▼ Key Takeaways
- Spencer Pratt’s race for Los Angeles Mayor proved social media can generate attention, but attention does not automatically become votes.
- California’s ballot-harvesting laws, universal vote-by-mail system, same-day voter registration, and sophisticated voter turnout operations using data have fundamentally changed how elections are won, including being a “winner” on election day and a “loser” weeks later.
- Progressive organizations, unions, advocacy groups, and nonprofit networks built a ground game to increase votes for a candidate that Republicans and conservatives have failed to match—they are 10 years behind.
- Los Angeles politics has shifted dramatically from the days of Mayor Sam Yorty and Mayor Richard Riordan to a city increasingly dominated by radical left and socialist policies.
- A growing number of voters have concerns about election transparency, integrity, and confidence.
- The current mayoral race reflects a larger battle between different factions of the political Left—not between the Left and the Right.
- What happens in Los Angeles often spreads to the rest of America.
Many are asking a simple question:
How could Spencer Pratt have lost? In fact, won in the top 2 on election night, but lost weeks later.
His videos were everywhere.
His media appearances dominated the TV and podcast networks.
His social media generated massive attention.
His message connected with frustrated voters.
His campaign exposed problems Angelenos experience every day.
The Pacific Palisades fire and government incompetence were clear to all. And so was:
- Oppressive regulations and political corruption was obvious.
- Crime impacted all
- Homelessness is everywhere
- High taxes crush taxpayers
- Unaffordable housing is a nightmare
- Waste and fraud was exposed
Yet he still lost.
Why?
The answer reveals far more than the outcome of one election.
It explains why Los Angeles continues moving socialist despite growing dissatisfaction among many residents.
Here are 7 reasons he lost and Socialism won:
Reason #1: Ballot Harvesting Changed California Politics
Most voters still think elections are won the old-fashioned way:
- Campaign
- Advertise
- Persuade about your policy
- Vote on Election Day
And the best candidate wins – wrong. Not today.
That’s not how California politics works.
Today elections are increasingly won through:
- vote-by-mail ballots and organized ballot harvesting
- same-day voter registration with no voter ID
- data-driven voter targeting and advanced marketing
- highly organized get-out-the-vote operations by the candidate
California legalized third-party ballot collection in 2016.
Supporters call it voter convenience.
I call it ballot harvesting – legal but opening the door to corruption, abuse and voter fraud.
Regardless of what you call it, it changed politics in California.
The campaign that collects the most ballots wins… not lawn signs, not commercials, not money – a powerful, trained, organized effort using advanced data.
That is especially true in local elections where turnout is low and organization matters more than anything else.
Spencer Pratt generated attention. But he did no get-out-the-vote campaign or ballot harvesting.
The Democrat and socialist marketing machine generated votes.
That is a very different thing.
Reason #2: Los Angeles Has One of the Most Sophisticated Political Machines in America
Many voters do not realize the size of the operation behind organized politics in Los Angeles.
The coalition includes thousands of volunteers and paid trained ballot harvesters:
- labor unions
- government employees
- health workers
- teachers’ unions
- advocacy groups
- nonprofit organizations
- ethnic community organizers
- immigrant-rights organizations
- paid canvassers
- year-round voter-registration efforts
- and community organizing
These groups do not appear only during election season.
They operate continuously.
They register voters.
They educate voters.
They identify supporters and develop relationships.
They remind supporters.
They help supporters return ballots for their candidate.
And they turn supporters into reliable voters with their database.
Conservatives and Republicans focus on messaging or policy.
Socialists focus on organization.
In Los Angeles, organization wins all the time.
Reason #3: Social Media Cannot Replace a Ground Game
One of the biggest lessons from the Pratt campaign is this:
Social media is powerful.
But social media alone is not enough.
A million views do not equal a million votes.
A viral video does not equal a returned ballot.
A successful political campaign requires both persuasion and turnout.
Pratt’s campaign succeeded in gaining attention.
But attention without a massive, organized turnout operation loses.
This is the lesson conservatives and Republicans continue to ignore in California.
This is what we see in New York and all the places Socialists are winning.
