{"id":2598894,"date":"2026-05-05T10:05:02","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T14:05:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/after-decades-of-democrat-decline-republican-spencer-pratt-has-a-shot-at-winning-in-la\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T10:10:30","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T14:10:30","slug":"after-decades-of-democrat-decline-republican-spencer-pratt-has-a-shot-at-winning-in-la","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/after-decades-of-democrat-decline-republican-spencer-pratt-has-a-shot-at-winning-in-la\/","title":{"rendered":"Republican Spencer Pratt Has A Shot At Becoming LA Mayor"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fafter-decades-of-democrat-decline-republican-spencer-pratt-has-a-shot-at-winning-in-la%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2598894&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Los Angeles is portrayed as a Democratic stronghold showing signs of serious decline-population loss, civic blight, homelessness, and economic strain-creating an opening in an \u201ceyes-and-ears\u201d election where voters can\u2019t ignore what they see and experience. Incumbent Mayor Karen Bass, running for re-election, is described as polling very poorly and facing criticism from her left flank as well as broader dissatisfaction.<\/p>\n<p>into this environment steps Spencer Pratt, a reality-TV figure and Republican with no prior elected office, whose political story centers on personal experience: his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/viral-video-mother-presses-6-year-old-daughter-are-you-a-boy-or-are-you-a-girl\/\" title=\"Viral Video: Mother Presses 6-Year-Old Daughter: \u2018Are You A Boy Or Are You A Girl?...\">family lost<\/a> thier home in the January 7, 2025 Pacific Palisades fire. The article argues that Pratt\u2019s campaign is effective because it leans on direct, grounded messaging and reality-based imagery, contrasting it with what it depicts as the city\u2019s culture of denial around homelessness, crime, and public safety.<\/p>\n<p>The Democratic political establishment is then described as responding by trying to smear Pratt as hate-filled and exploitative-especially regarding his remarks about the Palisades disaster-while bass is quoted as dismissing him and accusing him of exploiting grief.Pratt counters by pointing to government failures and adding specific personal and community losses.<\/p>\n<p>While polling is uncertain and a large share of voters are still undecided, the piece claims Pratt has generated significant attention and is being attacked precisely because he matters. it highlights the perspective of los Angeles County GOP chair Roxanne Hoge, who argues Republicans can\u2019t abandon the region, points to GOP depiction despite low voter share, and frames Pratt as possibly fitting all the skills needed to compete: diagnose the problem, propose solutions, and communicate them effectively.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>In an eyes-and-ears election, the safest Democratic strongholds are in play.<\/p>\n<p>Twenty-five years after Los Angeles had its last Republican mayor, the city is ugly, dirty, <a href=\"https:\/\/ktla.com\/news\/local-news\/los-angeles-county-sees-largest-population-decline-in-the-u-s-according-to-census-data\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">losing population<\/a> with the rest of a troubled county, and struggling with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/business\/media\/see-how-hollywoods-job-market-is-collapsing-230be437\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">implosion<\/a> of its most significant industry. The decline is visible, a daily presence in the life of the city.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"A Raw Look at Skid Row | Los Angeles\u2019 Homeless District\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/kx1BorZ_jAI?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><\/span> <\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The incumbent mayor, Karen Bass, who trained for a career in politics by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/politics\/archive\/2020\/07\/karen-bass-cuba-venceremos-brigade\/614662\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">traveling to Cuba<\/a> with the radical <a href=\"https:\/\/capitalresearch.org\/article\/the-venceremos-brigade\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Venceremos Brigade<\/a>, is running for re-election. She\u2019s been polling at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/polls\/los-angeles-mayor-election-polls-2026.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">25% support<\/a>, a disaster for an incumbent mayor. Among her opponents is the repellent <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/HcXlt\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">DSA favorite<\/a> Nithya Raman (the \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/feb\/22\/nithya-raman-los-angeles-mayoral-race\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">next Mamdani<\/a>\u201c), a prominent member of the Los Angeles City Council who somehow keeps <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/reel\/DXIPsS-j08U\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">blaming<\/a> the current leadership of the city for its decline. Facing left, Los Angeles rolls steadily downward.<\/p>\n<p>But there\u2019s a growing surprise in Los Angeles, as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0489598\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reality television<\/a> star and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2026\/01\/08\/yes-spencer-pratt-is-a-republican-00716927\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Republican<\/a> who has never <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >held elected office proves<\/a> his ability to tell a compelling political story.