Need a temp check on just how angry votes are right now? Look to California, where former reality show villain Spencer Pratt is actually within striking distance of winning a nomination for Mayor of Los Angeles. In his version of this very-online script, he’s the hero coming to save the day—literally, replete with a Batman-styled cape in one viral video and Luke Skywalker-caliber sword skills in another.
In one of those only-in-politics moments, the MAGAverse is rallying behind Pratt, a 42-year-old registered Republican, in hopes he can be the next Mayor of the nation’s second-largest city, a kind of West Coast counterpoint to Zohran Mamdaniin New York. Yet their cheering may instead help seal the re-election of the deeply unpopular incumbent, Karen Bass.
Pratt, for those who don’t know or perhaps forgot, is the former star of The Hills, a ground-breaking MTV reality show from the early aughts. More recently, after seeing his family’s home burn down in last year’s Palisades wildfires, he launched a mayoral campaign gaining some traction in a very online echo chamber where outrage and celebrity are the currency of the realm and experience is inexplicably a negative. Sound familiar? It should. This is the Trump playbook, down to a media strategy meant to drive normies nuts.
By all standards, this is an unusual race and could be a test of just how eager for change the electorate is. On the long shot someone gets 50% of the vote on June 2, the race is over. More likely, the top-two finishers will move onto a runoff on Nov. 3, when California will also be voting on scores of congressional races and deciding who will replace Gov. Gavin Newsom. That means Bass could see a crowded opposition field shrink down to a blunt but untested celebrity in a city that hasn’t elected a Republican Mayor since Bill Clinton was President—and where Democrats are expected to outnumber Republicans by a 4-to-1 margin.
What might make it even easier for Pratt in the election’s first round and Bass in the second? The same event: an endorsement from the former reality show host who twice ran a similar, successful playbook of trollish glee and brute insults to win the White House. On Wednesday, Trump all but delivered just that: “I’d like to see him do well,” the President said Wednesday of Pratt. “He’s a character. I heard he’s a big MAGA person.”
The Bass camp is surely thrilled. Before Pratt was gaining ground, the race was expected to narrow to Bass and City Council member Nithya Raman, who still has a shot at making the runoff over Pratt. Establishment Democrats are uncertain about the outcome if Raman is the alternative to Bass. They have no such uncertainty if Pratt ends up in a head-to-head with Bass, they crow.
Back in March, Emerson College polling found the biggest share of the electorate—51%—was undecided. That number dropped this month to 16%. Bass grew her level of support from 20% to 30%. But Pratt increased his slice from 10% to 22% while Raman climbed from 9% to 19%.
But here’s the other telling number: Trump has a 74% disapproval rating in Los Angeles.
It’s not surprising that Los Angeles voters are looking for change. Many remain outraged by the 72-year-old Bass’ response to the wildfires that wiped out whole chunks of the city, and more broadly frustrated by her approaches to homelessness, immigration and crime. Raman, at age 44, splits the age and experience difference.
Pratt’s selling points are more visceral. “Everyone’s angry. All genders. All races,” Pratt said after the one and only debate. “It’s the most psycho time.”
Pratt surprised even his detractors at that debate with a performance marked by clever rejoinders, a cogent message about needing an outsider to clean up Bass’ messes, and an optimistic vision not far from the “Make LA Entourage Again” hats spotted in the wild. It’s in part why some major corporate leaders are now backing Pratt.
But much like Trump, Pratt is also reaching voters by embracing spectacle, notably viral videos—many of which look like they’re A.I. creations. They are, to be blunt, less than mayoral. In one of the most popular ones, a Batman-esque crusader interrupts a gathering of Democratic elites led by a Joker-styled Bass. He leads an uprising of other frustrated Angelenos to throw tomatoes at Bass, Newsom and Kamala Harris. (For good measure, the ad throws out a crude mockery of transgender rights.)
In another, borrowing from Star Wars’ tones, Pratt duels Bass with a lightsaber while Harris and Newsom scheme to control the universe.
Pratt says he isn’t involved in their creation and fanfic. But he has definitely amplified them on social media alongside his own churn of Internet chum, including one ad claiming “Stay the course with Karen Bass” as homes burned.
At the same time, Pratt has taken to doling out nicknames as another denizen of reality shows did in 2016. Instead of “Crooked Hillary,” today there is “Mayor Basura,” a crude mashup of the Spanish word for garbage and the incumbent’s surname. Oh, and of course there’s corresponding merchandise for sale on his website.
But as Trump could do, Pratt can also read the room. The top issues on Angelenos’ minds are the economy, including jobs, taxes, and inflation, at 31% followed by housing affordability at 25%, according to Emerson College polling of likely primary voters. For some L.A. voters, Pratt is addressing those issues more legibly than his opponents.
In interviews and appearances, Pratt brands himself as an anti-establishment activist—not just a celebrity whose house burned down in the Palisades fire and inspired his frustration with city services. On the ballot, it lists his occupation as “community advocate.” When asked about his qualifications, he has a snappy answer: “I’m no longer a reality star. I’m the only candidate living in reality.” But there’s also the flash of arrogance former fans of The Hills will recognize when he likens himself to Barack Obama, who rose from community organizer to the White House: “Him and I have the same experience.”
It’s an easier argument to compare Pratt to the President who came after.
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