did not resolve the fundamental problem: a deep blue city full of voters who disagreed with the Republican president's policies and character, backed by that same president, will not win a primary.
According to The Guardian, UCLA analyst Zev Yaroslavsky said: \"Most people in Los Angeles are moderate-liberal or progressive people. There's only so many votes a MAGA Republican is going to get.\"
The Bottom Line
Pratt's loss confirms something basic about electoral politics: viral social media, TV fame, AI-generated apocalypse content, and a sitting president's endorsement cannot overcome zero experience, the wrong party registration, and a fundamental mismatch between a candidate and a city's politics.
The real stupid shit is that the fact this needed testing at all. A Los Angeles mayoral race should be about specific, boring proposals on housing, transit, homelessness strategy, and budget management. Instead, it became a national story about a reality TV star's identity and how many people would vote for someone famous enough to trend.
Sources
The Guardian: How Spencer Pratt's 'patently absurd' bid for Los Angeles mayor fell flat
AP: Los Angeles Mayor Election Results 2026