We’re all angry about what happened in Los Angeles. Spencer Pratt was eliminated from the mayoral runoff, which increasingly looks like a rigged election. Whether that can be proven will be the job of U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, but, for the moment, we have to move forward. Spencer Pratt ran an unconventional, high-energy campaign that rattled the Democrat establishment far more than anyone will admit publicly. And while the mayoral election may be over, he can still be an asset for the California GOP.
So, the question is: with the California governor's race heating up, could the man California Democrats worked so hard to sideline end up being the Republicans' most valuable player?
Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton made his answer clear during a Fox News interview on Tuesday.
When host Laura Ingraham asked whether he'd consider having Pratt campaign with him across California, Hilton didn't hesitate.
"One hundred percent," he said. "He made such an incredible impact. It's an absolute travesty that Los Angeles, as a city, won't have the same choice that the whole state will have. He laid out incredible plans. Of course, everyone talks about his amazing campaign ads, and that's true, but they forget that he had incredibly strong substantive policies, especially on homelessness, which I said at the time, that's exactly what we need, not just in L.A., but statewide. Yeah, one hundred percent. I'd love that. He represents the kind of energy we need."
🚨A NEW CALIFORNIA COALITION?🚨
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) June 10, 2026
"100%. I'd love that."@SteveHiltonx says @spencerpratt's energy, ideas, and homelessness plan deserve a statewide audience—even if Los Angeles voters won't get that choice. pic.twitter.com/kFGPAy7564
Make no mistake about it, the left wanted Pratt out of that race, no matter how much the left tells you otherwise.
CNN's Harry Enten tried to shut down the whole conversation, calling talk of irregularities in the mayoral results "the dumbest conspiracy theory I've ever heard." Enten claimed the Democrat establishment preferred Pratt to advance over City Council member Nithya Raman, framing it as a more favorable matchup against Mayor Karen Bass because it assured Bass of victory.
That theory falls apart on contact. The Democrat establishment doesn't particularly care whether Bass or Raman wins. What it cares about is keeping a sharp, media-savvy Republican off the campaign trail for months hammering Bass on homelessness, crime, and every other issue she was already bleeding support on, and Pratt advancing to the runoff meant months of relentless pressure on a Democrat incumbent already carrying serious political baggage.
For sure, Pratt faced steep odds in a city that votes Democrat by overwhelming margins, and nobody disputes that. But Bass entered the race wounded, and Pratt kept gaining ground. The possibility that a long-shot campaign could develop into a real threat gave the Democrat establishment every reason to prefer a different outcome.
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As the polls showed, Pratt's appeal extended well beyond typical Republican voters. His social media instincts, his directness, and his ability to address the key issues concerning voters gave him a reach that conventional campaigns spend millions trying to manufacture. Those same qualities make him a legitimate statewide asset.
And, to the same point, Hilton faces a tough race in November. But the jungle primary system, designed to keep Republicans out of contention, couldn't stop him from advancing. That’s huge, and we shouldn’t dismiss the significance of it.
Why? California may be a deep blue state, suffering from catastrophically bad management by the Democrats, and voters know it. And a Republican, under the right circumstances, can win a deep blue state. Arnold Schwarzenegger won two terms there. Mitt Romney won the Massachusetts governorship in 2002.
Republican victories in blue states happen when the conditions are right, and the candidate can break through the noise. The Hilton-Pratt combination could generate the kind of energy and media attention that conventional campaigns struggle to manufacture, while putting a direct message in front of voters who feel abandoned by one-party rule. Spencer Pratt has a bigger platform now, and California Democrats handed it to him, and let’s hope they pay a price for it.
