CITY OF ANGER: All eyes on HEATED race as candidates take shots in final battle for Los Angeles

Added: 2026-06-03

[00:00:00]Voters will determine a pair of highly anticipated primary elections in the state of California tomorrow. Candidates are ramping up outreach and delivering closing messages in marquee races for governor and mayor of Los Angeles.

[00:00:12]Correspondent Matt Finn reports. He's in LA tonight.

[00:00:16]>> Best of luck to you. Thank you.

[00:00:18]>> Democratic Mayor Karen Bass greeting voters at a diner today and using her signature attack against opponent Spencer Pratt.

[00:00:25]>> It's not just that he has no experience in city government. I don't know that he's ever held a job in his life other than to be a reality TV star.

[00:00:33]>> On Sunday, Fox was there as mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt greeted Latino supporters at a campaign event.

[00:00:39]>> I just want people to feel safe. I want families to be able to thrive in the city.

[00:00:44]>> He is exposing a different view as to what our city is facing right [music] now. And nobody has ever come out like he has. The latest UC Berkeley poll shows the mayor's race at a statistical tie between Bass Pratt and Democratic Progressive Councilwoman Nitthia Ramen, who held an event over the weekend where she proposed restoring entertainment jobs by lifting the cap on California's $750 million Hollywood tax credit. In the governor's race, President Biden's former Health and Human Services Secretary Javier Basera has recently surged in the polls. We are not going to let a billionaire or Trump's handpicked candidate take over this state.

[00:01:26]>> Polls show billionaire Tommy Styer, who posted a video over the weekend in support of transgender athlete AB Hernandez, is neck andneck with Bacera and former Fox host Republican Steve Hilton.

[00:01:37]>> There are three people left in this way race for two spots. I don't think anybody knows what the hell's going to happen. Trump endorsed Hilton says Riverside County Sheriff Chad Biano's presence in the race is splitting the Republican vote.

[00:01:49]>> Chad, the best time to have dropped out would have been a couple of weeks ago, but the second best time is right now.

[00:01:56]>> And Sheriff Biano tells Fox News he is not stepping aside and that Steve Hilton supporters should unite around him.

[00:02:03]John.

[00:02:04]>> All right. It's going to be a big day tomorrow. Matt Finn for us. Thank you, sir.

[00:02:09]>> Yes, Shannon. and it's considered pretty much wide open. And the current mayor, Karen Bass, she's campaigning all across the city this weekend to keep her job.

[00:02:17]We were at an SCIU union rally yesterday where Bass did not miss the opportunity to attack opponent Spencer Pratt.

[00:02:25]>> We have a choice. Do we choose a TV reality STAR VILLAIN?

[00:02:35]SAYING HE WAS A VILLAIN AND TAKING PRIDE in that, but we don't need villains in this city.

[00:02:42]>> Spencer Pratt is fresh off his national media tour in New York City where he told Fox News he's not interested in Hollywood endorsements and will be elected by moms and animal lovers.

[00:02:54]>> I'm the look around candidate. I do basics. I don't do national politics. I don't do parties. I just say, "Look, they're stealing all of our tax money to give it to drug addicts to have needles and tourniquets."

[00:03:08]>> The governor's race is another neckand-neck race in California with Democrats Javier Basera and Tom Sire.

[00:03:14]Consider the latest front runners against Republicans Steve Hilton. Now, in the mayor's race here, if a single candidate does not get 50% of the vote on Tuesday, then the top two candidates advance to November. And in the governor's race, the top two candidates, regardless of party, will advance to November as well.

[00:03:35]Why I will be one of the most successful mayors in the history of the country is because I'm going to have full accountability and transparency for every dollar of our tax money. Not just in this homeless industrial complex scam, but in the the police department, the fire department, in transportation.

[00:03:52]We don't know where all of our tax money is going.

[00:03:56]>> Spencer Pratt pushing for transparency and accountability if he's elected mayor of Los Angeles. This weekend is the final push for candidates ahead of Tuesday's primary vote. Democratic incumbent Karen Bass and progressive councilwoman Nthia Ramen hoping to keep Pratt out as a new poll shows the race tightening. Matt Finn has the latest on the Golden State race. Matt.

[00:04:20]>> Brian. Mayor Bass has events scheduled all across the city here this weekend.

[00:04:23]We were at one just a few hours ago. A rally at an SEIU Union building. A fairly energetic crowd and large turnout for Mayor Bass there, which also featured California Attorney General Rob Bont. Now, Bass and Councilwoman Nia Ramen have not missed opportunities to make jabs at their opponent Spencer Pratt.

[00:04:45]>> We have a choice. Do we choose [clears throat] A TV REALITY STAR VILLAIN?

[00:04:55]>> Saying he was a VILLAIN AND TAKING PRIDE in that, but we don't need villains in this city.

[00:05:00]>> We could have Spencer Pratt and millions of dollars fueled by a nationwide MAGA network essentially corroding the civic life of this city. That to me is something that strikes real fear in my heart.

[00:05:16]Pratt is coming off a national media tour in New York City where he told Fox News that he's a registered Republican but is getting most of his support from Democrats, not MAGA, and that he does not care about celebrity endorsements because moms and animal lovers will elect him.

[00:05:31]>> Moms are getting me elected because I'm saying, "Oh, as mayor, I'm going to enforce the law and make sure moms and kids can use their parks again. they can go to school without encampments with drug dealing and naked drug addicts having sex in front of these schools on the sidewalk. I'm stopping this because it's illegal.

[00:05:51]Now, the energy and anticipation for the mayor's race has really been exploding here in Los Angeles. And something interesting that's been happening.

[00:05:57]People in places like Beverly Hills and Santa Monica have been opening up their ballots only to find out they cannot vote in the mayor's race because they are not considered within the actual city of Los Angeles. Brian, well, there clearly is a lot of excitement about this race. You can understand why some people want to take part in this vote and I'm sure they're disappointed that they cannot. Matt Finn live in Los Angeles. Matt, thank you.

[00:06:22]>> And for more, let's bring in John Busy, the associate editor of the Wall Street Journal. John, this race is just absolutely fascinating. I want to bring up uh the latest polling here that shows that Karen Bass has 26% uh support, Ramen 25%, Spencer Pratt 22%.

[00:06:39]Uh what do you make of this latest poll heading into Tuesday and Pratt's chances?

[00:06:45]>> Well, it's neck and neck and as you say, it's a fascinating race. Uh and he's come on strong in the last several days.

[00:06:52]uh and if he carries that momentum into Tuesday, uh you know, he could very easily be one of the two that prevail and then go on uh goes on to the November election. And it's fascinating that in that he's an outsider. Uh you know, this is a guy, you know, who's a reality TV star. He ran a crystals healing business. um you know, he's kind of kept arms length from Donald Trump because only roughly 15% of registered voters in Los Angeles are Republicans.

[00:07:22]So, he's got to get the Democratic vote to win. And I think that you see him campaigning on meat and potato issues uh not on pmics and and sort of ideology, but on homelessness, the problem of homelessness, the the the problems that resulted from the Palisade fires not uh being addressed after the fires occurred. Meat and potatoes issues that are resonating not just with Republicans but with Democrats as well. You know, Los Angeles Times poll showed that a large majority of voters. 63% of voters in Los Angeles say that the city is on the wrong track. That is a a terrible number if you're the incumbent Karen Bass. And I'm wondering uh whether or not you think that is ultimately going to be the decider in all of this or whether or not you think their attacks on Spencer Pratt as some reality TV star who has no experience to run the city is going to uh is going to really rule the day here. Well, I I think it definitely has uh an impact on the election. Uh our our Lauren Nelson has a story on this in the Wall Street Journal that you know Karen Bass has had sort of a rough go of it. She was out of the country when the fires happened. There was questions about her having prepared the population for the sort of the evident danger that was evolving in the days uh that led up to the fire and in the subsequent fires.

[00:08:45]So, she's never really fully recovered from that. And look, there's a long history of the American voter throwing out the incumbent and wanting somebody fresh when they feel that issues such as homelessness. Los Angeles has a disproportionate number of the homeless.

[00:09:01]And there's a huge amount of drug addiction. So the question is whether or not the city is dealing with drug addiction or dealing with homelessness, looking for shelter for people or looking for cure to some of the addiction. And I think that that's what what what uh Spencer Pratt is kind of playing into quite effectively.

