Spencer Pratt speaks into his smartphone camera, blaming Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass for the environmental catastrophe of the Palisades fire, which burned his house, and the homeless crisis that triggered “a sudden outbreak of a medieval disease,” which we learn is typhus.
Then there’s City Councilmember Nithya Raman, holding a tiny microphone, walking and talking in an influencer style as she explains to viewers how she’ll bring back Hollywood, make sure the streetlights work and oppose rich contracts for the city’s police union.
Incumbent Mayor Karen Bass is running a more traditional campaign, but even she is pushing her ads out on streaming platforms and social media, and posting videos on Instagram.
“This is the new era of campaigning,” said Sara Sadhwani, a politics professor at Pomona College. “Social media has changed the game. People have always looked for candidates they could have a beer with but now it’s about the ways in which they’re able to connect with voters online.”
TV ads used to dominate in Los Angeles mayoral election campaigns. This year, candidates are increasingly pivoting to social media to post snappy, off-the-cuff videos that could fuel momentum for their campaigns if they go viral.
Pratt, in particular, has built a national following with the help of ads gone viral on social media, including ones produced by his own camp as well as outside supporters.
In one of his spots, Pratt appears outside Raman’s home in Silver Lake and the mayor’s city-owned mansion in Hancock Park, and then in front of the Pacific Palisades lot where his home burned in the 2025 fire.
The pitch is that Pratt knows the consequences of failed leadership. The 30-second clip has racked up more than 13 million views since it was released in April.
Political consultant Mike Trujillo said Pratt’s role on “The Hills” and other reality TV shows has given him an edge in the viral ad wars.
“It’s just second nature. So you’re seeing him lean into things he already knows a little better,” said Trujillo, who isn’t affiliated with any of the mayoral campaigns.
At the same time, Trujillo and others pointed out that social media has its limits. A viral video can spur buzz and raise a candidate’s profile, but many of the viewers won’t be voting in the city’s June 2 primary election.
“My college roommate could be watching in South Carolina,” said longtime Democratic strategist Bill Carrick, who worked on former Mayor Eric Garcetti’s 2017 reelection campaign.
Bass, who has raised more than any other candidate — with a war chest of nearly $4 million including public matching funds — is targeting Los Angeles voters in spots aired on “Jeopardy,” “Wheel of Fortune,” the NBA Semi-Finals and other telecasts, according to Federal Communications Commission filings.
Neither Raman nor Pratt has spent on a television ad on L.A.’s top local stations, according to the filings. (Pratt did appear, unpaid, on “The Masked Singer” in February for 57 seconds when his wife, Heidi Montag, was revealed as Snowcone, one filing noted.)
Bass’ campaign has raised less money than in her 2022 run, but the incumbent isn’t competing against anyone with pockets nearly as deep for advertisement spending as Rick Caruso, who spent more than $100 million in his failed bid to beat Bass.
“Caruso outspent us 11 to 1 and we still won,” said Bass spokesperson Alex Stack. “This time it’s a bigger field. … We’re running a dynamic, diverse media strategy.”
Bass is also getting some help from outside supporters.
Four different groups, including the L.A. County Federation of Labor, have spent a total of nearly $200,000 on the mayor’s behalf, sending out fliers and mailers and phone banking in support of the incumbent. (The labor group also reported spending $221,000 for an ad attacking Pratt, but which analysts say is aimed at keeping Bass’ progressive rival Raman out of the runoff.)
Pratt and Raman are also getting outside support. One ad, created using artificial intelligence by Los Angeles-based AI filmmaker Charles Curran, depicts Pratt as a Batman-like character fighting to save Los Angeles. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush hailed it as the “best political ad of the year.”
In the video, which features vulgar language from an AI-generated Gov. Gavin Newsom about a “transgender migrant,” Pratt battles masked socialist enemies while frustrated Angelenos throw tomatoes at Bass and Newsom.
Curran released another AI-powered video this month portraying Pratt as a hero in a “Star Wars”-type universe, once again fighting Bass, Newsom and masked socialists.
The tagline for both videos: “LA is worth saving. Vote Spencer Pratt,”
The Raman campaign has also received support from outside sources, including a recent video from comedian Adam Connover suggesting that Bass is attempting to elevate Pratt’s campaign in order to avoid facing Raman in a runoff. That video got about 700,000 views.
Raman’s videos have not gotten as many views as some of Pratt’s, but have still gotten hundreds of thousands of views on X and Instagram.
In one, she talks about bringing Hollywood film shoots back to L.A. as she walks across a Disney lot. That video got nearly 100,000 views.
The Raman campaign has also used targeted advertising on Instagram and YouTube, getting millions of views on some of its more formal campaign ads.
Because Raman got into the race with just four months before the primary, she has raised less money and can’t necessarily spend on big broadcast television ads that can cost millions.
Many campaigns, meanwhile, have pivoted to another newer form of media to get their message out: podcasts.
Bass has gone on dozens of podcasts over the last year, most recently speaking on the Higher Learning podcast, which covers issues in Black culture and politics. In April, Raman went on Pod Save America and Pratt went on the Joe Rogan Experience.
Mayoral candidate Adam Miller, a tech entrepreneur, has loaned his campaign $4 million. The campaign is trying all the tactics — television ads, social media video and static ads, kiosks and billboards.
“It’s not an infinite amount of money,” said Bill Burton, Miller’s campaign advisor. “You still have to make choices based on what’s the frequency of ads you’re trying to get to your most likely voters.”
Meanwhile, community organizer Rae Huang’s campaign is hoping to reach voters with an “authentic, digital-first campaign.”
“We don’t have the resources for major TV or mail,” said Amy Quichiz, Huang’s co-campaign manager.
To that end, the campaign pays for small Instagram boosts to its videos as well as for Instagram ads asking people to contribute to Huang’s campaign. But the videos are purposely lower production value than a traditional ad.
“A bit less polished creates more trust,” Quichiz said.
As the June 2 primary nears, the candidates are likely to be more active than ever on social media, in targeted ads and on broadcast television, each hoping to get in the last word.
“With less than a month until election day, this campaign blitz on social media and on television is only just beginning,” said Sadhwani.
The post Social media videos take center stage in L.A. mayoral campaign appeared first on Los Angeles Times.
