Spencer Pratt Ai Video Tops 13 Million Views in L.A. Race
Spencer Pratt’s spencer pratt ai video has pushed the Los Angeles mayoral race into a new kind of attention economy. In April, he released a 30-second campaign clip that later drew more than 13 million views. That reach has made a reality TV personality part of the city’s mayoral conversation.
Pratt’s 30-Second Clip
Pratt spoke into his smartphone camera and blamed Mayor Karen Bass for the Palisades fire and the homeless crisis. He also said the homeless crisis triggered a sudden outbreak of typhus. Those claims turned a local race into a highly shareable online fight, even before ballots are cast in the June 2 primary election.
Social Video Beats TV Ads
Sara Sadhwani called the shift bluntly: “This is the new era of campaigning.” Candidates in Los Angeles are increasingly posting snappy, off-the-cuff videos instead of leaning mainly on television ads, while Bass is posting on Instagram and buying ads on streaming platforms and social media.
Pratt’s appeal comes partly from familiarity. Mike Trujillo said, “It’s just second nature. So you’re seeing him lean into things he already knows a little better,” and Pratt has also built a national following with viral ads made by his own camp and outside supporters. One Pratt spot placed him outside Nithya Raman’s home in Silver Lake, outside the mayor’s city-owned mansion in Hancock Park and in front of the Pacific Palisades lot where his home burned in the 2025 fire.
Raman tried the same format with an influencer-style video, a tiny microphone, and a walking shot. She said she would bring back Hollywood, make sure the streetlights work and oppose rich contracts for the city’s police union. The line between campaign message and online performance is now thin enough that a college roommate in South Carolina might see it, as Bill Carrick put it: “My college roommate could be watching in South Carolina,”
Bass, Pratt and Los Angeles
Bass has raised nearly $4 million including public matching funds, and her campaign is targeting Los Angeles voters in ads aired on Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune, the NBA semifinals and other telecasts. Neither Raman nor Pratt has spent on a television ad on L.A.’s top local stations, which shows how quickly the ground has shifted away from the old TV-heavy playbook. Bass spokesperson Alex Stack said, “Caruso outspent us 11 to 1 and we still won”
The complication for every candidate chasing viral reach is simple: the audience may be national, but the vote is local. Pratt’s 30-second clip has more than 13 million views since April, yet the June 2 primary will decide whether that attention changes anything at the ballot box.
