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Former reality TV star Spencer Pratt is throwing his hat into the ring of politics. One year after his house burned down in the catastrophic Palisades Fire, the 42-year-old announced he would run for mayor of Los Angeles, California. His exact position, though, has confused local voters and others around the country after he sounded like he sided with Republicans but still had support from Democrats. So, which political party is he running for mayor with?
Who Is Spencer Pratt?
For those who don’t watch reality TV, Pratt is known for starring in The Hills, I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!, Celebrity Big Brother U.K. and several other shows. He earned a reputation for being a reality TV “villain.”
Pratt is married to fellow reality TV personality Heidi Montag. The couple have been married since 2008.
Long before his mayoral campaign, Pratt studied political science at the University of Southern California.
Is Spencer Pratt Running as a Republican or a Democrat?
Throughout most of his mayoral campaign, Pratt didn’t take either side. Although he voted for Donald Trump in 2024, Pratt insisted he was a non-partisan candidate.
“All my supporters in Los Angeles are Democrats,” he previously told CBS. “Everyone I know, my family, are all Democrats.” In a separate interview with NBC, Pratt said he wasn’t on either side: “When you vote for Spencer Pratt on your ballot today or tonight, it’ll say Spencer Pratt, community advocate, because that’s how I identify. I do not represent a party. I don’t have a campaign manager. I don’t have campaign consultants. There’s no political party backing me.”
Pratt, however, eventually clarified that he was a Republican. During a May 2026 CNN interview, the L.A. native explained why he switched from being an Independent to a Republican.
“When I was a hated reality star, I got so many death threats,” Pratt noted. “I had so much security and police, and what did they tell me to do? Get a gun.”
Pratt went on to claim that “the only people that supported a CCW [permits to carry concealed weapons] was a Republican.”
Pratt, however, is running for mayor of L.A. as an independent candidate.
Was Spencer Pratt Ever a Democrat?
According to Pratt, yes — he was a Democrat at one point but abandoned the party due to his views on guns.
