Spencer Pratt's unexpected political rise from MTV villain to Karen Bass challenger
Spencer Pratt's journey from reality television villain to Los Angeles mayoral contender has taken another unexpected turn as the former reality star appears positioned to face incumbent Mayor Karen Bass in a runoff election.
Bass, who has served as mayor since 2022 and faced scrutiny over her handling of the devastating LA fires, advanced to a runoff after no candidate secured more than 50% of the vote in Tuesday's primary. The top two vote-getters will now compete in November.
Pratt, who is best known for starring on MTV's "The Hills" and has never previously run for political office, is currently running in second place ahead of LA council member Nithya Raman.
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"God wanted five more months of me exposing all the failures of our mayor," Pratt said while speaking with reporters outside his election watch party on Tuesday night.
"So it's going to be a fun ride," he continued. "I hope she's ready."
When asked if he was ready, Pratt responded, "I mean, I was born for this, clearly."
Pratt's mayoral bid was initially met with widespread skepticism, with many observers viewing the TV personality as a long-shot celebrity candidate.
However, as his campaign gained traction online, attracted support from high-profile figures and tapped into voter frustration over issues such as public safety, homelessness and wildfire recovery, perceptions began to shift, and national media outlets started treating his candidacy as a serious political effort.
In recent weeks, Pratt's unlikely candidacy has continued to gain traction due to several viral campaign ads and widely-praised debate performance against Bass and Raman.
From reality television fame and viral social media stardom to his surprisingly competitive mayoral campaign, Pratt has reinvented himself more than once. Now, as he looks poised for a showdown with Bass for the leadership of LA, here's what to know about Pratt.
Throughout his campaign, Pratt has highlighted his LA roots, arguing that he has firsthand knowledge of the challenges facing the city and its residents.
Born and raised in LA, Pratt is the son of dentist William "Skip" Pratt and Janet Pratt. He grew up alongside younger sister Stephanie Pratt, who also found fame on "The Hills," and has an older half-sister, Kristin, from his mother's previous marriage.
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Pratt attended the Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences in Santa Monica, a private high school known for its many famous alumni, including Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Hudson, Jack Black and others. "The Hills" stars Brody Jenner and Whitney Port also attended Crossroads alongside Pratt and Stephanie.
In February, Stephanie slammed Pratt's mayoral run, claiming a vote for him was a "vote for stupidity." Last week, Stephanie revealed that she was now supporting her brother’s campaign.
"I admit I was the first person to tell people that they were idiots if they voted for my brother," Stephanie told Vanity Fair in an email related to a profile on him.
She added, "Wow, was I wrong. He has spent every day since the fires finding the facts, the mistakes, the negligence, and uncovering the truth that they never wanted us to know."
Long before launching a mayoral campaign, Pratt earned a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Southern California (USC) in LA.
After graduating from high school, Pratt enrolled as a political science major at USC in 2003. Pratt left college to pursue television projects which led to his career in reality TV. In 2011, he re-enrolled at USC to finish his degree and graduated in 2014.
Pratt's supporters, including Brody, have previously pointed to Pratt's degree when critics dismissed him as "just a reality star."
Pratt's reality television career began in 2005 with Fox's short-lived series "The Princes of Malibu," a series he co-created and executive produced that followed Brody and his brother Brandon Jenner's lives in Malibu.
Brody and Brandon's mother, songwriter and actress Linda Thompson, and their then stepfather, Grammy Award-winning musician David Foster, also starred. In May, Foster and his wife Katharine McPhee hosted an exclusive, star-studded fundraiser at their Brentwood Park home for Pratt's mayoral run.
Pratt also made appearances in "The Princes of Malibu," which was canceled after one season.
He later became a household name after he began dating "The Hills" star Heidi Montag in 2006. At the time, Montag was starring alongside Port, Lauren Conrad and Audrina Patridge in the show which premiered in May 2006.
Pratt joined "The Hills" during its second season in 2007, where the couple's relationship quickly became central to the show’s drama.
Pratt, who has previously spoken out about how he carefully cultivated his "villainous" TV persona for attention, quickly became a disruptive presence, often clashing with Conrad and the existing friend group.
While appearing on the show, Pratt and Montag teamed up to become the reality TV power couple known as "Speidi." The duo established themselves as fixtures of the tabloid era, known for staging paparazzi photos, fueling feuds and embracing the attention that came with being reality television’s most famous pair.
By the late 2000s, the couple's fame reached its peak. Pratt and Montag married in 2008 and held a televised ceremony the following year which aired on "The Hills."
After "The Hills" ended in 2010, the duo faced financial hardship as their income began to dwindle, and they struggled to maintain their celebrity status.
After blowing through their $10 million reality TV fortune, the couple downsized significantly and moved in with Pratt's parents at one point as they tried to rebuild their lives. The two continued to pursue opportunities in reality television, appearing on shows including "I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!," "Marriage Boot Camp" and the U.K.'s "Celebrity Big Brother."
Pratt and Montag made their full-time return to reality TV when they starred in "The Hills" revival series "The Hills: New Beginnings" from 2019 to 2021.
The couple's first son Gunner, who they welcomed in 2017, appeared on the show, reflecting a reinvention that saw Pratt and Montag move away from their former reality TV personas and toward a more grounded, family-oriented life.
In 2022, Montag gave birth to their second son, Ryker.
In January 2025, Pratt and Montag lost their Pacific Palisades home in the devastating California fires, which destroyed more than 16,200 structures. Days after the fire, Pratt asked fans of the couple for their help.
