Spencer Pratt May Have Just Pulled Off What Every LA Insider Said Was Impossible

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass survived Tuesday's primary, advancing to a November runoff while political outsider Spencer Pratt muscled his way into second place (so far) on a campaign built entirely around her failures.

In the final update of the night, Bass held 34.78% (172,720 votes) to Pratt's 30.44% (151,149), with DSA-backed City Councilmember Nithya Raman at 22.32% (110,848). The last batch of 52,605 votes broke 37.6% for Pratt, 26.6% for Raman, and just 25.9% for Bass, extending Pratt's margin over Raman to more than 40,000 votes.

Decision Desk HQ projected Bass into the runoff early Wednesday morning, while Pratt, a first-time candidate who has never held elected office, was outpacing the veteran councilmember for the second runoff spot.

Decision Desk HQ projects Karen Bass advances in CA Los Angeles Mayor Nonpartisan Primary#DecisionMade: 1:50 AM EDT pic.twitter.com/A9b0UpdqHQ
— Decision Desk HQ (@DecisionDeskHQ) June 3, 2026

Speaking with reporters after results began coming in, Pratt made clear he was ready for a long campaign against the incumbent.

NEW: With votes still being counted, @spencerpratt holds a sizeable lead for 2nd place and appears on track to advance to a runoff against Mayor @KarenBassLA .

When I asked how he’s feeling, Pratt replied: “Obviously, God wanted 5 more months of me exposing all the failures of… pic.twitter.com/hlohCBQIzd
— Matthew Seedorff (@MattSeedorff) June 3, 2026

"Obviously, God wanted 5 more months of me exposing all the failures of our mayor," Pratt said when asked how he was feeling about the results.

He added that he was eager for more time on a debate stage opposite her.

WATCH: I asked @spencerpratt if he’d debate Mayor Karen Bass again if he advances to the runoff.

“As many debates as Mayor Bass would like,” Pratt said.

He added that debating Bass has become “my most favorite thing to do.” pic.twitter.com/i79tOtfK0G
— Matthew Seedorff (@MattSeedorff) June 3, 2026

Pratt built his campaign on a simple argument: Bass had four years and made everything worse. He announced his run on the anniversary of the Palisades Fire, which burned down his own home, and has hammered the incumbent on rising costs, visible homelessness, crumbling infrastructure, and a wildfire recovery that residents say has moved far too slowly.

"Business as usual is a death sentence for Los Angeles, and I'm done waiting for someone to take real action," Pratt said at his candidacy announcement.

Pratt has repeatedly tied his candidacy to the Palisades Fire and the city's broader problems, arguing that Los Angeles residents are paying more while getting fewer basic services.

"I got in this because as a citizen, I felt like my city failed — myself, my neighbors, my family," he told reporters Tuesday night. "Mayor Bass has allowed the city to be covered in potholes. We don't have sidewalks. We don't have lights.”

Pratt also picked up a nod of approval from President Donald Trump, who recently said, "I heard he's a big MAGA person." In deep-blue Los Angeles, where Republicans make up less than 15% of registered voters, that kind of association is typically treated as political poison, which makes Pratt's second-place standing all the more striking.

Bass, for her part, has leaned on her record, claiming homelessness is down, and homicide rates are at their lowest since 1968. She has also argued that wildfire cleanup has been the fastest in U.S. history. She has pointed to a permanent affordable housing ordinance and the revival of the California Film and TV Tax Credit as wins from her first term.

New Pro-Spencer Pratt Ad Eviscerates Leftist Thinking in Hilarious Fashion

Whether voters buy it is another question. Bass needed the full weight of the Democratic machine to get here: Former Vice President Kamala Harris, Gov. Gavin Newsom, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and the city's powerful labor unions all lined up behind her.

She still only pulled 34.78% in her own city, and the late votes were trending away from her.

"I have devoted my entire life to serving the city that I love, where I was born, and I'm going to continue to do that all the way to victory in November," she told supporters.

More ballots remain outstanding, and California has a history of substantial vote updates after Election Day as mail and drop-off ballots continue to be counted. The race for second has not yet been called to advance to the runoff, but with Pratt sitting on a 40,301-vote lead over Raman and the final batch of the night trending heavily his way, he appeared well-positioned to secure the second slot and face Bass in November.

If the numbers hold, Los Angeles is headed for a November showdown between a career politician defending a troubled record and a political outsider who lost his home in a fire she failed to prevent. The issues driving the race, homelessness, public safety, wildfire recovery, and the basic functioning of city government are not going away.

Editor’s Note: Hollywood, academia, and liberal elites are out of touch with the average American.

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