Incumbent Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass will face either city council member Nithya Raman or former reality TV personality Spencer Pratt in a November runoff after falling short of the majority needed to avoid a general election contest, according to election results from Tuesday’s primary. Bass came out ahead of the field but with less than 50% of the vote, requiring her to defend her seat this fall, as previously reported by MSI.
In remarks Tuesday evening, Bass said she would spend the next four years tackling homelessness and accelerating housing construction. She described Los Angeles as a “rebounding city” and vowed to build on the progress of the last three and a half years. Invoking what she called the “dark day” a year ago when President Donald Trump sent immigration enforcement personnel into the city, Bass declared: “We are a city that is unified.”
Los Angeles’s next mayor will face pressure to show measurable progress on the city’s homelessness crisis, an issue that has long challenged the nation’s second-most populous city. The winner will also need to address the exodus of Hollywood production, shore up emergency response programs following last year’s deadly wildfires, and oversee a slow rebuilding process that has frustrated residents.
The race initially appeared to shape up as an intra-party contest between Bass and Raman, a former ally on the city council. But the contest shifted in its final weeks as Pratt made substantial gains in polling and attracted national attention with provocative campaign videos and a combative debate performance.
Before entering city hall, Bass served extended tenures in the state assembly and the U.S. Congress. She made history as the first woman to lead Los Angeles, defeating billionaire developer Rick Caruso in the 2022 election. In her first month in office, Bass declared a state of emergency on homelessness to expedite temporary and permanent housing construction.
Discontent with Bass’s tenure intensified sharply after the January 2025 wildfires killed at least 31 people. Bass was in Ghana on a diplomatic trip when the fires broke out. Her absence, coupled with reports about budget cuts to the fire department, produced widespread calls for her resignation. Bass later called the trip a “mistake” and said she would not have traveled had she been informed of the fire risk. The National Weather Service had issued warnings about “critical fire conditions” before her trip. Her approval ratings declined, and Bass later dismissed the city fire chief.
Pratt has criticized Bass’s handling of the wildfires, but observers have pointed to his lack of political and government experience. A registered Republican, he would face an uphill battle in heavily Democratic Los Angeles should he advance to face Bass in November. Pratt entered the race in January, motivated by the loss of his Pacific Palisades home in the wildfires, and has made the fires and Bass’s response central to his campaign.
Pratt first gained fame on “The Hills,” the MTV reality series that aired between 2006 and 2010. His on-screen outbursts and tumultuous relationship with his now-wife, co-star Heidi Montag, established him as one of reality television’s most recognized antagonists. Critics have noted his lack of political experience, a concern Pratt has dismissed. “I’m a lifelong Angeleno who’s seen my home city waste away under poor leadership. THAT is my experience,” he wrote on social media last week.
President Trump, who faces low approval ratings in Los Angeles, voiced support for Pratt, saying: “I’d like to see him do well … I heard he’s a big Maga person.” When asked about the comments, Pratt distanced himself from the endorsement, emphasizing his focus on local rather than national politics.
Raman, a Democratic socialist, has positioned herself as the change needed to steer the city in a new direction. In 2020, she unseated Councilman David Ryu in a victory that energized leftist candidates nationally. She has highlighted her record on capping rent increases and reducing encampments by half in her district, and has made housing development a centerpiece of her campaign.
While Bass and Raman agree on many issues, they have proposed different approaches to Los Angeles’s most pressing problems. Bass has promoted Inside Safe, a program that clears encampments and secures interim housing, typically motel rooms, for individuals living on the streets. Raman has said the program has spent money without demonstrable results and has proposed reforms to use data and metrics for better oversight and accountability in homeless initiatives.
They have also clashed over Raman’s votes against a proposal to hire more firefighters after the wildfires and an anti-homeless camping ordinance, which Raman has described as a short-term fix. Prominent California Democrats including Governor Gavin Newsom and former Vice President Kamala Harris have supported Bass’s re-election campaign. Pratt has drawn endorsements from celebrities including Joe Rogan and Paris Hilton, and financial backing from Los Angeles Lakers executive Jeanie Buss and Atlantic Records CEO Elliot Grainge.