Filmed at the Ballot Box.
By Her Own Campaign.
Six Days Before the Primary.
On Sunday, May 24, 2026, the campaign of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D) filmed and posted a video that shows the mayor and supporters next to a county ballot drop box. On Tuesday, May 26 — six days before the June 2 primary — independent challenger Spencer Pratt's attorney Peter McNulty filed a formal complaint with LA City Clerk Patrice Lattimore alleging Bass violated California Elections Code § 18370 — the statute that prohibits electioneering within 100 feet of a polling place, vote center, or ballot drop box. Bass campaign spokesman Alex Stack said the segment showing the drop box was “200+ feet away” from a separate segment showing campaign signs.
The complaint is the latest in a campaign that has slipped from incumbent coronation to four-way scramble. Bass's strongest Democratic challenger, Austin Beutner (D) — former LAUSD Superintendent and former LA Times owner — withdrew on February 5, 2026 after the sudden death of his 22-year-old daughter Emily. The same week, Rick Caruso, the 2022 runner-up who lost to Bass by 9 points, confirmed via his staff he would not run.
In their place: Pratt, a Pacific Palisades resident whose home burned in the January 2025 fires — endorsed by President Donald Trump (May 21) and most recently by actor Dennis Quaid (May 27) — and LA Councilmember Nithya Raman (D), flanking Bass from the left. Two May polls show Bass at 22–30%, well short of the 50% needed to avoid a November runoff. Six days out, the incumbent of a city of 3.9 million in a county where Democrats outnumber Republicans 3-to-1 is fighting for political survival — and getting filmed next to a drop box did not help.
- § 18370complaint filedPratt's attorney Peter McNulty filed with LA City Clerk Patrice Lattimore on May 26, 2026 — six days before the June 2 primary. California Elections Code § 18370 bars electioneering within 100 feet of a polling place, vote center, or ballot drop box; intentional violation is a misdemeanor.
- 30% / 22% / 19%Bass / Pratt / RamanEmerson College / Inside California Politics, May 9–10, 2026 (LA subsample n=350, ±5.2%). 16% undecided. Bass is 20 points below the 50% needed to avoid a November runoff against the top second-place finisher.
- Feb 5Beutner exitsAustin Beutner (D) — Bass's strongest Democratic challenger — withdrew Feb 5, 2026 citing the death of his 22-year-old daughter Emily. Rick Caruso (the 2022 runner-up) confirmed Feb 6 he would not run. Both withdrawals left Bass effectively uncontested in the Democratic primary — until Pratt's surge.
- 31 deadPalisades + Eaton firesJanuary 2025 wildfires — 16,000+ structures destroyed, ~7,000 Palisades homes alone. Bass was in Ghana when the Palisades Fire ignited Jan 7, 2025. She has since cut the LAFD budget by $17.5M, fired the chief who warned her, and been sued by that chief for retaliation.
- ~15%Palisades homes permittedOf ~7,000 destroyed Palisades homes, ~1,070 had received rebuild permits and ~340 were in active construction as of late November 2025 — 10 months post-fire. Trump on Truth Social: '… hasn't even gotten the permits for people rebuilding their homes after the record setting fire.'
- +1.39 ptsCA Republican gain since 2023California Secretary of State, Report of Registration Feb 10, 2025: GOP registration UP from 23.83% to 25.22%; Democrats DOWN from 46.89% to 45.27% — a 3-point swing in 24 months. Statewide flip remains a distant scenario; the LA city flip is a top-two-runoff scenario, not a partisan one.
California Elections Code § 18370 is one of the older voter-protection statutes still on the books — and one of the easiest to break in a phone-camera era. The text bars any immediately-observable solicitation of votes, display of a candidate name or likeness or political logo, or audible electioneering within 100 feetof a polling place, a vote center, or — added in subsequent amendments — any official county ballot drop box. The penalty for intentional violation: misdemeanor, with possible fine and county jail time. The penalty for an unintentional but documented violation: a public reminder of what the candidate's relationship to the rules looks like, six days before voters mail their ballots.
The Bass video, filmed Sunday May 24 and posted to the campaign's own channels, shows the mayor and supporters in two locations. One segment displays campaign signs. Another shows the group near a county drop box. Pratt's attorney Peter McNulty filed the formal complaint with LA City Clerk Patrice Lattimore on Tuesday May 26, demanding “immediate investigation and enforcement action.”
“Electioneering within 100 feet of a ballot box is AGAINST THE LAW. Soliciting votes at a ballot box is AGAINST THE LAW.”
Spencer Pratt · Statement accompanying the complaint · May 26, 2026 · Fox News
The Bass campaign's defense is geometric, not categorical:
“His complaint is blatantly false. There were two locations filmed for this video, one 200+ feet away from the ballot box (with signs) and one next to the ballot box (no signs).”
