Mayoral candidates came out to the front across Los Angeles this weekend to make their final pitches to voters ahead of Tuesday’s heated election.
Energetic Mayor Karen Bass inspired crowds of trade union workers on Saturday. “Four more years!” crowds chanted as dozens of local and state Democratic Alliance heavyweights joined the incumbent.
City council member Nithya Raman spent the day running between restaurants and bars in an old-school yellow Scout convertible to meet business owners and supporters.
Meanwhile, former reality TV star Spencer Pratt threw a party in Baldwin Village with barbecue, free merchandise and American lawn chairs – although he spent most of the event on the sidelines, listening to the concerns of Black residents.
Recent polls put Pratt and Raman within striking distance of Bass, who has enjoyed a commanding lead for much of the campaign. A recent poll, co-sponsored by the Times, had Bass at 26%, Raman at 25% and Pratt at 22% — with about a 3% margin of error either way and 10% of voters undecided.
The two candidates in Tuesday’s forest primary will advance to the November runoff, unless one can get more than 50% of the vote.
Mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt talks with Diane Waterhouse, a caregiver and Westchester native, about homelessness and drug addiction at a campaign event Saturday in Baldwin Village. “We just talk about it like, ‘oh it’s Skid Row, that’s where the drug addicts are.’ No, there are communities, there are children, there are people working there, businesses,” said Pratt.
(Noah Haggerty/Los Angeles Times)
“I believe God moves mountains; I believe you can get that 51% that Tuesday,” Diane Waterhouse, a 60-year-old caregiver, told Pratt at her Baldwin Village event.
On the lawn of Jim Gilliam Park on Saturday, fans from across the city chanted Pratt’s name, took selfies in front of black vans with his hummingbird logo and ate cupcakes emblazoned with his face while children raced by on motorcycles and played with several dogs in attendance.
But Pratt — who had spent the morning at the West Los Angeles Animal Shelter talking to animal welfare advocates — headed to a nearby recreation center to talk to residents away from the cameras.
“Most of the people who come here are going to want our vote – we’re giving everyone our vote; we’re still living like this. Nothing’s changed,” Erica Helon, a 40-year-old bus driver, told Pratt in one of the event’s most tense moments.
Pratt, wearing a beige suit and hat with his name emblazoned like the LA Lakers logo, insisted he was in South Los Angeles to listen and wasn’t even asking residents for their votes. He pulled Helon aside and gave him his phone number so they could talk more.
“I’m here because I want to be the voice of the community,” he said at one point. “I’m here because I don’t know what I can’t do.”
Helon, who is still unknown, left the event open to Pratt.
“I would like to see what you will do for this city,” he said.
Los Angeles mayoral candidate Nithya Raman joined a group photo during a campaign stop Sunday with SevaSphere volunteers after serving meals to the homeless at Oaks Kitchens.
(Kayla Bartkowski/Los Angeles Times)
Raman, who has made detailed policy plans a cornerstone of his campaign, spent Saturday meeting with local restaurant owners after dropping a small business policy plan.
At sunset, a yellow convertible pulled up to Lowboy Bar, an Echo Park staple. Raman, wearing a Japanese Dodgers hat and a rainbow City Council fan pack, joined campaign staff for drinks at tables covered in “Nithya Raman for Mayor” pins.
A few Angelenos, starting their night at popular photo spots, spotted Raman and stopped by to chat and take photos.
“I’ve lived in LA for 12 years. It’s a very important city to me,” said Ryan Bergeron, a 35-year-old who works in advertising and does art on the side.
Bergeron, who is on the Echo Park neighborhood council, hopes Los Angeles can serve as a “lightning beacon in a terrible time for the country” as it deals with high affordability, the housing crisis and sustainability issues.
As for Raman, “I’ve seen him as a council member and I’m proud of that,” Bergeron said. When he announced that he was running for mayor, “It felt like everything really clicked.”
Mayor Karen Bass and Council Member Monica Rodriguez attended the Los Angeles Democratic Party and Avance Democratic Club Carne Asada Tour, a community event held Saturday at the Yosemite Recreation Center. Avance is one of the largest Latino Democratic clubs in the country.
(Karla Gachet / For The Times)
Bass, by contrast, died after a day of union rallies by eating tacos at picnic tables at the Yosemite Recreation Center in Eagle Rock with several local politicians, including Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez and state Democratic Party Chairman Mark Ramos.
California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta and LA County Sheriff Robert Luna joined Bass earlier in the day. Although Luna missed out on the picnic, she still enjoyed several tacos in her car.
On Sunday, Raman, wearing jeans and a chartreuse cardigan, was greeting bikers at a Sawtelle coffee shop and talking to a UCLA phone banking group.
“It’s very important to make sure that our small campaign, without all the political machine behind us, without the MAGA millions behind us, that our vision for Los Angeles can still get out to the people, and your work today is an important part of that,” Raman told a group of graduate students representing the United Auto Workers from several nearby universities.
He had several other appearances scheduled throughout the day, including a lunch with a group of Korean American Democrats in Koreatown, Encinofest, a party in Silver Lake and a visit to Boyle Heights.
“There seems to be an increase in race awareness and interest in the issues,” Raman told The Times. “It was very exciting to see people getting involved and feeling positive about the future of the city.”
About a dozen students spoke to potential UAW-affiliated voters and urged them to mark Raman’s name on their ballots Tuesday.
Stephanie Wert, a 30-year-old psychology graduate student at UCLA and head of the UAW, said the phone bank could determine whether Raman’s campaign survives in a week.
“This vote will be decided in the margins, so I think we can really make a difference that will push him to run,” Wert said.
Bass peeked through the back doors of the fan base in Venice on Sunday afternoon to the delight of several fans at a nearby event. Over small plates and drinks, many said they’ve seen real improvement in the homeless population in their neighborhood during Bass’ time as mayor.
Tatiana Barhar, a Venice resident for more than 30 years, said she saw real-time the “extreme” homelessness problem improve during Bass’ tenure, thanks to his program Inside Safe. “I want to support him,” she said. “I think he can do a lot.”
Bass talked about 1960s-level crime rates, thousands of homeless people moving off the street into homes and efforts to build Hollywood during his time as mayor. “We have a lot to do,” Bass said. “We have a bright future in this second largest city in the nation, and I hope you will continue to be with me as we win.”
Pratt’s departure on Sunday remains a mystery. His campaign has emphasized that he hopes to have more intimate moments with the LA community, instead of the media and frenzy of some of his previous, widely publicized events.
One of those intimate moments was a community event in a Latino neighborhood near downtown LA on Sunday morning. Pratt spent Thursday in New York in interviews with national media to “get the message out to as many people as possible.”
