Spencer Pratt Compares His Mayor Bid to Obama's Rise to Power

When Spencer Pratt announced his bid for Los Angeles mayor in January, he wasn’t shy about his ambitions—but his recent comparisons have raised some eyebrows. The 42-year-old Hills alum has taken to equating his political credentials with those of former President Barack Obama, a claim that’s equal parts audacious and, well, hard to square with the facts.

During interviews on Friday, May 8 with NBC Los Angeles and earlier on Thursday, May 7 with CBS News, Pratt leaned into the Obama comparison with striking confidence. He pointed out that he has community awards while Obama had none when he was a community organizer—therefore, Pratt reasoned, they share the same experience. He even doubled down on Thursday, noting that Obama had“no experience running the whole entire country, which is way bigger than L.A.”It’s the kind of logic that requires a generous interpretation of both political comparison and electoral credibility.

But here’s where Pratt’s story gets more interesting than a casual sound bite. He’s a registered Republican running in a heavily Democratic city, yet he claims all his supporters are Democrats and that his family leans that way too. When City Councilwoman Nithya Raman called him a“MAGA Republican”during a Wednesday, May 6 debate, Pratt pivoted hard, insisting he represents all of Los Angeles and belongs to no party. He even bragged that he has no campaign manager, no consultants, and no political party backing him—which, depending on your perspective, sounds either refreshingly grassroots or alarmingly unprepared.

Pratt’s entry into the mayoral race wasn’t frivolous. He lost his Pacific Palisades home in last year’s Palisades Fire, which killed 12 people and burned more than 6,800 homes and businesses. That personal devastation fueled his conviction that“the system in Los Angeles isn’t struggling; it’s fundamentally broken.”At a public demonstration called“They Let Us Burn,”he declared his candidacy as a“mission”to expose systemic failure, vowing to fix streets, restore lights, and restore public safety.

The campaign has drawn celebrity support from unexpected quarters. Joe Rogan, Kristin Cavallari, and Jonathan“FoodGod”Cheban have all voiced backing. Cheban told Us Weekly on Thursday that he’s“desperate for him to win”because Los Angeles has become a“ghost town.”On June 2, voters will decide whether Pratt’s unconventional profile and grassroots energy outweigh his lack of traditional political experience. For now, he’s predicting victory with 51 percent of the vote—a forecast as bold as his Obama comparison.