Alex Stack, Bass campaign spokesperson · Fox News, City News Service · May 26, 2026
That defense — “the signs were in one shot and the drop box was in another” — is the kind of distinction § 18370 was written to deny. The buffer rule exists precisely because the boundary between “campaigning” and “voting” is supposed to be enforced by physical distance, not by editing. The complaint is pending review with the City Clerk. No charges have been filed. Bass is presumed innocent of any specific violation. The video is still up.
Spencer Pratt is, on paper, an unlikely 2026 LA mayoral contender. He's known to American audiences as one half of the reality-TV couple from The Hills. He's a Pacific Palisades resident. His home burned in the January 2025 fires. He announced his mayoral candidacy at a survivors' protest in January 2026 and registered as an independent — no party preference.
What he's done since is run a campaign Bass's consultants did not model. Viral video. Direct-to-camera attacks on Bass's wildfire record. A May 6 televised debate where he confronted Bass on the LAFD budget cuts, the Ghana trip, and the empty Santa Ynez Reservoir — and won the post-debate fact-check (CBS News sided with Pratt on wind-speed claims). President Trump endorsed him on May 21: “I'd like to see him do well.”
On May 27 — one day after the electioneering complaint was filed — actor Dennis Quaid, who evacuated his own Palisades home during the fires and has been a vocal critic of Bass's response, told Fox News Digital he was backing Pratt:
“Go Spencer Pratt. Why? What are you talking about? Why? Just look around, man.”
Dennis Quaid · Fox News Digital · May 27, 2026
Karen Bass (D)— incumbent. Polling 22–30% across two May polls. Subject of Pratt's May 26 § 18370 complaint. Defending the Palisades Fire record, the LAFD budget cut, the Ghana trip, the fired-chief whistleblower lawsuit, and the rebuild permit pace.
Spencer Pratt (Independent / no party preference) — Palisades Fire survivor. Endorsed by President Trump (May 21) and Dennis Quaid (May 27). Polling 18–22%. Filed the electioneering complaint.
Nithya Raman (D) — LA City Councilmember representing CD4 (Hollywood / Silver Lake / Sherman Oaks). Flanking Bass from the progressive left. Polling 16–19%.
Austin Beutner (D) — WITHDRAWN Feb 5, 2026. Cited death of his 22-year-old daughter Emily.
Rick Caruso — DID NOT RUN. Confirmed Feb 6, 2026. The 2022 runner-up (lost to Bass by 9 points) considered a comeback in early 2026 but declined.
Primary: June 2, 2026. Top-two advances. If no candidate clears 50%, the top two finishers go to a November runoff. Bass needs to break 50% to avoid the runoff. Two May polls put her 20+ points short.
National coverage of the 2026 LA mayoral race has clustered around Pratt's unlikely surge and Bass's vulnerability. Greg Gutfeld's Fox News show has returned to the LA story repeatedly — both as opening monologue and panel comedy — and “The Five” has covered Pratt's direct attacks on Bass. The following clips are the editorial spine of the national accountability conversation.
President Trump has returned to Bass repeatedly on Truth Social since the January 2025 fires — typically attacking on a single axis: incompetence, the Ghana trip, the budget cuts, or the rebuild pace. The posts below are reproduced verbatim as quoted by The Hill, NBC, and primary news outlets covering the posts on the day they appeared.
Gross incompetence by Gavin Newscum and Karen Bass….And Biden's FEMA has no money — all wasted on the Green New Scam!
Quoted by MSNBC / MS.Now during the active wildfire.
If Governor Gavin Newscum, of California, and Mayor Karen Bass, of Los Angeles, can't do their jobs, which everyone knows they can't, then the Federal Government will step in and solve the problem, RIOTS & LOOTERS, the way it should be solved!!
Quoted by The Hill — Bass called Trump's attacks 'nonsense.'
We have an incompetent Governor (Newscum) and Mayor (Bass) who were, as usual (just look at how they handled the fires, and now their VERY SLOW PERMITTING disaster. Federal permitting is complete!), unable to handle the task.
Trump contrasting completed federal permitting against ~15% Palisades rebuild rate.
Paul Perez and the Border Patrol have done a fantastic job, and so proud that more than half are of Hispanic heritage, which Los Angeles' incompetent Mayor, Karen Bass (who hasn't even gotten the permits for people rebuilding their homes after the record setting fire that took place), and other Third Rate Politicians, are complaining about.
Quoted by The Hill, Dec 2025.
Incompetent Gavin Newscum should have been THANKING me for the job we did in Los Angeles, rather than making sad excuses for the poor job he has done. If it weren't for me getting the National Guard into Los Angeles, it would be burning to the ground right now!
