Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass won Tuesday's primary election but fell short of the majority needed to claim victory outright, setting up a November runoff that will determine who leads the nation's second-largest city for the next four years.
Bass finished ahead of her competitors but with less than 50% of the vote, triggering an automatic general election matchup. She will face either City Council Member Nithya Raman or Spencer Pratt, the former reality television personality whose late-stage surge in polling has reshaped the race into an unpredictable three-way contest.
The outcome was still uncertain Tuesday evening, with officials working to determine whether Pratt or Raman would claim the second spot on the November ballot.
Bass took to the stage after the results rolled in, invoking the city's resilience and painting her vision for the next chapter. She pledged to tackle homelessness and accelerate housing construction, framing Los Angeles as a city rebounding under her leadership. She referenced the "dark day" a year ago when federal immigration enforcement swept through the city, declaring: "We are a city that is unified."
The incoming mayor will inherit a daunting agenda. Homelessness remains a defining crisis. The entertainment industry has been hollowed by a production exodus. And residents are still grappling with the aftermath of January's deadly wildfires, which killed at least 31 people and exposed fractures in the city's emergency preparedness.
Bass arrived in office in 2023 as a historic first, becoming Los Angeles's first female mayor after defeating billionaire developer Rick Caruso. She entered her tenure with strong approval ratings and immediately declared a state of emergency on homelessness, moving to expedite temporary and permanent housing construction.
But that political capital evaporated after the January wildfires. Bass was in Ghana on a diplomatic visit when the fires erupted. Her absence, combined with revelations about budget cuts to the fire department, triggered a firestorm of criticism and calls for her resignation. The National Weather Service had issued warnings about critical fire conditions before her trip.
Bass later acknowledged the decision as a "mistake," saying she would not have traveled had she been informed of the fire risk. She fired the city fire chief in the aftermath. Her approval ratings tanked, and rebuilding efforts have proceeded at a frustratingly slow pace for many residents.
The primary was expected to be a showdown between Bass and Raman, a Democratic socialist who made her name unseating an incumbent councilman in 2020. She has championed rent control and slashed encampments in her district by half, making housing affordability central to her platform.
Raman and Bass agree on many fundamentals but diverge sharply on execution. Bass backs Inside Safe, a program that clears street encampments and provides temporary motel housing. Raman has criticized it as money spent without results and proposed incorporating data and metrics for accountability.
They have also sparred over firefighter hiring and a anti-homeless camping ordinance, which Raman opposed as a short-term fix.
What nobody anticipated was Pratt's emergence as a serious contender. The registered Republican and former MTV villain entered the race in January after losing his Pacific Palisades home in the wildfires. He has hammered Bass's response to the disaster with relentless messaging and high-profile campaign videos that grabbed national headlines.
Pratt shot to fame on The Hills, MTV's sprawling reality show that ran from 2006 to 2010. He became notorious for explosive outbursts and a volatile onscreen relationship with his now-wife, costar Heidi Montag. He spent years cultivating an image as reality television's most reviled figure.
Critics have zeroed in on his complete lack of government experience. Pratt has brushed off the concern, writing on social media: "I'm a lifelong Angeleno who's seen my home city waste away under poor leadership. THAT is my experience."
He has drawn celebrity backing from Joe Rogan and Paris Hilton, as well as donations from LA Lakers executive Jeanie Buss and Atlantic Records CEO Elliot Grainge. Donald Trump publicly endorsed him, calling him a "big Maga person," though Pratt distanced himself from the comments and emphasized his focus on local rather than national politics.
As a Republican in deep blue Los Angeles, Pratt would face an enormous headwind in a general election matchup against Bass.
Bass has secured backing from heavyweight California Democrats, including Governor Gavin Newsom and former Vice President Kamala Harris.
Author James Rodriguez: "Bass survived the primary, but the wildfires fundamentally changed her political standing, and November will test whether she can rebuild the coalition that elected her in the first place."
Comments