Spencer Pratt's LA Mayor Dream Ends in Third Place

Reality TV personality Spencer Pratt’s unlikely bid to become Los Angeles mayor has officially fallen short. With 92.5% of votes counted in the primary election, Pratt landed in third place with 25.8% of the vote, missing the cutoff to advance to the November 3 general election runoff.

Mayor Karen Bass secured the lead with 34.3% of votes, while City Councilwoman Nithya Raman captured second place at 28.5%, setting up a two-candidate showdown for the city’s top job this fall. The results marked a stunning reversal from Pratt’s confident prediction back in February that he would crush Bass decisively.

What made Pratt’s campaign impossible to ignore was the sheer star power it attracted. President Donald Trump, Senator Ted Cruz, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez all weighed in on his mayoral ambitions—a level of national political attention that few local races generate. Earlier today, Trump unloaded on Truth Social after the vote totals emerged, calling the result impossible and declaring the Los Angeles election process rigged, even as the math clearly showed Pratt’s path to victory closing.

Pratt built his platform around cleaning up the city’s streets and rooting out government corruption, launching multiple attacks on Bass throughout the campaign. For someone who traded on celebrity status and anti-establishment messaging, though, the numbers suggest his message didn’t resonate with enough Los Angeles voters to earn a spot in the general election.

Sometimes the spotlight isn’t enough. Pratt will have to wait at least four years to test the political waters again, if he chooses to run in 2030.