Trump on the LA National Guard deployment during civil unrest.
The drop-box video and the complaint reached more voters via X than via the morning paper. Pratt's account has been the central node — his videos on the Santa Ynez Reservoir, the LAFD budget, and the drop-box complaint each cleared millions of views in 24 hours.
She is so accustomed to breaking the law with no accountability, she even filmed herself doing it. Karen Bass just violated election law here. Well, those days are over. We just filed a formal complaint for illegally gaming the election. We must protect our democracy.
This is what went wrong in the Palisades: Karen Bass drained our reservoir, and instead of 30-second load-and-returns, copters had to fly miles away from water, and the fire escaped.
Go Spencer Pratt. Why? Just look around, man.
Karen Bass is being sued by her own fired Fire Chief, who alleges Bass orchestrated 'a campaign of retaliation to conceal the extent to which Bass undermined public safety and transparency.'
The electioneering complaint is small. The record is large. The Pratt campaign exists because of what happened starting at 10:30 a.m. Pacific on January 7, 2025 — and what happened, or failed to happen, in the weeks before and the year after.
$17.5 million LAFD cut, signed by Bass (May–June 2024). LAFD Chief Kristin Crowley warned the Board of Fire Commissioners on Dec 4, 2024 that the cuts had “adversely affected the Department's ability to maintain core operations.”
Bass flew to Ghana January 4, 2025— the day after the National Weather Service issued a fire weather watch for LA. A Red Flag Warning followed January 5. The Palisades Fire ignited at ~10:30 a.m. PT on January 7. Bass posed at a U.S. ambassador's reception in Accra ~90 minutes after ignition. She returned to LA the morning of January 8; by then 1,000+ structures had burned and 70,000+ people were under evacuation orders.
~200 hydrants ran dry in Pacific Palisades. The Santa Ynez Reservoir — 117 million gallons, adjacent to Palisades Highlands — was empty, drained for a cover repair in early 2024 and never refilled. NPR's radio-traffic recording: “The hydrants up here are dead.”
~31 dead across the Palisades and Eaton fires. ~16,000 structures destroyed. ~7,000 homes burned in the Palisades alone. Insured losses estimated at $25–$39 billion.
Crowley fired Feb 21, 2025. The chief who had warned Bass in writing was demoted. Crowley filed a whistleblower / retaliation lawsuit alleging Bass “orchestrated a campaign of retaliation.”
After-action report alleged altered (Feb 2026). The Los Angeles Times reported Bass directed changes that reframed “failures” as “challenges”and deleted references to safety-guideline violations. Bass's office denies interference.
Court of Appeals denial, May 7, 2026.California's Court of Appeals denied Bass and Newsom's attempt to block the Palisades Fire victims' lawsuit — discovery is now open, including subpoenas for deleted texts from the fires' first hours.
“Hell yeah.”
Karen Bass to Vice News — asked if she regretted going to Ghana before the fires
Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) signed an emergency executive order on January 12, 2025 — five days after the Palisades Fire ignited — suspending CEQA and Coastal Commission review for rebuilds in the affected areas. The order was meant to remove the regulatory choke points that normally turn LA permitting into a multi-year ordeal. At the city level, implementation has been the dominant accountability fight.
Per the LA Mayor's own office, as of late November 2025 — 10 months after the fires: 1,300+ rebuild plans approved across 650 addresses, 1,070+ permits issued for 540+ addresses, 340+ projects in actual construction. Against ~7,000 destroyed Palisades homes, that is ~15% permitted and ~4.9% in construction. The first Certificate of Occupancy was issued in November 2025 — 10 months in.
Trump has returned to this number repeatedly on Truth Social, framing federal permitting as “complete” against the LA city “VERY SLOW PERMITTING disaster.” Bass's office argues permits are being issued “nearly 3x faster than before the wildfires.”Both can be true; the homeowners watching their neighbors' lots sit empty for 16 months are voting on the absolute number, not the rate.
Bass's signature first-term policy was Inside Safe— a program built around moving people out of encampments and into motel rooms while permanent housing was found. The 2025 LAHSA homeless count was down 4% countywide and 3.4% in the city — Bass's campaign cites it as a win. The audit picture is rougher.
$67M / 255 permanent placements. LA Magazine's first-year investigation found Inside Safe's ~$67M first-year spend moved only 255 people into permanent housing. ~40% of program participants returned to unsheltered homelessness.
$2.3 billion audit-traceability failure. A court-ordered Alvarez & Marsal audit (cost $2.8M, released 2025) tried to trace $2.3 billion across three LA homelessness programs — Inside Safe among them. The auditors found “fragmented oversight and missing or unreliable financial data.”
$50.8M in unsecured LAHSA advances. Measure H cash advances issued since FY2017–18 without repayment agreements; only $2.5M recovered. $8M unrecovered — including $409K held by defunct service providers.
