OAN Staff Brooke Mallory
5:18 PM – Tuesday, May 26, 2026
In an escalation of the increasingly volatile Los Angeles mayoral race, Republican challenger and former reality television star Spencer Pratt has filed a formal election fraud complaint against incumbent Democrat Mayor Karen Bass, accusing her of committing a misdemeanor by engaging in illegal electioneering.
The complaint, submitted on Tuesday by Pratt’s attorney, Peter McNulty, to Los Angeles City Clerk Patrice Lattimore, demands an immediate investigation into Bass’s campaign activities just one week ahead of the June 2nd primary election.
The controversy stems from a promotional video posted to social media by the Bass campaign, which depicts the mayor meeting with supporters as they deposit their ballots directly into an official drop box.
Pratt maintains that the footage provides explicit photographic evidence of a violation of California State Election Code, which strictly prohibits campaigning, soliciting votes, or displaying candidate likenesses and signage within 100 feet of a polling place or ballot drop box.
Under California law, a violation of these electioneering boundaries constitutes a misdemeanor offense.
In a statement posted to X, Pratt asserted further that Bass has become so accustomed to operating with no accountability that she willingly filmed herself breaking the law, adding that the incident is emblematic of her administration’s reckless disregard.
Nonetheless, the Bass campaign has since forcefully pushed back against the allegations, dismissing the complaint as a desperate political stunt.
Campaign spokesman Alex Stack stated that the video in question was filmed on Sunday at a public park, claiming that the gathering occurred more than 200 feet away from the nearest ballot box — well outside the legally restricted zone.
The campaign also deflected the effort by mocking Pratt’s reliance on viral, artificial intelligence-generated campaign advertisements, releasing a statement that joked Pratt was angry that the mayor commands real human supporters.
Meanwhile, the legal clash exemplifies a dramatic turning point for Pratt’s unconventional, video-fueled mayoral bid, which has successfully upended the nonpartisan race. Pratt, who launched his campaign after his Pacific Palisades home was destroyed in a devastating series of wildfires last year, has continuously slammed Bass over the city’s emergency response, homelessness crisis, and open-air drug use.
While early voting is already underway, political analysts say that the accusation represents a calculated effort by the Pratt campaign to consolidate conservative and moderate voters, aiming to secure a second-place finish in the primary to force Bass into a competitive head-to-head runoff election this November.
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