Say what you will, Spencer Pratt has run the kind of viral campaign that will be used as a template for a long time. The question now becomes, is Los Angeles listening?

Today is Primary Day in California. While the gubernatorial race is also a hot topic, especially considering the number of Democrats running, Eric Swalwell still being on the ballot, and the possibility of a legitimate Republican contender making the general election instead of it just being two Democrats (thanks to the jungle primary system), the Los Angeles mayoral race is even more dynamic. There is zero doubt that Karen Bass has screwed up being mayor. Now we just have to see if voters care enough to 1) turn out, and 2) vote for someone different.

City of LA is at 10% turnout as of a few hours ago. In 2022 it was roughly the same at this point in time and ended up around 32%. Luckily this year Reps are up 2% and Dems down, and overall Reps are up 30k registration over that time frame. All to say… EVERYTHING COMES DOWN TO…

— Jennifer Van Laar (@jenvanlaar) June 1, 2026

Spencer Pratt entered this race as the very definition of a dark horse candidate. He’s now running with the expectation of making the runoff general election.

The latest UC Berkeley-Los Angeles Times poll showed an extremely close race with Bass at 26%, Councilmember Nithya Raman at 25% and former “The Hills” reality TV show star Spencer Pratt at 22% among likely voters in the June 2 California primary election.

While no one has the November general election crystal ball, one thing is certain: even if Bass finishes first in the primary election, she will head to the run-off because she does not have 50% of the support, according to polls, to win outright in the primary.

As of Monday evening, Bass sounded confident that she would advance to the run-off, but an upset is still possible largely because of anger and frustration toward her handling of the Palisades Fire and homelessness.

A couple of factors could help Pratt reach the general election: Bass and Raman splitting the Democratic vote, social media ads and video clips boosting his candidacy until the polls close Tuesday night.

While polls have shown Pratt has been in a dead heat with Bass and Raman, Kalshi, a prediction market platform, gives Pratt a 78% chance of advancing to the run-off, compared to Bass at 91% and Raman at 31%.

Pratt has made himself highly visible on social media and in public, doing more interviews and gaining more attention than either Bass or Raman. His latest big interview was on Bill Maher’s “Club Random” podcast, where he stayed laser focused on the issue that Los Angeles should care about – safety, no matter who you are.

The entire podcast can be watched here, and Spencer Pratt emphasized his entire plaform once again.

Pratt explained that he’d never really talked about politics when he was on MTV, saying that at the time he’d been trying to be famous, and did not see an advantage in angering one half of the audience or the other.

Maher asked then whether he cared about “all the issues” now that he was running to be mayor of Los Angeles, and Pratt said no.

“I care about safety, the lights being on, potholes. I don’t want you smoking in front of kids at the park. You know, I’ll be enforcing if you’re smoking that in front of a kid at a swing. I’ll be getting you as mayor,” he jabbed at Maher, who is well known for his love of marijuana.

“No more drugs around kids at parks, in schools, in front of daycares,” Pratt said. “We need to have a society of consequences again … I never thought growing up I could smoke a blunt in front of a kid at the park. Now that happens. Moms do not want their kids that are like 5 years old …”

Maher continued to press Pratt on specific issues — namely the regulatory red tape surrounding solar panels, despite the fact that California has been pushing more people toward green energy sources — and Pratt insisted that crime and drug use needed to be handled first: “We’re about three years from worrying about solar panels. We need to get all the naked drug addicts off of the sidewalks, and then I can worry about solar panels.”

If Pratt’s entire final message is “safety and affordability,” I think he’s making the general election.

One of the biggest problems that Karen Bass and Nithya Raman have created for young Angelenos is the cost of living. Affordability is crushing us. Here’s my plan to make LA life more affordable for you, and put more $$$ in your pocket. We cannot afford another 4 years of Karen. pic.twitter.com/7ZNipMD7kH

— Spencer Pratt (@spencerpratt) June 2, 2026

If Spencer Pratt makes the runoff, the Democrats will throw everything and the kitchen sink at this election. The idea that Los Angeles could have a non-Democrat machine mayor is enough to make them break out in hives. Their plan was to pit Nithya Raman against Karen Bass, and then the progressive blue wall would be intact. Spencer Pratt upset the apple cart with his debate performance and his campaign methods, and now they are afraid that this campaign is not over. If Pratt and Bass make the runoff, do you think Bass will be up for debating him again?

If Spencer Pratt doesn’t make the runoff, then Los Angeles will be condemned to another four years of the same status quo. Are people willing to accept that, or will they just leave? Tonight, we might have an idea of which way the city wants to go. Are they mad enough to not take it any more, and are voters going to show up to cast their ballots? And exactly how long will it take for California to count all the ballots?

Featured image: original Victory Girls art by Darleen Click