Mejia audit launched. City Controller Kenneth Mejia (independent / progressive) announced an Inside Safe audit after a federal judge ruled the city had misled attorneys over encampment-clearing and shelter-bed promises.
Fraud investigation. A separate fraud investigation was opened against an Inside Safe service provider that was paid $110/person/day for meals while stocking “almost entirely instant ramen noodles.”
The short, honest answer: not partisan — but yes incumbent.The LA mayoral race is nonpartisan; the question is not “Democrat vs Republican” but whether an independent can knock off a sitting Democratic incumbent in a deep-blue city. The statewide California flip remains a distant scenario. Both pictures sharpened in May.
LA County voter registration (Oct 2024 — LA Almanac): Democrats 3,012,433 (53.17%); Republicans 990,571 (17.48%); No Party Preference 1,275,687 (22.52%); other parties 6.83%. Democrats outnumber Republicans roughly 3 to 1. LA County's 2024 presidential vote for Kamala Harris was overwhelming.
California statewide (Feb 10, 2025 — CA Secretary of State): Democrats 10,367,321 (45.27%); Republicans 5,776,356 (25.22%); No Party Preference 5,116,983 (22.34%). Since February 2023: Democrats DOWN from 46.89% → 45.27% (-1.62 points); Republicans UP from 23.83% → 25.22% (+1.39 points). The first sustained reversal of the party-share trend in over a decade.
What it means for 2026:A statewide partisan flip is not on the table — Democrats hold a 20-point registration lead and every statewide office. But the LA mayoral race is nonpartisan, which is why a no-party-preference candidate (Pratt) can poll within 8 points of a Democratic incumbent and force her into a November runoff. The mathematical path is a primary in which Bass fails to clear 50%, advances to a head-to-head against Pratt or Raman, and then loses an off-year November runoff in which her own party's left flank stays home or splits.
The honest probability: Bass clearing 50% on June 2 looks unlikely on current polling. A November runoff is the central scenario. Whether Bass survives that runoff depends on which challenger advances (Pratt vs Raman matter to her differently) and on what discovery from the Palisades-victims lawsuit surfaces between now and November. The LA partisan map doesn't move; the LA mayor might.
Karen Bass (D)— Mayor of Los Angeles since December 2022. Signed the $17.5M LAFD budget cut. In Ghana during the Palisades Fire. Fired Fire Chief Crowley. Accused of altering the after-action report (denies). Subject of Pratt's May 26 § 18370 electioneering complaint.
Gavin Newsom (D-CA)— Governor. Signed Jan 12, 2025 emergency EO suspending CEQA and Coastal review for Palisades/Eaton rebuilds. Co-defendant with Bass in the Palisades Fire victims' lawsuit. May 7 Court of Appeals denial opens his communications to discovery.
Patrice Lattimore— LA City Clerk (nonpartisan). Recipient of Pratt's May 26 electioneering complaint. Pending review.
Peter McNulty— Pratt's attorney; filed the formal § 18370 complaint.
Alex Stack— Bass campaign spokesperson; gave the “200+ feet away” defense.
Kristin Crowley — former LAFD Chief (nonpartisan). Fired Feb 21, 2025. Whistleblower suit pending.
Ronnie Villanueva — Interim LAFD Chief (nonpartisan). Appointed by Bass. Oversaw the final after-action report.
Kenneth Mejia— LA City Controller (independent / progressive). Launched the Inside Safe audit. Called LAFD cuts “disgraceful.”
Nathan Hochman (R)— LA County District Attorney. Defeated incumbent George Gascón (D) in November 2024 — the strongest data point that LA's public-safety voters are already willing to break with the local Democratic establishment when the case is direct enough.
Spencer Pratt — Independent candidate. Filed the electioneering complaint. Endorsed by Trump (May 21) and Quaid (May 27).
Nithya Raman (D) — LA City Councilmember (CD4). Mayoral challenger from the left.
Austin Beutner (D) — WITHDRAWN Feb 5, 2026.
Rick Caruso — DID NOT RUN (confirmed Feb 6, 2026).
Six days before the primary, Karen Bass (D) got filmed by her own campaign next to a county ballot drop box. Her best Democratic challenger withdrew in family tragedy. The 2022 runner-up refused to run again. A reality-TV star whose Palisades home burned is closing to within 8 points, endorsed by Trump and Dennis Quaid. The fire that killed 31 people, the $17.5M she cut from the fire department, the whistleblower chief she fired, the after-action report she allegedly altered, the rebuild permits stuck at ~15%, the $67M Inside Safe spend that housed 255 people, the discovery now opening on her deleted texts — none of it is going away. The complaint is small. The record is large. The primary is June 2.