Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt is trying to win in a liberal city run by the Democratic Party establishment. The last time the city elected a Republican Party candidate to its top office was nearly three decades ago.
For this reason, Brat, a registered Republican, has sought to portray himself as a nonpartisan figure. “All my supporters in Los Angeles are Democrats,” he told CBS. “Everyone I know, my family, they’re all Democrats,” he explained to NBC. “When you vote for Spencer Pratt on your ballot today or tonight, it’s going to say ‘Spencer Pratt, community advocate’ because that’s how I know it.”
However, behind the scenes, Republicans are directing his campaign. Its headquarters, according to city disclosure filings, is a tax services agency run by the wife of former Republican congressman Brian Bilbray in Imperial Beach, a small town in San Diego County just north of the U.S. border. Their daughter, a former GOP delegate, is Pratt’s treasurer, and has a specific email identifying an entity called “BB Campaigns” that has no clear public footprint.
Since leaving office in 2001, Bilbray has received millions of dollars over the years from Los Angeles County to lobby the federal government, according to OpenSecrets. It is common for a major Democratic government entity to work with former elected Republicans to leverage their relationships with party members — especially committee chairs, fund allocators and agency officials — to advocate for everything from infrastructure funding and transportation grants to disaster relief and regulatory exceptions.
Fundraising events for Pratt’s campaign, including April heats held in Beverly Hills and Mandeville Canyon, were organized in part by the Pluvious group. It’s a Los Angeles-based political consulting firm that, according to public records, has worked on behalf of a slew of right-wing figures, from President Donald Trump and Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton to U.S. Rep. Mike Garcia, whose district is just north of Los Angeles.
Bluevius also helped elect Nathan Hochman to Los Angeles Attorney General in 2024. Hochman, who won as an independent in that race, had previously lost as a Republican two years ago in the race for California Attorney General.
George Gascón, the progressive who Hochman beat to become DA, denounced Pluvious when he first ran for the position in 2019. He pointed to the company’s work on Trump’s behalf as well as its place at the “center of a money laundering scheme” during one statewide race, Sacramento Bee He explained in 2016 that it “allowed original donors to hide their identities in files and avoid exceeding campaign contribution limits.” (The California Fair Political Practices Commission found that the company created the illegal donations and was aware of the conspiracy.)
Current Mayor Karen Bass is currently leading in the polls for the June 2 election. Pratt and progressive Los Angeles City Councilwoman Nithya Raman are vying for second place in a runoff on November 3. She called him a “MAGA Republican.” He referred to her as “Candidate Ramanchoryan,” a reference to the 1962 political thriller. The Manchurian Candidate About a political puppet.
Little is known about Pratt’s campaign organization. His spokesman — who worked with him and his wife, Heidi Montag, long before he announced his candidacy in January — did not respond. THRInquire about the identities of its key employees and advisors.
