Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D) advanced to a November runoff Tuesday as she seeks to stay in City Hall while a host of political challengers circle led by Republican Spencer Pratt.
The field deciding who will run California’s largest city now has one certainty with others still to be decided.
The contest will be held against the backdrop of the most destructive wildfire in the city’s history and an ongoing struggle with widespread homelessness – all under Bass and her time in office.
“I appreciate you for standing with me when others doubted me, because you know who I am,” the clearly ecstatic Democrat told supporters as she embraced the news she has advanced, AP reports.
“I have devoted my entire life to serving the city that I love, where I was born, and I’m going to continue to do that all the way to victory in November.”
Just who she will face remains to be seen.
Republican Spencer Pratt, a political newcomer and former star of the reality television show The Hills, was second in early returns.
Pratt accuses Bass of letting the fires get out of control and failing to make enough progress on the homeless crisis while her defensive response to any and all criticism has been noted.
Speaking to reporters outside a restaurant where he gathered with supporters, Pratt signaled he would welcome a matchup with Bass.
“This is not a candidate that I’m too concerned about,” he said.
“I got in this because as a citizen, I felt like my city failed — myself, my neighbors, my family,” Pratt said. “Mayor Bass has allowed the city to be covered in potholes. We don’t have sidewalks. We don’t have lights.”
“I’m an Angeleno who said ‘Enough is enough,’” Pratt said, making public his personal determination which has already drawn support.
For her part, Bass has accused Pratt of “exploiting the grief” of Palisades fire victims yet she ignores the fact he was also a victim of the wildfires, as Breitbart News noted.
“Part of the reason why Pratt’s message has resonated so strongly with voters mainly stems from the fact that his home, which he shared with reality television star Heidi Montag, burned to ash in the Palisades Fire of 2025, prompting his entry into public activism,” she is quoted as claiming.
Voters in California are deciding primary races for governor, mayor, other statewide officers, LA County sheriff and some key U.S. House contests.