<\/p>\n<figure><\/figure>\n<p>As the ad says, Spencer Pratt and his family lost their home in the <a href=\"https:\/\/kennerly.com\/blog\/the-palisades-fire\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Pacific Palisades fire<\/a> of January 7, 2025, a disaster that keeps <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=HCTMwEPUFDc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">revealing<\/a> appalling <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/01\/15\/us-news\/la-fire-bosses-chose-not-to-deploy-available-engines-firefighters-when-palisades-fire-erupted-records\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">failures<\/a> in the government of the city as litigation and investigations peel open the layers of the ineptitude. Seven percent of the city burned, much of it in unpopulated hills but also thousands of homes in one of LA\u2019s most beautiful neighborhoods.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey let my home burn down,\u201d Pratt says, standing in front of the Airstream trailer where he lives as he waits to rebuild. \u201cI know what the consequences of failed leadership are.\u201d He <em>attacks<\/em>. He points to reality and speaks directly. Like a certain other reality TV star who went into politics, he has a gift for a nickname: He calls the mayor Karen Basura, using the Spanish word for garbage. It sticks, and it\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/msDino17\/status\/2051436288432034041\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">showing up<\/a> in random social media discourse.<\/p>\n<p>The defining characteristic of the Los Angeles progressive is <em>denial<\/em>: Everything\u2019s fine, <a href=\"https:\/\/abc7.com\/post\/elderly-woman-strangled-during-home-invasion-robbery-hollywood-hills\/18957888\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">crime<\/a> isn\u2019t a problem, it\u2019s okay for children to walk to school through neighborhoods full of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/lapd-declare-unlawful-assembly-at-echo-lake-park-city-moves-to-clear-out-homeless-encampments\/\" title=\"LAPD declare unlawful assembly at Echo Lake Park, city moves to clear out homeless encampments\">homeless encampments<\/a>, the handful of infamous parks full of drug addicts are <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/IMwX1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">actually safe and clean<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><span><\/p>\n<blockquote data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Angelenos boo dismissive\/senseless answer &#038; eye-roll from Councilwoman Nithya Raman on her refusal to enforce ordinance prohibiting homeless encampments next to schools\/daycare centers: \u201cI don\u2019t think a kid is going to be safer because a tent is 500 ft away from a school.\u201d Insane <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/OkrWyLe7xP\">pic.twitter.com\/OkrWyLe7xP<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Sam Yebri (@samyebri) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/samyebri\/status\/1747874638032765432?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 18, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><\/span> <\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Against that culture of relentless denial, Pratt says what is. His campaign strategy is <em>the city<\/em>. Deon Joseph is a longtime LAPD officer who patrols Skid Row, a frequent and serious ground-level critic of the way the city and county are governed. This is his response to the Pratt campaign, and the ad he links to captures precisely the flavor of the argument Pratt is making:<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><span><\/p>\n<blockquote data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">His campaign ads are brilliant.  He doesn\u2019t take staged pics with school kids. No walking the streets with smiling fake cops. No choreographed walking and pointing at a construction sight with a hard hat on.  Just the reality of what a city is facing.  <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/WMhYnKjLEZ\">pic.twitter.com\/WMhYnKjLEZ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Deon Joseph (@ofcrdeonjoseph) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ofcrdeonjoseph\/status\/2051512306845266029?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 5, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><\/span> <\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>As predictably as the sunrise, California\u2019s Democratic political machine is responding to the threat of Pratt\u2019s candidacy by trying to paint him as Orange Man Jr., a dark figure driven by hate and rage. A few days ago, the former Los Angeles Times reporter Jim Newton <a href=\"https:\/\/calmatters.org\/commentary\/2026\/04\/spencer-pratt-la-mayor-race\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">described<\/a> Pratt\u2019s \u201cangry, name-calling campaign\u201d as one that keeps making \u201ca shrill argument,\u201d before blasting the man himself as \u201cselfish, undisciplined and unprincipled.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bass, pretending that Pratt is a nobody she\u2019s never heard of, piles on with fake emotional color:<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><span><\/p>\n<blockquote data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<div lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\n<p>LA Mayor Karen Bass:<\/p>\n<p>Well, honestly, before this, I had never heard of Spencer Pratt. But the thing I am concerned about is that I feel like he\u2019s exploiting the grief of people in the Palisades. And I think that\u2019s reprehensible. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/PGbn9UKmkZ\">pic.twitter.com\/PGbn9UKmkZ<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u2014 Acyn (@Acyn) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Acyn\/status\/2050440571588944222?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 2, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><\/span> <\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Pratt, who saw his wife and two children rendered homeless with him as their house in the Pacific Palisades burned, is <em>exploiting the grief of people in the Palisades<\/em> \u2013\u00a0of, literally, his neighbors. Bass is trying to blunt a political criticism of a disaster that happened on her watch by painting it as pathological and mean, sidelining a forceful critic as a grifter. She\u2019s meeting facts with feelings, coloring Pratt as distasteful.