[00:09:21]>> You know, uh obviously Los Angeles is a deep blue city, but here's a Republican Congressman Daryl Isa about this idea that you know what, he could very well win over Democrats. Let's take a listen.

[00:09:33]>> He's catching fire among ardent historic Democrat voters. uh because Karen Bass has been so ineffective and every time she opens her mouth she's talking about more of the same to people who have seen their streets uh both crimeridden you know uh John what what could this tell us about the Democratic party in general and the candidates that they're running out there um and Spencer Pratt I mean could Spencer Pratt's success in this race tell us something about where the Democratic party is and maybe how disconnected they may be with some of these voters.

[00:10:11]>> Well, I think that you just had a Republican on uh criticizing Democrats, and that's to be expected. Uh I'm not sure that he had a bigger, you know, message there. Look, Mandami in in the New York mayoral race ran as an outsider, a Democrat, quite a left-leaning Democrat, and was very successful uh in the election. So, I'm not sure that that Karen Bass's travailes necessarily speak to specific Democratic weakness. I think it speaks to the fact that the ele electoral the the the public wants effective management. They are electing managers, people to administer budgets, fix the potholes, handle the homeless. uh and when they don't get managers in these positions, be it a mayor or in the White House, uh they uh tend to sort of look elsewhere for talent that they might elect.

[00:11:08]>> There are a ton of eyes on this race on Tuesday. It is fascinating and and like Zoram Donni, Spencer Pratt has used social media with AI videos and and his allies uh effectively to bring up that point. Exactly. John Busy, thank you so much for being here.

[00:11:22]>> Pleasure. So Brian, they're just uh he's just operating out of anger and everything's fine in Los Angeles.

[00:11:28]>> I think he's totally I I know for a fact she's totally wrong on that. So you might not like his ideas, but he's got ideas. He listed the top 10. He's got a plan. He's got a program and he's perfectly willing to say what he doesn't know. What I love about this is that he's not really a Republican. He says, "I voted Republican." He likes Trump, but never met Trump. So he wants to put together a program to solve a problem.

[00:11:47]And here's the best news. on One Nation last night. I talked to Harvey Leven and he said, "I want to tell you right now, everything you hear about California that's wrong is like that, if not worse.

[00:11:57]From Hollywood Boulevard to the crime to the homelessness, you just can't go anywhere. That the enterprising attitude that people had opening up restaurants and shops is gone. We don't get the tours we used to." And he doesn't even believe that there's a way to bring back TV and the movies. So there is a perfect scenario for someone to come out of left field personally affected and afflicted who knows the area to actually do something. And I just last thing I would say is in San Francisco Dan Lori has come out of nowhere with no experience.

[00:12:26]Levis's inherited from the Levi's fortune and he has 73% approval rating.

[00:12:31]Why? because he took uh he has a 70-year low in terms of home homelessness in terms of car break-ins down to it down 22% overall crime 25%. He's producing results with no experience. LA voters picking their next mayor Spencer Pratt shaking up the high stakes race with his promise to root out crime, homelessness, and get those burned homes, including his own, rebuilt. Our next guest lived in the Pacific Palisades and like Pratt, she also lost her beautiful home to the wildfires and is now backing him for mayor. Author and activist Samantha Edis joins us now. And Samantha, you are a mom of three children.

[00:13:09]>> Yes.

[00:13:09]>> You lost your home. Talk to me about how Angelinos feel about this race and and Spencer Pratt.

[00:13:16]>> Yeah. Yeah, I mean now it's been about 18 months since all of this happened.

[00:13:19]The Altadena fires, the Palisades fires, and I think that there's just a hunger for change. There's not just the postfire handling which has been mismanaged, but on top of it, it's a homelessness situation that is spiraled out of control. And so the race is pretty much neck andneck between three candidates. We have Nthia Ramen, who is the Democratic Socialist candidate.

[00:13:44]She's kind of our West Coast mom, Donnie. So, if you care about capitalism or if you're Jewish, you don't want her.

[00:13:51]And then there's the incumbent mayor, Karen Bass, and she is, as far as I'm concerned, lit the match that, you know, burned our community down. And then you have someone who represents change, and that's Spencer Pratt. And while all of the candidates, as in any race, are imperfect, I think right now is the time that Angelinos want change. And we know that what's been happening is not working. And so we need someone who's going to come in and shake things up.

