State Watch

Bass says LA mayoral race opponent Spencer Pratt ‘tapping into a general sense of anger’

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by Sarah Davis - 05/16/26 4:07 PM ET

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by Sarah Davis - 05/16/26 4:07 PM ET

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Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass accused the Republican challenger in her reelection race of using a “general sense of anger” to motivate support for his mayoral bid.

“I think that he is tapping into a general sense of anger that people have, not just in Los Angeles, but in many other places around our country,” Bass told MS NOW on Saturday morning.

GOP candidate Spencer Pratt has run AI-generated political advertisements against the sitting mayor and slammed Bass over how she handled the Palisades fires. The former reality TV star was one of many of the city’s residents who lost his home in this natural disaster.

In one of his campaign ads, Pratt stands in front of a mobile home and says, “This is where I live.”

“They let my home burn down,” he continued. “I know what the consequences of failed leadership are. That’s why I’m running for mayor, for my sons and the rest of these angelenos that want to stop these corrupt politicians from destroying our city.”

Bass touted her record on addressing the homelessness in the city during the Saturday interview, citing statistics that street homelessness was reduced by 17.5 percent in the city under her leadership. She also referenced her administration’s plans to speed up the installation of 42,000 additional units of affordable housing.

“The fact that crime is at a historic low and when there has been spikes in crime, we have definitely surged law enforcement until it was resolved. And my office of community safety that is focusing on preventing crime. So I want you to know that that resonates with angelenos very much as well, because homelessness is one of our major, major problems.”

Bass is the leading candidate in her re-election race, polling at 30 percent in an Emerson College poll released on Wednesday. Pratt received 22 percent support, and city councilmember Nithya Raman polled at 19 percent in the survey.

The mayor will face off against Pratt, Raman and other mayoral candidates in an open primary on June 2.

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