The first debate of the Los Angeles mayoral campaign involving each of the top three contenders was held Wednesday with reality television personality Spencer Pratt calling Mayor Karen Bass an “incredible liar.”
In response to a question about the 2025 wildfires, Bass said Jan. 7, 2025, was “horrible.” She added that it was one of the “worst moments of my life to not be here when my city needed me.”
Bass has faced criticism over her initial response to the wildfire that devastated Pacific Palisades, and her efforts to help rebuild the community. She had been absent during the onset of the emergency as she was in Ghana as part of the four-member presidential delegation attending the inauguration of John Dramani Mahama as the nation’s president.
Bass and the Los Angeles Fire Department faced criticism due to a lack of preparedness as a key reservoir sat empty and resources were not strategically deployed.
Pratt pressured Bass over her response, saying that if he were elected mayor he would have taken proactive steps to reduce dry brush, and never would have ordered a reservoir to be drained, a reference to Bass’ appointment as Janisse Quinones to lead the Department of Water and Power. Quinones ordered the reservoir be drained for a maintenance project.\
Bass said the extreme winds that day prevented air support from dropping water on the flames. Pratt claimed the winds in Pacific Palisades never reached more than 40 miles per hour.
The exchange became intense as Bass described Pratt’s claims as “inaccurate,” prompting Pratt to call Bass an “incredible liar.”
Bass reiterated the issue was that former Fire Chief Kristin Crowley sent home thousands of firefighters despite having enough fire trucks. Crowley has sued the city, alleging Bass and other city officials engaged in a campaign to smear her reputation and place the blame for her disastrous response to the fire.
Pratt’s home and neighborhood was burned down by the Palisades Fire. He relocated to a rental home owned by family located in the Santa Barbara area. Pratt later purchased an Airstream trailer and parked it on his property, where he says he lives in, according to a social media post he made.
While the hourlong televised debate at the Skirball Cultural Center in Brentwood started off with an intense exchange between Bass and Pratt, the two made an unlikely pair of allies against the other candidate in the debate, Councilmember Nithya Raman.
“We need to enforce the laws on the street,” Pratt said. “She (Raman) doesn’t care about safety. She doesn’t care about anything. At least Mayor Bass pretends to care.”
Raman said she wants to maintain the Los Angeles Police Department’s force at its current 8,550 membership and supports efforts to repair street lights and broken sidewalks to make the city safer.
On several occasions, Pratt let Bass and Raman respond to one another’s rebuttals before taking his turn to answer questions from the moderators.
Bass and Raman sparred on housing and homelessness, and affordability.
Bass touted her efforts that have reduced street homelessness by nearly 18%, citing figures from the annual point-in-time homelessness count produced by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. She said the result comes from her signature program, Inside Safe, which aims to reduce encampments and move unhoused people inside.
A Los Angeles Times analysis found the $300 million program, now in its third year, has had 40% of participants return to the streets.
Bass has pointed to the program’s 60% success rate, a figure she said she is satisfied by.
Raman says Inside Safe is too costly and argues there’s a more cost-efficient way to address encampments. The councilwoman has advocated for the use of time-limited subsidies, street medicine teams, and other initiatives as alternatives, which she also said is the way to fulfill her goal of reducing encampments across the city prior to the 2028 Olympic Games.
Pratt criticized Inside Safe and blamed both elected officials for the city’s homelessness crisis. He explained he would encourage Los Angeles Police Department officers to arrest unhoused people to get them off the streets.
Pratt also said he would work with the state to ensure Project Homekey sites provide addiction services.
Bass and Pratt criticized the state’s Senate Bill 79, which will take effect July 1. The law allows cities to create more dense housing near major transit corridors.
Raman has defended the bill, saying Los Angeles needs more housing of all types to meet the needs of residents. Though, she says under her watch Los Angeles would roll out the implementation of the law in a planned-approach to mitigate the impact on single-family zoned neighborhoods.
Both Bass and Pratt again agreed on the need to hire more police officers. Bass has called to maintain and increase the force up to 9,500, while Pratt said he would work to increase police hiring above 12,000.
Raman blamed Bass for approving a costly, budget-busting contract with the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the union representing LAPD officers the rank of lieutenant and below that led to a nearly $1 billion deficit in the current fiscal year. As a result, Raman says the city has had to make difficult choices about what programs and services get funded.
Bass defended her decision, citing that Los Angeles needs to stay competitive compared to other municipal jurisdictions seeking to hire new recruits.
On the city’s anti-camping law, Bass and Pratt defended the policy. Raman seemed to struggle with her answer as she attempted to defend her previous City Council votes against creating new anti-camping zones, and explaining how the law has failed to reduce encampments in sensitive areas such as schools, parks, day cares, and other places.
Bass spoke on immigration saying she would continue to support immigrants in the country
When asked about a proposal before the City Council to allow noncitizens to vote in local elections — including those without about legal permission to be in the country — Pratt said no. Bass and Raman both said it depends.
“They could have green cards, they could be here perfectly legal, and there’s a lot of states and cities that do that on very local elections,” Bass said.
In their conclusions, Bass said she deserved a second term to continue progress made on homelessness, housing and public safety; Pratt characterized himself as the candidate who would drastically change City Hall, address corruption, and get the city on track; and Raman said she would be the one to address the status quo and make tangible decisions on housing and affordability, among other key areas.
NBC4 and Telemundo 52, which televised the debate, required candidates to receive at least 5% support in two nonpartisan polls conducted in 2026 that met NBC News standards to participate.
Mayoral candidates Adam Miller and Rae Chen Huang were not included, but sought to make their presence known.
After the debate, Miller ran a 30-second commercial where he asked voters to support him.
“Let’s face it, L.A. is broken. When you need something from the city, nobody’s accountable,” Miller said in the ad. “That changes day one when I’m mayor.”
On social media, Huang posted back-to-back responses to the mayoral debate. She noted, “LA safety does not equate to a massive LAPD force exclusively — they do not protect and serve all Angelenos.”
Huang said housing is a human right, and criticized Pratt for his proposal to “arrest and criminalize people for not having a home, and perpetuating stereotypes of drug addicts refusing a bed.”
Huang also blamed Bass and Raman for failing to address homelessness, and representing the “status quo” they claim to want to change.
“LA is supposed to be a sanctuary city. Yet nobody on the stage for the mayoral debate tonight spoke out against ICE goons. They all talked about it in past-tense when we know that people are still being kidnapped and too afraid to move about the city safely,” Huang wrote in a social media post.