[00:14:17]And right now that's Spencer Pratt.

[00:14:19]>> And we've heard from Angelino speaking out saying that it's not just the individuals that were victims like yourself of the burned homes, but also just life in general is unacceptable.

[00:14:28]Life sucks. It's not just the the homelessness, it's also the potholes in city services.

[00:14:33]When you think about the the the voters that would turn out, because remember, Senator Pratt was just completely discarded. And already you see some of the media trying to say he still has no chance, but it's clear he struck a chord. H how how could he possibly win?

[00:14:48]>> The latest poll actually shows that he has surged ahead. So he is now a little bit ahead of Bass and far ahead of Nithia Ramen by a few points. So I think he has a great shot. I think that if you look at the daily quality of life in Los Angeles, my family and I moved there about 14 years ago. There is no comparison between what it was when we moved there and what it is today. Daily life is difficult. And I'm this is just anecdotal. In the last two weeks, I have watched with my own eyes two people get arrested. There is not a day that goes by where I don't hear an incident of someone being attacked by some homeless person. It is it is rampant. There is no safe part of Los Angeles anymore. And Angelinos are just yearning for the days when they could feel safe walking at night.

[00:15:31]>> You know, Samantha, you mentioned Zora mom Donnie just a moment ago. Today he is choosing to not participate, will not march in the Israel Day parade. New York has the largest Jewish population outside of Israel and yet he says he uh supports all New Yorkers, but he's not going to march. What's your take?

[00:15:49]>> Listen, he he marched in the St. Patrick's Day parade and he it wasn't about the government handling of anything in Ireland. This is a man who has chosen to go against the Jewish people from the moment he took office and arguably before if you I was closely watching his wife's Instagram account for the last year and she's been consistently anti-Semitic and he has chosen to do every at every point when he makes a decision it's always a decision against the Jewish population in this city. But is he not going to march in the July 4th parade because he doesn't believe in Trump's policies?

[00:16:25]It's outrageous. And I think what you're going to see today is a ton of New Yorkers coming out to show him that you can't stop us. And the Jewish population and our allies, all those who love us are going to be there in full force saying this is us and you can't we're not going to disappear just because of your hate.

[00:16:43]>> All right, Samantha Edis, thank you for being here and we will keep checking in with you as the Spencer Pratt race really heats up. It's getting interesting. Samantha, thanks for being here.

[00:16:51]>> Thank you.

[00:16:52]>> All right. to discuss this. Let's bring back in our panel and I want to go back to California in this mayor's race out there. The LA Times says this. The latest UC Berkeley LA Times poll in the LA mayor's race has Mayor Bass at 26%, Nithia Ramen at 25%, Spencer Pratt at 22% among likely voters. Um, one of the uh analysts on that poll says you've got three very different candidates, each with very different constituencies, all within the margin of error. It's going to boil down to turnout. Michael, is the Spencer Pratt candidacy a real thing? I think it's a real thing. I've been hearing about it around town, so it must have captured someone's imagination here. But the fascinating thing about this race is that it's about good old-fashioned incompetence. It feels like she missed all the signals that there were fires or fire conditions approaching. She made a hash of the cleanup. And then when you look at the homelessness, the ubiquitous homelessness staining a once great American city and questions about where billions of dollars, billions of tax dollars went that was meant to remedy this. I think the voters of Los Angeles are ready to turn to anybody but Mayor Bass. So Spencer Pratt or anyone else, she is going down.

[00:18:03]>> Okay, there's a prediction. U Franchesca, there are serious issues out there, but we know in a lot of cities, we see people continue to vote for leadership or likeminded leadership. In some of these cities, they're not willing to take a chance on somebody like an outlier like Pratt.

[00:18:16]>> It would be a really stunning turn of events if Bass didn't make even the jungle primary runoff. Yeah. Because you have to remember that she is someone who was a congressional black caucus chair.