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n an effort to support the pair, fans catapulted Montag's 2010 debut album "Superficial," which was initially a commercial flop, to the top of the iTunes charts, where it secured the No. 1 spot for both song and album.
The experience marked a personal turning point, shifting public perception of Pratt and Montag from former tabloid fixtures to a family navigating real hardship.
The tragedy also transformed Pratt into one of Bass' most vocal critics and ultimately helped propel him into politics.
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Following the fires, Pratt, whose parents also lost their home, led a social media crusade against California leadership he has accused of mismanagement, corruption and "criminal negligence" in their response to the disaster.
In August 2025, Pratt traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet with federal officials, including former U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Pratt announced that he was running for mayor of LA at a "They Let Us Burn!" protest in the Pacific Palisades near the remains of his home Jan. 7, the one-year anniversary of the LA fires.
From the start of his campaign, Pratt has positioned himself as an outsider candidate challenging City Hall and establishment politicians.
"The system in Los Angeles isn’t struggling; it’s fundamentally broken," Pratt said while announcing his mayoral run, according to US Weekly.
"It is a machine designed to protect the people at the top and the friends they exchange favors with while the rest of us drown in toxic smoke and ash," he continued. "Business as usual is a death sentence for Los Angeles, and I’m done waiting for someone to take real action. That's why I am running for mayor."
"But let me be clear, this just isn't a campaign," Pratt added, via the BBC. "This is a mission, and we are going to expose the system."
"We are going into every dark corner of LA politics and disinfecting the city with our light."
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Despite lacking traditional political experience, Pratt emerged as one of the most talked-about candidates in the race.
The former reality star's mayoral bid has attracted national attention, earning coverage from major political and entertainment outlets as he emerged as an unexpectedly competitive challenger to Bass.
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Pratt's celebrity status, viral social media strategy and outsider message have helped turn what was expected to be a relatively routine LA mayoral race into a national political spectacle.
His campaign has also gained additional attention as celebrities have spoken out about their views on his candidacy.
In the months since Pratt launched his campaign, his run for mayor has become a Hollywood flashpoint, as celebrities rally behind the former reality star while others openly push back.
Paris Hilton, Dennis Quaid, Joe Rogan, James Woods, Jamie Kennedy, Billy Bush, Adam Carolla and Joanna Krupa are among Pratt's supporters, as well as several of his former "The Hills" co-stars Brody, Audrina Patridge and Kristin Cavallari.
Oscar-winning producer Brian Grazer attended Foster and McPhee's fundraiser for Pratt while Los Angeles Lakers owner Jeanie Buss donated the maximum allowed amount to his campaign.
Meanwhile, celebrities who have expressed opposition to Pratt's run include Jimmy Kimmel, Drew Carey, Jane Fonda, Chelsea Handler, Lisa Rinna and Yvette Nicole Brown.
Pratt has centered his mayoral campaign on a series of quality-of-life issues that he argues have been neglected by city leaders. Pratt has emphasized issues such as homelessness, public safety, wildfire response and infrastructure.
Public safety has emerged as one of the cornerstones of Pratt's platform. He has called for increased funding for the Los Angeles Police Department and stronger enforcement against crimes.
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Pratt has also focused heavily on homelessness. The candidate has criticized the city's handling of the homelessness crisis and advocated for a more effective approach to addressing encampments and connecting people with services.
He also made disaster readiness a key campaign issue, calling for stronger emergency planning, infrastructure improvements and wildfire prevention efforts across Los Angeles.
In addition, Pratt has highlighted infrastructure concerns, including road conditions, traffic congestion and city maintenance.
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Though Pratt is a registered Republican, he is running as an independent in the nonpartisan race and has attempted to distance himself from party politics. He has often described himself as a "community advocate" focused on local issues rather than national ideology.
During an appearance on NBC News, Pratt rejected being labeled a "MAGA" candidate by Raman. He emphasized that LA mayoral elections are officially nonpartisan and that a mayor is "supposed to represent all Angelenos."
Pratt also noted that many members of his family and people he meets on the campaign trail are Democrats.
"I do not represent a party. I don’t have a campaign manager, I don’t have campaign consults. There’s no political party backing me," he said.
After President Donald Trump praised Pratt last month, the former reality star explained that he was not seeking endorsements from politicians.
"I don’t need anyone’s endorsement but mothers’. That’s who’s getting me elected," he told NBC News. "My race is a local race. I don’t care what’s going on in the national politics, in other states. I am running for a local position."
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Social media has been central to Pratt's public image long before he entered politics. After "The Hills" ended, he successfully reinvented himself online in 2016 when he began cultivating a widespread following on Snapchat, sharing content about his daily life and his obsession with hummingbirds and crystals.
He later became one of the platform's top personalities, winning Snapchatter of the Year at the 10th Annual Shorty Awards in 2018. Over the past decade, Pratt has continued to build his social media following across Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram and X.
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By the time he launched his mayoral run, Pratt already had a built-in audience that he leveraged to promote his campaign directly to voters without relying solely on traditional advertising or media appearances.
Instead of running traditional television or radio ads, Pratt's campaign strategy has focused entirely on social media and viral AI-generated videos. Pratt frequently posts videos discussing local issues, responding to critics and sharing campaign updates.
He has also appeared in a series of campaign videos that were widely shared and made national headlines. Pratt's videos include a spoof on "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," a wildfire-themed spot tied to the loss of his Pacific Palisades home, and a homelessness-focused clip that highlighted conditions on city streets.
In addition, Pratt has reposted grassroots, viral AI-generated videos created by social media users, including one by filmmaker Charlie Curran that depicted LA as a dystopian city in decline, with the former reality star cast as a Batman-like figure stepping in to restore order.