With just 28 days to go before Election Day, the Los Angeles mayor’s race is heating up this week as the leading candidates face off in a debate that will highlight their differing approaches to issues like public safety and homelessness.
The debates are taking on added importance as polls show that a large number of voters have not made up their minds, and many voters have expressed unfavorable views of incumbent Karen Bass.
“In this election cycle, the debate is probably the most important because we have such a large group of voters who are still undecided,” said Sara Sadhwani, a politics professor at Pomona College.
Verbal clashes with the influential Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association begin Tuesday. Hosting an evening debate between Bais and Nitya Raman, the council member representing the area.
The following evening, NBC4 and Telemundo 52 hosted a televised debate from the Skirball Center. TV stations said only three of the 14 candidates – Bass, Raman and reality television personality Spencer Pratt – received 5% or more of the vote in two credible polls, which is required to run.
Mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt sits on the site of his former home in Pacific Palisades.
(Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)
Pratt has conducted much of his campaign on social media. He is also a registered Republican in an overwhelmingly Democratic city. Even though the mayor’s race is non-partisan, Sadhwani said Pratt would have to present himself as “a reasonable candidate who can reflect some of the core values of Angelenos.”
In that sense, Pratt needs to distance himself from President Trump, he said.
“I don’t think Angelenos would have any objection to Trump as mayor,” he said.
Pratt campaign officials did not respond to requests for comment.
Dan Schnoor, a politics professor at USC, UC Berkeley and Pepperdine, said Pratt has one advantage – his TV experience. Pratt rose to fame on the MTV reality TV series “The Hills”.
“He definitely knows his way around the camera,” Schnurr said. “So there is a possibility that he will give a strong presentation.”
Another storyline would be the duel between Bass and Raman, who were allies until Raman decided to run for mayor just before the nomination period ended.
While Bais and Raman will have to distance themselves from each other politically, the drama of their talks will also center on Raman’s decision to jump into the race.
Sadhwani said, “How will they greet each other? By shaking hands, by hugging or by making faces? These are the dramas that political idiots like me love to watch.”
Both debates reflect the victorious field of mayoral candidates who are leading in both polling and money raised ahead of the June 2 primary election. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the votes on 2 June, the top two vote getters will advance to the polls on 3 November.
Mayoral candidate Adam Miller speaks to a small group of people in Los Angeles on April 9.
(Gina Frazee/Los Angeles Times)
Mayoral candidates Roy Huang and Adam Miller criticized their exclusion from the KNBC/Telemundo debate. Both candidates have been ranked in surveys, but neither was able to meet the requirement of garnering at least 5% support in two reliable surveys.
A poll by the UC Berkeley Institute of Government Studies, co-sponsored by The Times, gave Huang 8%, but he received only 3% support. Emerson College Polling/Inside California Politics Voting.
Huang, a progressive community activist, said she is doing well with young voters, who traditionally are not driven to the polls as often because they are less likely to show up to vote. She also reported raising more than $250,000 since joining the race in late 2025.
“The goal of my campaign is to get people who don’t always decide to vote,” he said. “This is another demonstration of how media gatekeepers get elected and have a huge role in shaping our current political climate.”
Miller received 6% of the vote in the Berkeley poll but failed to reach 5% in others. Miller, a tech entrepreneur who loaned $2.5 million to his campaign, has asked NBC to reconsider its criteria for the debate, saying the media company was relying too heavily on old surveys that do not accurately reflect the current field.
Rae Huang will participate in the first LA mayoral debate on March 23.
(Jason Armand/Los Angeles Times)
“KNBC has created a platform for the establishment to protect the status quo and shut out political outsiders at a time when overwhelming numbers of Angelenos feel the city is on the wrong track and want change,” Miller said in a statement.
A spokesperson for NBC4 and Telemundo 52 said that the criteria for inclusion in the debate were set on April 14 and that changing them now “would be inconsistent with the transparent process we have set out and apply equally to all candidates.”
Schnurr said that in a mayoral race with a relatively low turnout, it was difficult for lesser-known candidates to meet NBC’s requirements.
He said, “Given the lack of recent polling, this seems like an unfortunate and arbitrary decision (not to include Huang or Miller).” “This isn’t like a campaign for governor, where cramming 10 candidates on one stage becomes a circus.”
Asked about the debate while answering questions at City Hall on Monday, Bass said candidate platforms are an important part of the election campaign.
“But I also think that someone’s track record is important, someone’s ability to collaborate and someone’s at least a basic understanding of government and how it works,” she said. “All of those things are important, and it’s up to me and everyone else to communicate that.”
Raman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Times staff writer David Zanisser contributed to this report.
