Wildfire Survivor Pratt SHOCKS Polls — Closes in on LA Mayor

A reality TV star who lost his home in the Los Angeles wildfires is now surging in the polls for mayor — and the city’s fed-up residents may be ready to hand him the keys to City Hall.

Story Snapshot

Spencer Pratt, known from the reality show “The Hills,” is running for Los Angeles mayor and polling at 22% — within striking distance of incumbent Karen Bass at 26%.
Pratt lost his family home in the Palisades fires and says his campaign is driven by personal experience with the city’s failures, not political ambition.
Mayor Bass is struggling with voters who believe Los Angeles is headed in the wrong direction, making her vulnerable heading into the June 2 primary.
Last-minute polling surges and prediction market movement suggest Pratt’s outsider candidacy is being taken seriously by voters tired of establishment politics.

A City in Crisis Looks for New Answers

Los Angeles is a city that has suffered visibly under years of progressive leadership — rampant homelessness, open drug use on city streets, devastating wildfires, and a public safety crisis that residents can no longer ignore. Incumbent Mayor Karen Bass is struggling to hold onto voters who believe the city is moving in the wrong direction, according to Politico’s coverage of a University of California, Berkeley and Los Angeles Times poll. ^[4] That dissatisfaction has cracked the door wide open for an unconventional challenger.

Spencer Pratt, best known as a cast member on the reality television series “The Hills,” launched his mayoral campaign after the Palisades wildfires destroyed his family home. ^[3] His official campaign website frames the run not as a political exercise but as a personal mission, stating plainly: “This is not a campaign. It’s a mission.” ^[1] That kind of raw, personal motivation resonates with voters who are exhausted by career politicians offering polished promises while the city deteriorates around them.

Polling Numbers That Demand Attention

The University of California, Berkeley and Los Angeles Times poll placed Bass at 26%, progressive City Councilmember Nithya Raman at 25%, and Pratt at 22% among likely voters — a remarkably tight three-way race heading into the June 2 primary. ^[5] Those numbers reflect something deeper than celebrity curiosity. When an outsider with no political background closes to within four points of a sitting mayor, voters are sending a message that the establishment has failed them and they are willing to try something different.

The race has tightened further in the final stretch, with reports of a last-minute surge for Pratt in both polling and prediction markets. ^[6] The June 2 primary operates under California’s jungle primary rules, meaning if no candidate clears a majority, the top two vote-getters advance to a runoff regardless of party. ^[7] That structure benefits a candidate like Pratt, who only needs to finish in the top two — not win outright — to keep his shot at the mayor’s office alive.

Pratt’s Message Cuts Through the Noise

Pratt has been unapologetic about targeting voters who are living through the daily consequences of failed progressive governance. His campaign rhetoric speaks directly to Angelenos who have to navigate streets crowded with homeless encampments and open drug use — a far cry from the sanitized talking points of career politicians. He told NBC News he does not need celebrity endorsements and welcomes attacks, framing himself as unbeholden to the political machine that has run Los Angeles into the ground. ^[3]

🚨 WOW! It's now being reported nationwide that Spencer Pratt is seeing a "LAST-MINUTE SURGE" in the LA mayoral race

A new poll just confirmed it: Pratt is in the MARGIN OF ERROR

"The race is now a tossup."

He could really do it! Pratt was NEVER supposed to get this far… pic.twitter.com/SkEu3oYUHZ

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) May 29, 2026

Critics are quick to point out that Pratt has no governing experience, and that concern is legitimate. ^[2] But Los Angeles voters have lived through the governing experience of Karen Bass — a mayor who was out of the country when wildfires ravaged the city and who has presided over a homelessness crisis that shows no signs of resolution. At some point, voters weigh the risk of an outsider against the proven failures of the insider, and the polling suggests a growing number of Angelenos have made that calculation. Whether Pratt can convert his momentum into a top-two finish on June 2 will determine whether this outsider campaign becomes something more than a protest vote.