[00:18:27]She was on the short list for Biden's vice president six years ago in 2020. So if she were not to make that, that would be a sting turn of events. But going back to the wildfires, Spencer Pratt is someone who lost his home in the Palisades wildfires. He's put that issue front and center in the race. Uh it hasn't typically ended well for politicians who have not been in their cities or their states when there have been u major Shannon things that have taken place. I think back to New York City. Remember when Bill Delasio wasn't in New York City or closer to home, James Han, a former LA mayor who was in Washington DC during 9/11, couldn't make it back for a couple days. He lost his re-election race.

[00:19:04]>> Well, there's also um the fallout now from another race that has been decided, which is Texas's GOP Senate primary with the president's endorsement. The AG Ken Paxton there has won his race, but Politico says that is sparking GOP money panic. their words. They say it means that a hund00 million dollars will have to go to bail out the Texas seat instead of helping win seats in Maine, Michigan, Ohio, North Carolina, and elsewhere. Um, one of the folks who spoke to Politico for that article, Mark, >> well, it's really interesting in this game of Texas Holde. Republicans do hold the right cards. Follow it. Go with me here. But the table stakes have been raised for sure. Uh, but the context here matters. So, James Telerico, he's been able to run basically since March.

[00:19:44]In an election year, 3 months is an eternity. Mhm.

[00:19:47]>> So, and also the fact that he was able to run against Jasmine Crockett, that can make almost any Democrat sound not only most moderate but sane. So, now that like the tables have been reset here, we have opportunity for Paxton to actually go on offense. There's not any more uh squabbling within uh the Republican party itself. The one thing that I would flag for Republicans though that the money is going to be important here because Democrats they came out in more full force in a higher turnout for the primary and even in 2018 when Betto AORC the the Democrat and media darling that was supposed to be Ted Cruz uh the primary was still heavily uh Republican winning. So the fact that uh there's energy here on the Democratic side Republicans cannot take this seat for granted.

[00:20:29]>> Well and Juan though you've seen the ads already with Mr. Rico talking about the binary belief in God and being vegan potentially not eating meat. I mean, I don't know how those things play in Texas.

[00:20:40]>> Well, I you know, obviously Republicans think they play against Taler Rico.

[00:20:44]That's why, you know, I just listening to Mark talk about money. I think the early money is really pouring in for Ter Rico. Democrats are excited at the idea that Texas is in play.

[00:20:54]>> Uh, and I think he's got to define himself in his early eds. He's got to spend money not just attacking Paxton who is so vulnerable because he's got so much baggage. I mean, Republicans impeached him. That's I mean, this is not someone who you would >> hold up to your children as an example of good behavior. Um, but I think Terico has to stop the Republicans from making him into this wildeyed liberal.

[00:21:20]>> Well, the ads are already running on both sides. I think it's going to get very nasty down there. Uh, panel. We'll all be watching it.

[00:21:25]>> Let's ask LA native TMZ executive producer Mr. for everything. Harvey Leven, Harvey, if anybody wants to know the reality on the ground in Los Angeles, they go to you. What are Pratt's chances do you think? Polls aside, what do you think?

[00:21:38]>> Well, I mean, I think he's going to be in the runoff, and I think it's going to be between Karen Bass and Spencer Pratt.

[00:21:46]Uh, and a lot of this really just has to do with the fact that LA is a mess right now. Um, you know, I have an employee here who um was in his car down in downtown LA two nights ago and was shot at and his car got hit. He He's thankfully okay. But 10 years ago, 15 years ago, downtown had this renaissance and people were moving down there, restaurants were opening up, businesses opening up, and it was really a place to go. It was a destination. And now, you know, the this the sense people have outside of that area is you're crazy to go downtown. Why would you do that? So, that is uh kind of a glimmer of what's going on in this city. Homelessness is terrible right now. Um we just have a real problem here. And then when you hear people say, "Oh, it's gotten better." Um you know, it's sort of like who you going to believe me or your lion eyes? But this city is a mess. And I think that Spencer Pratt has struck a chord. That said, um I will say this, I do think experience matters. Experience of running a big organization. Um he doesn't have that. And I think that is something people should think about, but they don't. They think about campaign ads, they think about sizzle, and they think about their upset. But right now, this city is not functioning well.

[00:23:12]Period. So, and you've been there a while, by the way. The numbers are pretty astounding. And it was uh in 2022, you had 41,980 homeless. You know, that's you're rounding it off. Now, in 2025, 43,699.

