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By Jenni Fink
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The Hills star Spencer Pratt announced he’s running for mayor of Los Angeles, and while he has an uphill battle ahead of him to win, he’s got some celebrities in his corner hoping for a victory.
Why It Matters
Pratt, who rose to fame on reality television, became a leading critic of Governor Gavin Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass in the wake of the Palisades Fire. The fire destroyed the home he shares with his wife, fellow The Hills star Heidi Montag. Pratt has accused Bass and Newsom of contributing to the destruction with their mismanagement before, during and after the fire.
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Los Angeles’ mayoral race starts with a nonpartisan primary with the top two candidates advancing to the general election in November. While Pratt is coming in at a disadvantage, having famous friends with some money to help fund his campaign could give him the boost he needs.
What To Know
Pratt posted photos of himself with the paperwork filled out to run for mayor in Los Angeles on Instagram on Wednesday. He posted in the caption that it was “official” that he was running for office and that the papers were filed.
Over 80,000 people liked his post, a significant increase from what his social media posts usually attract. Among the celebrities liking his post were The Valley: Persian Style star Reza Farahan, who lives in Los Angeles, and Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star Jessi Draper. Draper couldn’t vote in the election because she lives in Utah, but she could donate to Pratt’s campaign.
Several famous faces also offered their support.
The Hills star Brody Jenner commented twice on Pratt’s post, saying he has his vote and the vote of “every person I know.” He also called Pratt a “legend.” Jenner and Pratt grew up together in the Los Angeles area and also appeared on The Princes of Malibu, a short-lived reality show that focused on Jenner and his brother, Brandon, in 2005.
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Jenner’s own experience with California’s wildfires was showcased on a reboot of The Hills called The Hills: New Beginnings. While the rest of the cast went on a trip to Las Vegas, Jenner stayed at his home to try to protect it from the Woolsey Fire, which ripped through Malibu in 2018. It sparked a fight between him and Pratt’s sister, Stephanie, who asked the group to stop talking about the wildfires while they were trying to have fun in Las Vegas.
“You know, here I am fighting for my house, fighting for my friends’ houses, and I hear that Stephanie’s off in Las Vegas just caring about partying and drinking and hanging out. Just being very rude and disrespectful,” Jenner said on the show.
Along with Jenner, Nick Viall, a television personality and host of The Viall Files podcast, commented on Pratt's Instagram post, expressing his support as well.
Ryan Gary Raddon, more famously known by his DJ name Kaskade, commented “let’s go!” on Pratt’s post and actor Wendy Moniz praised Pratt’s passion.
“Your emotion -born out of being so personally affected - combined with the spitting of FACTS & a passion for change (the NEED for change) was powerful, inspiring & hopeful to witness,” Moniz commented.
The Palisades fire last year destroyed 6,000 homes in California, and Pratt said at a “They Let Us Burn” rally that “business as usual is a death sentence for Los Angeles.” Pratt sued Los Angeles over a water pressure failure that made fighting the wildfires harder, and he’s repeatedly argued that the city and state should have done more to prevent the wildfire from even starting.
Mayor Bass was in Ghana on a diplomatic trip when the fire broke out last year, and her approval ratings took a sharp hit in the wake of the wildfire.
“It’s no shock that in advance of his imminent book release, a reality TV ‘villain’ who once staged a fake divorce to boost ratings and spent the last summer spewing post-fire misinformation and disinformation to pump up his social media following, would now announce he’s running for mayor,” Doug Herman, a campaign strategist for Bass, told Politico.
While some may dismiss Pratt as a reality television star, he’s arguably one of the most influential critics of the administration in the wake of the wildfire. His viral social media posts helped stop California legislation that would have allowed a regional rebuilding authority to buy burned lots and sell homes back to the previous owners at a discount. Pratt criticized it as a “land grab” and government overreach.
His advocacy also helped convince two Republican senators to launch an investigation into the wildfires.
What Happens Next
Pratt needs to be among the two highest-voted candidates in the nonpartisan primary in California in June. If he gets over 50 percent of the vote during the primary, he’ll become the mayor of Los Angeles. However, if no candidate receives a majority of the vote, the top two candidates will face off in the November general election.
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