In the high-stakes theater of political warfare, there is a fine line between a character assassination and a campaign contribution. This week, the Los Angeles labor establishment appears to have crossed that line, tripped over it, and accidentally handed Republican mayoral challenger Spencer Pratt a silver-plated megaphone.
If the goal of the city’s powerful unions was to bury Pratt’s bid to unseat the embattled incumbent, Mayor Karen Bass, they might want to check the receipts. Their latest digital offensive isn’t just failing to land a punch; it’s being framed by the Pratt campaign as the ultimate validation of his platform.
Wait. Unions are mad that I want firefighters and city workers to get better pay and safer working conditions? What are they actually…for? https://t.co/YlIWG550B2
— Spencer Pratt (@spencerpratt) May 10, 2026
A $221,000 “Gift” from Organized Labor
According to city ethics commission filings, a group titled “LA Unions Opposed to Spencer Pratt for Mayor 2026”—sponsored by the heavyweight Los Angeles County Federation of Labor (AFL-CIO)—has poured roughly $221,000 into a digital ad campaign designed to sink Pratt.
The irony, however, is that the ad plays like a greatest-hits compilation of Pratt’s own stump speeches. Over a somber backtrack, an unseen narrator warns voters of Pratt’s “radical” agenda:
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He opposes using taxpayer funds to construct brand-new housing for the unhoused.
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He prioritizes thousands of new police officers over social workers.
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He aims to strip public employee unions of their political leverage.
The ad concludes with a line that feels increasingly detached from the reality of the city’s streets: “LA is on the right track and needs to stay the course. Vote ‘No’ on Republican Spencer Pratt.”
For a city still reeling from the scars of the 2025 Palisades fire disaster, the “right track” narrative is a hard sell. On social media, the reaction was swift and mocking, with users calling the spot an “unintentional endorsement.” One commenter noted it was likely the first attack ad in history designed to help its target.
This is the most astonishing political ad I have ever seen. It “attacks” Spencer Pratt for opposing the most obviously wrong-headed policies of Mayor Karen Bass and concludes “LA is on the right track.” https://t.co/gBcfxWTein
— FischerKing (@FischerKing64) May 10, 2026
I don’t think I’ve ever seen an attack ad that comes off as an endorsement like this one https://t.co/MU0rAHM0Gc
— Dr. Ben Braddock (@GraduatedBen) May 10, 2026
The “Common Sense” Conundrum
For the average Angelino—the one balancing a mortgage, dodging encampments, and worrying about rising crime—the “horrors” detailed in the ad sound suspiciously like common sense.
Pratt’s stance on the homelessness crisis—a blunt “get help or get out” approach—resonates with a taxpaying public tired of seeing billions disappear into “permanent supportive housing” projects that never seem to clear the sidewalks. Similarly, in a city where the nexus of crime and homelessness has become the primary concern for many, the demand for more badges over more clipboards is a platform with significant legs.
Perhaps most provocatively, Pratt’s crusade against the power of public employee unions strikes at the heart of the city’s political machinery. To the unions, he is a threat; to the resident tired of “parasitic” drains on the public treasury, he is a long-overdue auditor.
This is funny because it’s maybe the first attack ad in the history of attack ads that will help the person it’s meant to hurt. What’s telling is that those inside the institutions are too blind, too cordoned off from reality, to see that. https://t.co/GYtxe5TsxS
— Peter Savodnik (@petersavodnik) May 10, 2026
A Mayor in Retreat?
The timing of this botched offensive couldn’t be worse for Mayor Bass. Still haunted by the perceived incompetence of her administration’s response to the January 2025 wildfires—an event that leveled thousands of homes, including Pratt’s—Bass is finding herself on the defensive.
The New York Post recently reported that rebuilding efforts from the fire have been glacially slow, a failure Pratt used to devastating effect during last week’s debate. The former reality star turned political firebrand has successfully pivoted from personal loss to a platform of total reform.
The impact of that debate performance was seemingly confirmed when Bass abruptly withdrew from a televised debate scheduled for this Wednesday, according to KTLA. In politics, an incumbent who stops talking is usually an incumbent who is losing the argument.
The Road to June 2
As the June 2 primary approaches, the race is narrowing to a two-horse sprint between Bass and Pratt. If the unions intended to define Pratt as a villain, they have instead painted him as the lone adult in the room for a specific, frustrated segment of the electorate.
If Los Angeles voters look at the current state of their city, watch this ad, and decide that “staying the course” is the answer, they will get exactly what they voted for. For those who disagree, the exit ramps of the 405 have never looked more appealing.
But for Spencer Pratt, the “attack” is working better than any paid media his own campaign could have dreamed up. In the war of optics, his enemies have just become his best promoters.