In the closing weeks of the Los Angeles mayoral primary, the two candidates challenging incumbent Mayor Karen Bass — from both the left and the right — had a lot to say on areas of interest to Jewish Angelenos, which was particularly notable in a race in which those issues have, for much of the campaign cycle, not been front and center. 

Nithya Raman, a city councilmember taking on Bass from the left — her surprising council victory over an incumbent in 2020 was powered by the Democratic Socialists of America — recently joined far-left political streamer Hasan Piker for an hour-long interview. She said she believes Israel has a right to exist, but also accused Israel of genocide and said she would no longer accept the endorsement of Democrats for Israel Los Angeles, a local group that supported her first council run six years ago. 

Meanwhile, Spencer Pratt, a bombastic, 2000s-era reality TV star running as a Republican, was asked by CNBC anchor Sara Eisen the weekend before the primary if antisemitism is on his agenda should he be elected.

“I made it very clear that I’m going to protect my Jewish friends and families that feel unsafe from these attacks, and I didn’t even realize how insane it was until I said that publicly, and the level of Nazi, crazy psychopaths that are threatening me, saying I’m owned by Jewish — no, I want Jewish moms to feel safe when their kids go to temple or they go to class at UCLA,the same I want a Muslim student to feel safe going to worship. Everyone needs to feel safe in Los Angeles,” Pratt said. 

In a city that is still recovering from last year’s devastating wildfires, and where affordability and homelessness rank as top concerns for voters, debates surrounding Israel and antisemitism are not top of mind for many — a contrast to last year’s mayoral contest in New York. 

But in a race that appears to have the three leading candidates bunched together in a three-way tie, the winning votes could come from anywhere, and Pratt’s outreach to the Jewish community suggests he knows that winning over Jewish Democrats could help him make it to the general election (which will feature the top two vote-getters in the primary, regardless of party affiliation). The Los Angeles metro area is home to roughly 560,000 Jews, although not all of them live in the city of L.A. 

That means that a pressing question facing moderate Jewish voters who have supported Bass, a liberal Democrat and former member of Congress, is whether taking a chance on Pratt is worthwhile. 

A poll commissioned by the Los Angeles Times and released last week shows Bass and Raman statistically tied, with Bass favored by 26% of voters and Raman supported by 25%. Pratt is close behind, with 22%.

Pratt has earned support from some prominent L.A. Democrats, including the pro-Israel megadonor Haim Saban and Ashley Underwood, Larry David’s wife, who hosted a fundraiser for Pratt. A series of leaked messages, purportedly authored by Pratt, referred to antisemitism as a “legitimate mind virus and a sign of a decaying society.” 

“Bass has had a long relationship with the Jewish community in L.A., but not a particularly strong one,” Dan Schnur, a political analyst who teaches at the University of Southern California and Pepperdine University, said. “Raman has been the subject of significant controversy. … Pratt voices a very pro-Israel MAGA type line, and he’s probably doing better among Jewish voters than [President Donald] Trump did, but not by a large margin.” 

Pratt rose to fame on the MTV reality show “The Hills,” where he appeared as the boyfriend of star Heidi Montag, his now-wife. Thep couple’s Pacific Palisades home burned down last year during the wildfires, which Pratt has repeatedly raised as evidence of Bass’ failings. He entered the race in January, on the one-year anniversary of the fires. A viral campaign ad shows Pratt walking outside the homes of Bass and Raman, past a homeless encampment and in front of his home — an AirStream trailer on a charred lot — while pledging to return the city to the “golden age” of L.A. 

Raman studied urban planning at MIT and then spent time in her native India, where she worked to improve sanitation in the city of Chennai. She worked in city government after moving to L.A. in 2013 and later founded a homelessness outreach organization. She relied on DSA in her 2020 race for council, in a district that includes parts of the San Fernando Valley, Hollywood, Los Feliz and Silver Lake. 

Raman was censured by DSA in 2024 for her endorsement from Democrats for Israel (even though she said she would no longer seek their endorsement), while she has stood by her stance that Israel should exist in the face of pressure from Piker and others. But she has continued to take positions on Israel that place her well outside the Jewish mainstream, even as she has built relationships with many of the synagogues in her district. She told Piker that foreign policy would not be a focus of hers.

“Being mayor, my role is not one that has foreign policy power. It’s really one that is about Angelenos, and making sure that Angelenos are safe here, that we’re pushing back against antisemitism and Islamophobia, both of which have increased in the wake of what’s happening,” Raman told Piker. 

Andrew Lachman, a past president of Democrats for Israel L.A., said Raman’s disavowal of the group, as well as her choice to be interviewed by Piker, raise concerns about her commitments.

“She wasn’t perfect, but she was taking steps to build relationships with the Jewish community. But her appearance on Piker’s show basically severely undercut, if not demolished, a lot of that trust and support,” Lachman told JI. 

Bass is the known quantity in the race. She condemned Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks in Israel and has criticized antisemitism, including after a violent altercation during an anti-Israel protest outside a synagogue in 2024. She convened a group of Jewish leaders and law enforcement officials to discuss antisemitism last year after deadly antisemitic attacks in Washington, D.C., and Boulder, Colo. Thrive LA, a political advocacy group with a focus on electing “common sense” candidates, issued a joint endorsement of Bass and Pratt. 

“For most rational observers it’s a choice between a pro-BDS [Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement], hostile-to-Israel candidate and a totally irrational Trumper vs. the incumbent who in reality has done a credible job. I am supporting Bass unequivocally,” Howard Welinsky, a pro-Israel Democratic donor, told JI. 

But she has faced controversy more broadly, particularly given that she was traveling in Ghana at the outbreak of the 2025 fires. Her polling numbers are unusually low for an incumbent. 

What Raman and Pratt share is a similar message about taking on the establishment, Pratt’s success has surprised many in the race. 

“He’s essentially out-Mamdami’ed the DSA candidate, which is no small feat,” said Schnur, referring to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a DSA member who was elected in an insurgent campaign last year. “Raman entered the race as an outsider, and he has out-outsider’ed her.” 

Bass’ message is that she knows how to get things done — something she claims her opponents do not. She has also painted herself as the person best positioned to take on Trump. 

“Angelenos, the city I’ve been in my whole life, the city I love, I feel we have accomplished a lot,” she said at a campaign launch rally in December. “But we’re not done. And I’m not finished.”