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Incumbent Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, Republican challenger Spencer Pratt, and Democratic Socialists of America city councilor Nithya Raman engaged in a heated nonpartisan debate Wednesday as the city heads to its June 2 primary.
The debate, hosted by NBC4 and Telemundo 52, focused on questions of public safety, affordability and immigration. Conservative commentators on social media, as well as others on the left, generally felt that Pratt exceeded expectations as he jumped into politics following his history as a reality star on “The Hills.”
Fox News Digital took a look back at the debate’s top moments, including Bass tackling high-profile issues like the Palisades fires that ripped through Southern California in 2025.
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Former television star Spencer Pratt is running against Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass to lead the nation’s second largest city. (Left (Roy Rochlin/Getty Images), Right (Ronaldo Bolaños / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images))
‘He was stabbed in the neck’
“First of all, Inside Safe, I like to say that Inside Safe makes us all outside, not safe,” Pratt said on the sidelines of the debate.
Inside Safe is a municipal program spearheaded by Bass that aims to get people out of homeless situations and into temporary or permanent housing. A city report found that it spent $300 million on the project, which has helped about 6,000 people, 40% of whom have returned to the streets.
“The truth is, no matter how many beds you give these people, they’re using super meth,” Pratt continued. “They’re on fentanyl. DEA statistics say 93% of these are drug addiction problems. I’m going down Harbor Highway tomorrow [Raman] and we can get some of these people to give them treatment. You will be stabbed in the neck.”
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Los Angeles City Council member Nithya Raman talks with Mayor Karen Bass at Hazeltine Park in Sherman Oaks on Feb. 10, 2024, before the campaign event. (Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times)
‘This is a yes or no question’
Towards the end of the debate, president Enrique Chiabra asked the three a direct question.
“I want to ask all three of you whether the question and the answer is yes or no,” said Chiabra. “So there is a council member here. He wants the voters to make a decision. He says that non-citizens should be allowed to vote in local elections. Is he yes or no, Mr. Pratt?”
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Los Angeles City Council member Nithya Raman attends National Coming Out Day 2024 in Los Angeles, California, on Oct. 11, 2024. (Vivien Killia/Getty Images)
Pratt responded with one word: “No.”
Bass gave a lengthy answer, distinguishing between green card holders and illegal immigrants, pointing out that some cities allow the former category to vote in local elections.
Raman, on the other hand, gave an answer that a Los Angeles Times writer described as “language-bound.”
“Yes, I can say again, it depends on the fact that in some places, the school boards have non-citizens, non-citizens who are citizens who vote for them,” he began to say before the president cut him off.
‘The most dangerous thing the Mayor has in store for us’
At the beginning of the debate, Pratt took on Bass for his handling of the January 2025 Pacific Palisades fires.
“To the mayor, Karen Bass, a thousand firefighters were available, but there [were] there are no engines for them because of the $17 million Chief Crowley had asked the Mayor for nine weeks earlier, and Mayor Karen Bass denied,” Pratt said. “Not to mention Janisse Quinones, who Mayor Karen Bass has put in charge of the LA DWP. They destroyed both the dams that the firefighters needed to put out the fires.”
SPENCER PRATT ENTERS SEN. RICK SCOTT OF THE FEDERAL INVESTIGATION INTO THE CALIFORNIA WILDFIRE RESPONSE
TV personality and Los Angeles Mayor Spencer Pratt visits Fox & Friends at the Fox News Channel Studios in New York City on Jan. 28, 2026. (Roy Rochlin/Getty Images)
Pratt called Bass’ behavior during the fires “the most dangerous mayor we’ve ever faced.”
‘Mayor Bass and I don’t work together’
Raman, who has been struggling to break into the polls, accused Bass and Pratt during the debate of working together to prevent him from getting out of the general election.
“You will watch today as Mayor Bass and Spencer Pratt attack me because they want to compete in the national election,” said Raman, speaking directly to the audience of the debate.
“First of all, Mayor Bass and I don’t work together,” Pratt replied. “I blame this person for burning my house and my parents’ house and my town and all my neighbors.”
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Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said “it depends” when asked if non-citizens should be allowed to vote in local elections. (Getty Images)
He went on to point out that Bass’s strong relationship with labor unions and his status as acting mayor made him a stronger opponent than Raman, in his opinion.
Pratt concluded his statement by dismissing Raman as a “random council member.”
‘Public safety must be our priority’
As the debate turned to public safety, Pratt took the opportunity to criticize Raman for advocating for cuts to police funding.
“Councilor Raman keeps saying the police department is more than public safety funding – it should be our priority,” he said. “And we’re going to get all this money when we stop his useless open bed programs. That doesn’t actually put drugs in these houses, that we’re spending billions of dollars, and we’re going to really start looking at where this money is going.”
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Pratt proposed to provide additional resources to the Los Angeles Police Department to eventually create 12,500 police officers.