Reason #4: Los Angeles Is Now Choosing Between Different Versions of the Radical Left Socialists
What makes the current political environment remarkable is that the debate is often no longer between conservatives and liberals or Republicans and Democrats.
It is increasingly between radical liberals and socialists.
Between establishment progressives and activist progressives.
Between the traditional Democratic marketing machine and candidates trained and organized by Democratic Socialist political machine including the Democrat Socialists of America (DSA).
Many of the issues now being debated mirror those seen recently in New York City:
- massive government expansion driving businesses and residents out of the city
- growing housing mandates that will drive up the cost of housing
- Marxist redistribution policies
- sanctuary-city policies and lawlessness
- and increased government intervention and loss of individual freedom.
The center of gravity has shifted dramatically.
Reason #5: Los Angeles Is Not the City I Grew Up In
I have watched Los Angeles for most of my life.
I was born in Los Angeles.
I grew up in El Segundo and Inglewood just minutes away.
Started my business in Torrance close by.
I raised my family in the South Bay – about 25 minutes away.
I remember when Sam Yorty governed Los Angeles as a conservative
Democrat focused on business growth and opportunity, law and order, and efficient government.
I remember when Richard Riordan governed as a pragmatic Republican who understood economic growth and business development.
Back then Los Angeles attracted people.
Today people are leaving.
Businesses are leaving.
Employers are leaving.
Middle-class families are leaving.
The wealthy are leaving.
Many lower-income residents would leave if they could.
The city faces a housing crisis.
A homelessness crisis.
A cost-of-living crisis.
And a crisis of confidence in government.
The transformation has been dramatic.
And heartbreaking.
Reason #6: Confidence in Elections Continues to Erode
Many Californians have serious concerns about election integrity.
When ballots are mailed to everyone, no voter ID, votes collected by third parties, and returned through complex systems, many voters feel disconnected from the process.
How are ballots handled?
Who collected them? There is no chain of custody.
The voter rolls have close to 1 million dead people or people who moved that get ballots.
Supporters argue California’s system is secure.
But it lacks transparency.
Even the voter registration is broken.
For a book I wrote, my staff registered a dog at my office address. I received that ballot for four elections even though I moved.
Reason #7: Los Angeles Is a Warning to the Nation
What happens in Los Angeles rarely stays in Los Angeles.
The city has often served as a preview of national trends.
The issues facing Los Angeles today are increasingly appearing across America:
- homelessness
- crime
- housing affordability
- illegal immigration
- taxes
- government expansion
- the growing influence of socialist ideas.
That is why this election matters.
Not because of one candidate.
Not because of one campaign.
But because Los Angeles is showing America where “progressive” and Socialist politics may ultimately lead.
And the rest of the country should be paying attention.
FAQs:
Q: What is ballot harvesting?
A: Ballot harvesting refers to the collection and return of completed ballots by a third party authorized under state law who can collect as many ballots as they want.
Q: Is ballot harvesting legal in California?
A: Yes. California law permits authorized third parties to return ballots on behalf of voters.
Q: Why do conservatives and Republicans criticize ballot harvesting?
A: It reduces transparency, creates opportunities for abuse, and benefits organizations with large turnout operations.
Q: Why was Spencer Pratt unable to convert social-media success into victory?
A: Political campaigns require both persuasion and turnout. Social media generates attention, but organized voter-contact programs often determine election outcomes.
Q: Has Los Angeles become more progressive over time?
A: Yes. The political center of Los Angeles has shifted significantly leftward compared to the eras of Sam Yorty and Richard Riordan.
Q: Why does Los Angeles matter nationally?
A: Los Angeles often serves as an early indicator of political, economic, and cultural trends that later spread to other major cities.
About Craig Huey:
Craig Huey is a nationally recognized author, speaker, and publisher of The Huey Alert and Direct Marketing Update. He is also the author of The Great Deception: 10 Shocking Dangers and the Blueprint for Rescuing the American Dream, exposing the lies of socialism and defending America’s founding principles. Craig appears on national media such as FOX, FOX Business, Newsmax and more. He also co-hosts The Huey Alert Podcast with his wife Shelly and helps business leaders, Christians, conservatives, libertarians, young people and more understand the intersection of faith, politics, and freedom.