[00:23:25]Even if it decreased 18% like Karen Bass said, that's still incredibly high and the highest in the country. And more people are leaving Los Angeles from than coming in. Harvey, this was the destination for every graduate from college, every wouldbe wannabe star. And that is just it's been repelled so far because there's not enough opportunity.

[00:23:45]Let's talk about the celebrity culture.

[00:23:47]We talked about Spencer Pratt. He said, "I don't want celebrity votes." But Leo DiCaprio, Jamie Fox, uh Paris Hilton, among the celebrities have said, "Go for it. You got my support." And the numbers that he has raised 2.7 million as opposed to Bass with 283,000.

[00:24:05]What are your take away from those two stats?

[00:24:09]Well, look, Spencer is resonating.

[00:24:11]There's no question about it. And um you know, celebrities supporting him, you know, um it happens every it happens every election cycle. And I don't think they make a hell of a difference, frankly. Um and and you know, people people um have a feeling about this city. Now, I will say Karen Bass has a lot of support in this city. This is a big city and you know I could talk to you about homelessness. I can talk to you about the fires. I can talk to you about the fact that Hollywood is virtually dead now because of overregulation.

[00:24:48]But that doesn't affect a lot of people in this city. It is a big city and in the last election Karen Bass won handily and she has a base. So you should not count Karen Bass out. It is a Democrat city and she has a base here that is strong. So just because Spencer is resonating right now, I think he'll be in the runoff. But um I frankly I think the big issue is who is going to mobilize the the vote better. And maybe Spencer has an edge there because usually people who are dissatisfied are the ones most animated to go to the polls and that I think favors him. But don't discount Karen Bass's base in LA.

[00:25:34]>> Understood. Uh, you run a business, too, so I know it matters to you, but let's talk about Hollywood, especially TMZ.

[00:25:39]That's where you're located. Uh, it has left Los Angeles to a degree. So, that means people aren't coming here for their big break like they used to. Is there a is there a way to get the tax incentives back to bring to put those uh studios back to work?

[00:25:56]I think, you know, I I you you hear politicians both at the state and local level here saying, "Yeah, we can do it.

[00:26:03]We're going to do this with tax incentives." I think the ship has sailed. Um that my company right now, um when you look at Fox Syndication, they've moved their headquarters to Atlanta from LA because it is just so much cheaper to be able to do a production there. And the network is doing um shows in Ireland. They're doing shows in Canada. Um there are other studios doing work in in Kentucky. Um in, you know, there are like four or five states. Nashville is a big hub right now where the tax incentives are better. There's less regulation. So people have already started flocking there. And these cities are developing their own little Hollywood. So, if you want to shoot a movie in Nashville, there is now a supporting um operation there with camera people and grips and all the other stuff because they're getting so much work that even if we change the tax incentives in LA, you know, now it's getting them back when they've already moved there. So, I think we're in trouble.

[00:27:07]>> So, Harvey, I look at you. You run a business, started with nothing.

[00:27:10]Everything you do is successful. You're also a lawyer. I think Harvey Levan should run at one point because you could turn around that city.

[00:27:20][laughter] >> There is absolutely no chance in the world that would happen.

[00:27:25]>> Uh I see some I'm I'm kind of >> and I'm kind of watching what's going on here. And I just want to say one other thing because I just think this is so important >> that >> you know the crazy thing to me about politics is that you look at a candidate and you say I like him or I hate him.

[00:27:45]There's nothing in between. And most people have, you know, virtues and flaws. And if you talk about somebody's flaw, you're you want to sink their campaign. And you know, you're either 100% for them or it's zero. And we look at candidates in a in the wrong way. I mean, when you look at Spencer Pratt's ads, uh, this just in. He's not Batman, but the ads portray him as Batman. And, you know, look, he's got flaws. You know, I've talked to people who love him. I've talked to people who hate him, and it's probably somewhere in the middle there. But I I just don't think you can look at anybody as a savior.

[00:28:27]You've got to pick the best of what you got. San Francisco is giving you a template. They're starting to turn things around and I don't think Democrat or Republican and he's not that experienced in politics. Harvey, thanks so much. Congratulations on all your success.

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