Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is up in opposition to three well-financed challengers in the June 2 main, with actuality tv star Spencer Pratt and Councilmember Nithya Raman main the pack in fundraising because the begin of the yr.
Pratt, whose residence was destroyed in the 2025 Palisades fireplace, has raised practically $540,000 for his marketing campaign since Jan. 1, in response to figures reported this week to the town’s Ethics Commission.
Raman, who joined the race in February, has introduced in $530,000 in contributions by means of the April 18 submitting interval, a lot of it from writers, producers and others in the leisure business, the town’s numbers present.
Bass reported taking in practically $495,000 since Jan. 1. She started fundraising for reelection in 2024, nonetheless, and nonetheless has practically $2.3 million in money readily available.
A fourth candidate, tech entrepreneur Adam Miller, reported that he lent his marketing campaign $2.5 million. He additionally took in about $200,000 in donations, experiences present.
Miller has been lagging far behind Bass, Raman and Pratt in public opinion polls, which additionally present a big proportion of voters undecided.
Dan Schnur, a politics professor at USC, UC Berkeley and Pepperdine University, mentioned the fundraising experiences present the three highest-polling candidates evenly matched heading into the ultimate weeks of the marketing campaign.
“There’s no meaningful difference in the amount of money the top three candidates have raised,” he mentioned. “The fact that Bass hasn’t raised more than her challengers as the incumbent should be of some concern to her campaign.”
The numbers additionally show that Pratt has turn out to be a “legitimate top-tier candidate,” Schnur mentioned.
“The odds are still against him winning in a deep blue city, but he has the potential to make a significant impact on the race,” he mentioned.
The mayor’s race is nonpartisan, however metropolis voters have usually elected Democrats to the job.
Because Raman and Pratt entered the race late, they nonetheless path Bass considerably in the case of the full quantity raised. Since launching her reelection bid, Bass has introduced in greater than $2.8 million, information present.
Once publicly funded matching funds are added in, the mayor’s marketing campaign has collected about $3.7 million. Raman has already obtained about $612,000 in matching funds, placing her whole proceeds above $1.1 million.
Money is much from the one issue in a mayoral race. In 2022, billionaire developer Rick Caruso spent more than $100 million of his personal fortune whereas operating for mayor, solely to lose to Bass by just below 10 proportion factors.
Still, the cash being raised by the key mayoral candidates shall be crucial as they search to buy tv promoting, social media adverts and different marketing campaign necessities.
If no single candidate wins greater than 50% in the June 2 main. the highest two vote-getters will advance to a Nov. 3 common election.
Bass has been operating for a second four-year time period whereas in search of to beat excessive disapproval numbers, with voters expressing dissatisfaction over her dealing with of housing manufacturing, homelessness and different points.
On Friday, Bass introduced she is spending greater than $1 million on a brand new 30-second spot that may seem on tv and digital platforms. In the advert, she touted reductions for two straight years in road homelessness and talked up her willingness to battle again in opposition to federal immigration raids.
At the identical time, Bass acknowledged the discontent being expressed by Angelenos.
“I haven’t always got it right,” she mentioned in the advert posted to YouTube. “There’s more work to do.”
Most polls have proven Bass with a slight lead over Raman and Pratt, who’ve hovered in second and third.
More than 1 / 4 of Angelenos have been nonetheless undecided final month, in response to a UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies, co-sponsored by The Times. In that ballot, Bass was at 25% assist, with Raman trailing at 17% and Pratt behind her at 14%.
Well behind the three prime contenders are Miller and neighborhood organizer the Rev. Rae Huang. Miller, a first-time candidate, has already launched a seven-figure ad campaign on billboards, tv and social media networks as he works to spice up his identify recognition.
Huang, who has raised simply over $165,000 since Jan. 1, has been competing with Raman for the left wing of the town’s voters. That brings her whole to just about $273,000, information present.
Raman was twice elected to the council with the backing from the native chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America. She and Huang have each courted the group, however neither secured its endorsement for the June main.
Huang did decide up donations from plenty of politically progressive civic leaders, together with lawyer Erin Darling, who misplaced to Councilmember Traci Park in 2022, and small-business proprietor Jillian Burgos, who was defeated by Councilmember Adrin Nazarian in 2024.
Raman’s fundraising haul mirrored her shut ties to the tv and movie industries, with contributions from “Saturday Night Live” star Colin Jost and “Bob’s Burgers” voice actor Dan Mintz amongst others. Both offered the utmost $1,800 to her marketing campaign.
“More than 1,700 grassroots donors have powered our mayoral campaign to make LA an affordable city that works for everyone,” Raman mentioned in an announcement touting her fundraising totals.
Bass raked in cash from others components of Hollywood, accumulating $1,800 apiece from the political motion committee representing the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and the Motion Picture Assn. Local PAC.
The mayor additionally pulled in contributions from an array of Democratic state and federal elected officers, together with U.S. Reps. Judy Chu and Sydney Kamlager-Dove and state Assembly members Josh Lowenthal, José Luis Solache Jr. and John Harabedian. Labor unions representing the development trades, the leisure business and staff at City Hall and the Department of Water and Power additionally gave to her.
“We are leading the way with a people- powered campaign fueled by support from across the city for the changes Karen Bass is making in Los Angeles. It’s why she has a broad base of support and also leads the fundraising totals,” mentioned Bass marketing campaign spokesperson Alex Stack.
Pratt’s marketing campaign didn’t reply to requests for remark.
His contributors included donors from Pacific Palisades, the place hundreds of houses alongside together with his personal have been destroyed in the 2025 wildfire.
On social media and elsewhere, he has excoriated Bass over her dealing with of the catastrophe and the following restoration.
In L.A.’s different citywide races, City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto led the pack of candidates, reporting that she has raised about $830,000 over the course of the marketing campaign. Deputy Atty. Gen. Marissa Roy was not too far behind, taking in practically $620,000.
Deputy Dist. Atty. John McKinney has collected practically $73,000, whereas human rights lawyer Aida Ashouri took in about $14,000, Ethics Commission experiences present.
In the race for metropolis controller, actual property govt Zach Sokoloff continued to outpace incumbent Kenneth Mejia in fundraising, elevating about $510,000 by the April 18 submitting deadline. Mejia took in simply over $110,000.
Both of these numbers have been overshadowed by the $2.5 million given by Sokoloff’s mom, Sheryl Sokoloff, to an impartial expenditure committee supporting him.
That contribution, reported earlier this week, was instantly denounced by Mejia, who instructed his followers on Thursday that he’s up in opposition to “big money.”
“Los Angeles, our race just got real,” Mejia mentioned in a social media publish. “Someone from Montana dropped $2.5 million to oust me. And it’s someone — let me check — wow. It’s my opponent’s mom. Holy crap. What could you do with $2.5 million?”
“No one has ever dropped this amount of money in the controller’s race,” he added. “This is wild.”
Times employees author Melissa Gomez and Data and Graphics journalists Sandhya Kambhampati and Hailey Wang contributed to this report.
