Former reality TV star Spencer Pratt said he thinks he can “shake up city hall” as he runs for mayor in Los Angeles with no prior political experience.
“I may not have the experience, but I have the common sense to say this is not working,” Pratt told CBS News in an exclusive interview.
The 42-year-old, a registered Republican, first made a name for himself as the resident villain on MTV’s hit show “The Hills” in the mid-2000s.
He’s now polling second in the mayoral race for the second-largest city in the U.S.
Los Angeles has not had a Republican mayor since 2001. Richard Riordan was elected in 1993 and served two terms.
“It’s going to be a hard road to convince a very blue city like L.A. to take a chance on not only a novice politician, but somebody who has pretty much aligned himself with Donald Trump and with Republicans,” said Melanie Mason, Politico’s California bureau chief.
But Pratt thinks he can “change the political landscape” of L.A.
“Thankfully all my supporters in Los Angeles are Democrats,” the Southern California native said. “I just want to fix our streets, get the lights on. I want people to feel safe.”
Pratt said he “didn’t want to run for mayor,” but that changed last year when he lost his home to the devastating Palisades Fire.
“I had to step up so that my sons one day can … come back here and live in the L.A. that I lived in — beautiful, safe,” he said. “I’m standing in what happened because of failed politicians.”
Incumbent Mayor Karen Bass was heavily criticized for her response to the Los Angeles fires.
In January, one year after the fire, the Democratic mayor said, “I feel good that there’s over 400 homes that are under construction now, that there’s over 800 homes approved to be built.”
Bass faced off in a heated debate against Pratt and Los Angeles City Councilmember and mayoral candidate Nithya Raman on Wednesday.
The mayoral election, which is nonpartisan, will take place on June 2. If no candidate receives a majority of the vote, then the two leading candidates will advance to a Nov. 3 runoff.
Pratt, who was often accused of being intentionally dramatic on “The Hills,” said voters will know he’s being authentic when it comes to his platform for improving L.A.
“People know when I was a reality villain, I was doing it to get paid. It was strategic. I was working with producers,” he said. “I’m being very strategic to win and save L.A., but there’s no strategy when you’re standing in an Airstream on your burned out town. You can’t fake that.”