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not going to work. Pratt, who is proving to be quick on his feet, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/overton_news\/status\/2051406446810522015\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">responded<\/a> with some fire of his own: \u201cYeah, I\u2019m not sure if Karen Bass forgot that she let my house burn down and my parents\u2019 house burn down, and I had actual neighbors burn alive across the street from my childhood home.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The outcome of the mayoral race is very much up in the air. The last reliable polling <a href=\"https:\/\/luskin.ucla.edu\/volatility-ahead-in-la-mayors-race-ucla-luskin-poll-finds-40-of-voters-undecided\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">suggested<\/a> that 40 percent of the city hasn\u2019t settled on a candidate, though that result is now a month old. But Pratt clearly has the attention of the city, and he\u2019s being attacked because he matters as a candidate.<\/p>\n<p>The Federalist spoke this week with Los Angeles County GOP Chair Roxanne Hoge, a conservative actress and lawyer who is waging an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=fYOhDIVJRLo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">indefatigable<\/a> campaign to make Republican politics matter in LA again. She warns that Bass is a formidable retail politician, though \u201cher  political instincts on a bigger scale suck.\u201d She\u2019s right, though Bass has also unaccountably spent her adult life winning elections for local, state, and federal office.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"BRUTAL VIRAL VIDEO: Karen Bass Just Stares Straight Ahead As Reporter Lobs Questions About Wildfires\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/eUJ1jA07BM0?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><\/span> <\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>\u201cShe\u2019s a wounded animal,\u201d Hoge said about the increasingly unpopular mayor.<\/p>\n<p>The DSA wing of the Democrat Party is rising in Los Angeles, and Hoge sees the hard shift to the left as a reality that\u2019s causing real alarm in much of the city. \u201c<em>Democrats<\/em> see the DSA as a problem,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n<p>Against a political culture that keeps drifting left and into brittle fantasy, Hoge views Pratt as a shrewd figure who appears to casually speak off the cuff while actually delivering a message with meticulous discipline. When she\u2019s heard Pratt speak, \u201che said nothing without making sure it was correct.\u201d Needing three things to win the race \u2013\u00a0an ability to diagnose the problem, an ability to offer a solution, and an ability to communicate \u2013 Hoge sees Pratt as having all three.<\/p>\n<p>Los Angeles matters to the country because of its sheer size: It\u2019s the home to 24 Assembly districts, 13 state senate districts, and <a href=\"https:\/\/data.lacounty.gov\/datasets\/lacounty::registrar-recorder-congressional-districts-2025\/explore?location=33.810450%2C-118.298750%2C7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">18 congressional districts<\/a>. Republicans <em>can\u2019t<\/em> give up on it.<\/p>\n<p>Hoge argues that they haven\u2019t. In a county with over a million registered Republican voters (see the 19th page of <a href=\"https:\/\/elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov\/ror\/60day-primary-2026\/complete-ror.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">this PDF file<\/a>), the GOP still has less than 20 percent of the total number of voters \u2013\u00a0but about a third of the elected officials, especially in the suburbs, in a county with 88 cities. In a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wapo-fact-checker-biden-misled-about-georgia-election-law-it-expands-voting-opportunities-for-most-georgians\/\" title=\"WaPo Fact Checker: Biden Misled About Georgia Election Law, It Expands Voting Opportunities For Most Georgians\">deep blue county<\/a> and a deep blue state, Republicans are winning elections.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI do see hope,\u201d Hoge says. We\u2019ll know in a month if that hope has a serious future.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Chris Bray is a senior correspondent at The Federalist and a former infantry sergeant in the U.S. Army. He has a history PhD from the University of California Los Angeles, not that it did him any good. He also posts on Substack, at &#8220;Tell Me How This Ends,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/chrisbray.substack.com\/\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As in an \u201ceyes-and-ears\u201d contest, even LA\u2019s safest Democratic strongholds are now at risk<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2086,"featured_media":2598895,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-192-e1777989115911.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[35865,33278,5894,3911,70393],"class_list":["post-2598894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-election-campaign","tag-los-angeles-mayor","tag-politics","tag-republican","tag-spencer-pratt"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-192-e1777989115911.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2598894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2086"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2598894"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2598894\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2598898,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2598894\/revisions\/2598898"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2598895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2598894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2598894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2598894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}