Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt raised nearly 10 times more money than Mayor Karen Bass in the latest campaign finance filing, new filings show.
Pratt reported raising $2.72 million between April 19 and May 16, the statements show, compared to $283,000 for Bass.
Pratt, a former TV star, reported net worth of $3.26 million, putting him ahead of Bass by $3.13 million.
Councilwoman Nithya Raman reported more than $931,000 during her May 16 filing, and nearly $401,000 as of April 19. Of that haul, $60,000 came in the form of a loan from Raman’s campaign.
Pratt’s strong showing in his contributions shows he has a good chance of getting enough votes in the June 2 primary to seek a second term in November, said Mike Murphy, a longtime political consultant and former senior adviser to Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Opinion polls show Bass leading the race, but not by a large enough margin to avoid a runoff. If no candidate wins a majority next month, the top two vote-getters will face off in a Nov. 3 general election. Pratt is in a close race for second place with Raman, the poll shows.
Raman’s team used their donations to secure $1.26 million in public matching funds, the highest possible amount. Bass received $1 million in matching public funds.
Another candidate, tech entrepreneur Adam Miller, reported about $276,000 in donations and $4 million in loans he made to his campaign. Miller trails far behind the leading candidates in opinion polls.
In other citywide races, City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto raised nearly $864,000 for her re-election campaign. Marissa Roy, the state’s deputy attorney general endorsed by the local chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, has raised about $682,000, campaign finance reports show.
The filings show that City Administrator Kenneth Mejia has a much smaller war chest than challenger Zach Sokoloff, who is retiring from his job as senior vice president at Hackman Capital Partners. Mejia brought in less than $150,000 in direct contributions, while Sokoloff raised more than $1 million in direct contributions from candidate committees in the latest filing period. Mejia’s team used their donations to secure more than $400,000 in matching funds.
Outside of the campaign committees, Sokoloff’s mother, Sheryl, has contributed $5 million to her son’s campaign in private spending since May 7.
Among mayoral candidates, Bass’s campaign has spent the most in the race so far, $3.66 million, surpassing Miller’s with $3.18 million. Pratt reported a total of $2.39 million in expenses and Raman $1.52 million in spending.
Community activist Rae Huang’s campaign has raised the fourth most money so far, at more than $308,000, followed by that of longtime LA city developer Asaad Alnajjar, who has raised nearly $142,000 in donations.
Pratt’s campaign has more money left to spend in the race than the other leading candidates, with $1.42 million, compared to $1.32 million for Bass, $1.3 million for Miller and $1 million for Raman.
Murphy asked Pratt’s campaign why it has so much money, now that voters have started sending ballots by mail.
“If he takes a million or fifteen million of that money and spends it on media, digital, TV, cable, even some linear TV, I think that would give him a real edge going into the competition with Bass,” Murphy said. “But I want to know why he didn’t do that last week, because the clock is ticking.”
Pratt spent at least $500,000 on digital advertising and billboards, according to his most recent expenses.
Pratt’s popularity as a reality star — and support from other Republicans including a signal of support from President Trump — has attracted donations from supporters across LA County and across the US. $2,900.
The campaigns of Pratt and Bass — both benefiting from national name recognition — have attracted more non-Californian candidates, each bringing in about $940,000 of the $2.26 million the race has seen come from donors in other states.
Raman raised about $197,000 in other states. Campaign finance reports don’t show where the combined contributions come from, so it’s unclear where that pot of money — Pratt’s is much larger than his opponents’ — is coming from.
Overall, 67% of Pratt’s donors list California addresses, compared to 84% of Bass’s donors and 86% of Raman’s campaign donors. Bass received the most from LA County residents with at least $2.29 million, followed by Pratt with at least $1.1 million and Raman with more than $731,000.
Murphy said that while Pratt’s fundraising numbers are strong, it remains to be seen whether he can garner enough support to win the mayoral election. Although the race is nonpartisan, Pratt is a registered Republican in a heavily Democratic city.
“The Pratt hype may be greater than the support of Pratt and voters in downtown LA,” Murphy said.
Times staff writers Sandra McDonald, Melissa Gomez and David Zahniser contributed to this story.
