The candidates for Los Angeles mayor are making their final pitches to voters ahead of Tuesday’s primary election.
The high-profile mayoral race has shaped up to be a three-way battle between the incumbent candidate, a former reality television star, and a progressive City Council member.
Mayor Karen Bass, the incumbent candidate, spoke with voters Monday at a diner near the Los Angeles International Airport where she continued to tout her record in office. The Democrat once again criticized her opponent Spencer Pratt, arguing that the former reality television star lacks the proper experience to lead the city.
Bass was first elected in 2022, promising to end the unchecked homeless crisis and deal with increasing crime. She has the backing of high-profile Democratic figures, including former Vice President Kamala Harris, Gov. Gavin Newsom and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), along with the city’s powerful labor unions.
Pratt, a registered Republican, has largely focused his campaign on residents’ dissatisfaction with the mayor and the issues of homelessness and crime under her leadership. His campaign has also zeroed in on residents’ struggles and recovery from the deadly Palisades fire, which personally affected him and his family. Pratt’s campaign appeared to get a lot of attention through several unique campaign ads created by artificial intelligence.
Pratt and Bass have appeared to be tightly clustered with Nithya Raman, a progressive member of the City Council running to Bass’ political left. Raman, in her final push for votes, continues to emphasize affordability, housing, homelessness policy, and government accountability ahead of the primary.
He also argued that Raman is not fit for the job and has no path to victory.
Mail voting began in early May, but just 15 percent of voters had returned their ballots as of Sunday.
California's “jungle primary” system places all candidates, regardless of political party, on the same ballot, but only the top two vote-getters advance to the general election.