L.A. Mayor Race Gets Legal: Bass Mocks Pratt’s Supporters As “AI Cartoons”; Incumbent Broke Election Laws, ‘Hills’ Vet Insists
A week before the primary that could decide who the next Mayor of Los Angeles is, incumbent Karen Bass and polling rising challengers Spencer Pratt got legal and personal today in their war of campaing words
The white gloves have been off for a while as The Hills vet tries to use the loss of his Palisades home last year in the wildfires as leapfrog to City Hall, but coming out of the long weekend Pratt hit Bass hard with election law violation claims that could actually muddy the waters.
With Pratt accusing Bass online of having a “reckless disregard for the rule of law,” a letter to the City clerk and a court filing from Pratt lawyer Peter J. McNulty says a video from the poll topping Mayor clearly shows her “soliciting votes” and “holding signs asking voters to vote for her.” Under California statutes, it is illegal to be electioneering be within 100 feet of a polling station or drop-off ballot box.
Going for less is more, with a jab at some pro-Pratt online ads, Bass swung back late this morning.
“Spencer is just mad that his supporters are AI cartoons and we have real Angelenos,” the seasoned politician said. “We follow the rules.”
Pratt lawyer McNulty did not respond to Deadline’s request for comment on the Mayor’s remarks
“Someone in a position of power should be especially respectful of our democratic laws, but this is just emblematic of Karen’s mafia-like regime,” donor rich Pratt had said previously Tuesday in a post on X. ‘It’s ‘rules for thee, but not for me,’” the Hotel Bel-Air resident went on say, pounding the anti-establishment drum that has propelled him to a projected second place in the June 2 vote.
In his initial posting, Pratt cited a Bass video from late last week that sure does appear to confirm his point.
However, according to the Bass campaign two separate locations were used for the May 24 clip. The part with signs was more than 200 feet away from a ballot box and there were no signs in the part closer to the ballot box. Or, without the math: “this complaint is just blatantly false,” a Bass campaign spokesperson told Deadline.
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Under the rules and regulations of the Golden State, unless one candidate gets over 50% in the primary, it become a two person runoff for November — as occurred between then Congresswoman Bass and developer Rick Caruso in 2022. With Councilmember Nithya Raman currently in third place in a crowded pack of contenders for the Mayor’s job, Bass has been accused of using the tried and true Cali Dems playbook employed by now Sen. Adam Schiff and others of setting up a GOP rival in the primary to ensure a big and low budget win in the fall.
BTW – here’s the AI cartoons, Bass was referring to:
