Spencer Pratt surges to second in Los Angeles mayoral race poll

Spencer Pratt is in second place in the race to become the mayor of Los Angeles, just behind incumbent mayor Karen Bass. Photo / Getty Images

Spencer Pratt is in second place in the race to become the Mayor of Los Angeles.

The 42-year-old reality TV star – who shot to fame on MTV’s The Hills alongside wife Heidi Montag – launched his campaign in January and has shot to second in the polls.

According to a new poll released by the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, Pratt is one of the main contenders, with incumbent Mayor Karen Bass at 25% and Pratt behind her with 11% support.

City council member Nithya Raman is currently in third position, with 9% support, while 40% of the electorate is undecided.

Pratt announced his bid for mayor after he and Montag lost their home in the devastating LA wildfires early last year, and Pratt admitted he felt incredibly isolated in the weeks and months after the fires.

The reality TV star told Us Weekly: “It’s worse than ever now because I still need to use fame to rebuild what I got to.

“I’d be at peace if my insurance hadn’t dropped us and I was rebuilding our house right now … I feel the most untethered to anything. The only things left are my kids and Heidi. And my parents, but they’re such a wreck that you can’t call my mom without her crying. I am in an abyss.”

Pratt has vowed to overhaul the “fundamentally broken” system in Los Angeles if he gets elected as mayor.

He said: “The system in Los Angeles isn’t struggling, it’s fundamentally broken. It is a machine designed to protect the people at the top and the friends they exchange favours with while the rest of us drown in toxic smoke and ash.

“Business as usual is a death sentence for Los Angeles, and I’m done waiting for someone to take real action. That’s why I am running for mayor.”

Pratt promised to overhaul the city while speaking at the They Let Us Burn! protest.

He explained: “This is a mission, and we’re gonna expose the system.

“We’re going into every dark corner of LA politics and disinfecting the city with our life and when we are done, LA is going to be camera-ready again.”

Pratt also slammed California Governor Gavin Newsom.

The TV star – who has been married to Montag since 2008 – said: “Gavin Newsom and the state of California created an insurance market so hostile that every major carrier stopped writing policies and dropped our families and our neighbours just before the sparks flew here in the Palisades.”