In a fiery mayoral debate held in Los Angeles on Wednesday night, candidate Spencer Pratt took aim at his opponent, Nithya Raman, dismissing her as merely a “random city councilmember.” The remark, made during the contentious exchange, ruffled Raman, who expressed her frustration to a KNBC reporter afterward, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Pratt, a 42-year-old reality television star, was lauded for his bold approach as he challenged both Raman and current Mayor Karen Bass on their progressive policies. An NBC viewer poll revealed that 79 percent of respondents found Pratt to be the standout performer of the evening.
The tension escalated when Raman insinuated that Pratt and Bass were conspiring to exclude her from the race, suggesting they preferred a direct contest against each other to boost their chances of victory. Pratt responded with humor, drawing laughter from the audience as he dismissed the idea of any alliance with Bass, quipping, “Mayor Bass and I are definitely not working together. I blame this person for burning my house down.”
Pratt has been an outspoken critic of Mayor Bass’s response to the wildfires that ravaged Los Angeles, including the blaze that destroyed his $3.8 million property and thousands of other homes across Southern California earlier this year. His sharp critique of the incumbent’s crisis management has been a central theme of his campaign.
After the comment drew laughs from the audience, Pratt mocked the notion as he said: ‘Mayor Bass and I are definitely not working together. I blame this person for burning my house down.’
Pratt has been a vocal critic of Bass’s handling of the LA wildfires, which decimated his $3.8 million home along with 11,000 others across southern California last January.
The aspiring politician said he would much rather face only Raman in the election without Bass.
‘All the unions support Mayor Bass,’ he said. ‘You think it’s easier to run against the incumbent mayor with all the unions, or a random city councilmember who has been a failure for six years?’
Assessments of the debate broadly concluded that Raman struggled up against Pratt and Bass. KNBC described it as a ‘rough night’ for the city councilwoman, and famously liberal LA Times deemed her a ‘loser’ – with Pratt as ‘winner.’
Los Angeles mayoral hopeful Spencer Pratt eviscerated his woke rival as a ‘random city councilmember’ as he squared off in a heated debate on Wednesday night
Councilwoman Nithya Raman (right) reportedly complained about Pratt’s jibe following the debate, in which she was deemed by many to have had a ‘rough night’ up against the reality TV star and incumbent Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (left)
It comes as Pratt’s campaign for LA Mayor continues to pick up steam, with The Hills star spotlighting the high levels of drug use and homelessness in the city as well as Bass’s response to the wildfires.
In her post-debate interview with KNBC, Raman doubled down and again said Pratt and Bass were ‘attacking me because both of them want to face the other person.’
‘I believe that our choices in this election do not have to be the very broken status quo that is frustrating so many Angelenos, or a MAGA Republican,’ she said.
Recent polls show a toss-up in the election before voters head to the polls on June 2, with the election heading to a run-off on November 3 if no candidate wins over 50 percent of the vote.
Pratt registered at 14 percent support in a UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies Poll last month, coming behind Bass at 25 percent and Raman at 17 percent.
Prediction market Kalshi gives Pratt a 22 percent chance of victory, surging from less than 10 percent a week before the high-stakes debate on Wednesday night.
LA Times columnist Gustavo Arellano said the debate had ‘two winners and one loser,’ as he slammed Raman for ‘failing’ to position herself as a leading candidate for voters.
‘At times, Raman was tongue-tied trying to answer simple questions,’ the columnist said.
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Assessments of the debate broadly deemed that Raman (pictured) struggled up against Pratt and Bass, with LA Times columnist Gustavo Arellano concluding that the debate had ‘two winners and one loser’
Pratt, who is married to reality TV star Heidi Montag, has surged in the LA mayoral race in recent weeks, basing his platform on scathing Bass’s handling of the Palisades fire that devastated his home and rampant homelessness across the city
Pratt’s family home was burned in the Palisades fire in January 2025
‘Raman, who had endorsed Bass’s reelection before throwing her hat in at the last minute, came off as inexperienced, touchy and unprepared.’
The Daily Mail has contacted Raman for comment.
Arellano added that the ‘line of the night’ came from Pratt, when he dismissed Raman as a ‘random councilmember.’
He said the line is: ‘How the LA political world responded to her entry into the race’ and stands in stark contrast to Pratt’s ‘boisterous bro’ image on the debate stage.
In an NBC poll following the debate, 79 percent of viewers declared Pratt the winner – compared to just 13 percent for Bass and eight percent for Raman.
Meghan McCain praised his performance on Wednesday night as ‘absolute raw talent’, describing him as having ‘killed the debate.’
‘This is not hyperbole -@spencerpratt is the blueprint for how my generation of older millennials needs to communicate and present their ideas and campaign messaging when running for office,’ McCain said on X.
Pratt has launched his campaign around Bass’s alleged mismanagement of the Palisades fires, which burned down the $3.8 million home he shared with wife Heidi Montag.
Last month, reports said internal polling for Bass warned that the reality TV star is her biggest threat in the race.
An email by the Bass campaign advisor Douglas Herman stated that the campaign’s internal pollster, Binder Research, currently shows Pratt in the position to challenge Bass if the election goes to a runoff in November, according to TMZ.
If Bass were to lose her re-election, she would become the first Los Angeles mayor to be voted out of office since 2005.
