Spencer Pratt has taken a campaign path that looks more like reality TV than politics, and Liz Wheeler argues that oddball style is his strength. She says his approach strips away shame around voting Republican in left-leaning communities and gives voters a way to punish local elites who, in her view, have failed them. This piece walks through why Wheeler thinks his tactics work and how they mirror a wider strategy we’ve seen before.
Pratt’s campaign refuses to play by the normal political rules, leaning on personality and direct confrontation instead of polished party messaging. Wheeler frames that as a deliberate move to reach people who feel abandoned by city officials and to offer them a face-saving option at the ballot box. That calculated informality turns celebrity into political cover for voters who might otherwise fear backlash for switching their vote.
Wheeler puts it bluntly: “What Spencer Pratt is doing … I don’t think I’ve ever seen another politician do this,” and she adds that he’s working to “remove the stigma of voting Republican for Democrats in L.A. who’ve been hurt by Democrat elected officials.” Those words capture the central pitch: that a well-known outsider can let people change sides without losing social standing. The tactic is less about converting ideologies and more about shifting loyalties tied to real grievances.
She tells stories that cut deep: “This person’s home was burned down, and this is what he wants to do so that that never happens again. This person sees the financial corruption that’s happening in the city of Los Angeles at the hands of politicians and wants to give that money — that’s your money — back to you,” she says. Those quotes are meant to humanize the stakes and show why some voters would respond to a recognizable, unapologetic candidate. The message is simple: if local rulers broke your trust, vote for someone who promises to flip the script.
Wheeler calls Pratt’s method not random but instinctive and strategic: “This is instinct that’s based on a pre-existing thorough understanding of human nature that you have to provide for people, in order for them to change their minds, the ability to save face,” she says. In short, he offers a graceful exit for voters fed up with local governance. That psychological angle matters more in neighborhoods where politics is social currency as much as policy.
Pratt also names targets, which Wheeler says crystallizes his pitch: “He’s identified the elites: Karen Bass, Nithya Raman, Gavin Newsom. And he’s identified a problem that you are suffering from that was caused by these elites. And he’s saying he’s not running away from the fact that he’s wealthy. He was famous. He’s doing the same thing that Trump did,” Wheeler explains. Calling out specific names helps voters connect the dots between policy failures and the people responsible for them.
The campaign’s clever twist is to shrink the distance between celebrity and voter by turning fame into permission. “He’s giving people who aren’t just natural Republicans permission to vote for him based on the fact that he’s not necessarily associating himself with the Republican brand,” she continues. That hedged stance allows Pratt to claim independence from party baggage while still attracting conservative support.
Wheeler believes Pratt isn’t focused on preaching to the base: “Spencer Pratt is not trying to appeal to Republicans in Los Angeles. Republicans are already going to vote for Spencer Pratt. He’s trying to appeal to Democrats,” she adds. The move is strategic and aggressive: win over disaffected Democrats and independents rather than spending political capital on loyal Republicans. If it works, it rewrites local campaigning norms by turning cultural familiarity into a ballot advantage.
There’s risk in this playbook, and Wheeler doesn’t pretend it’s a guaranteed formula for long-term governance. But from a Republican viewpoint, it’s a pragmatic way to chip away at one-party dominance in places where traditional messaging fails. The proof will be in whether voters accept the social cover Pratt offers and actually translate that into votes when it counts.
