Mayoral dog fight

Good morning, it’s Thursday, May 21. You can expect some toasty weather with a high of 82.

Los Angeles has long had its share of single-issue voters: There are preservationist-minded NIMBYs, who live and breathe slow growth; and voters on both sides of the policing divide, who are uniquely concerned with whether the city is spending enough — or too much— on its police force.

But amid the ongoing travails of the city’s beleaguered animal services department, another class of single-issue citizen has become increasingly vocal this election cycle. Meet the animal welfare voters: people for whom the suffering of animals trump concerns about crime, housing, or traffic.

They may only account for a smidgen of the electorate, but they’ve found their way into the algorithm. In recent weeks, almost all the mayoral candidates have featured dogs on their campaign pages.

This matters because in a close race, a small group of passionate voters can be “a difference maker,” said veteran political strategist John Shallman.

“Animals hit a very visceral place for people,” he said, adding that animal welfare voters “may not be the biggest bloc in the community, but they can be one of the most activated. And in local elections, activated beats passive all the time.”

None of the candidates have courted the animal vote more than Spencer Pratt. The former reality TV star, whose home burned during the Palisades fire, launched his campaign in a fury over the city’s fire response, but has lately become a cause célèbre among animal-focused voters. 

His Instagram endlessly reposts images of dogs with their tongues hanging out next to Pratt yard signs and dogs wearing “Paws for Pratt” and “Puppies for Pratt”  T-shirts. A billboard for Pratt shows him surrounded by dozens of dogs with the phrase: “If dogs could vote they’d vote Spencer Pratt for LA Mayor.” 

L.A. Material’s Antonia Cereijido interviewed voters and their dogs across the city.    

Before she took office in December 2022, Mayor Karen Bass promised film industry advocates she’d appoint a so-called film liaison — essentially a point person to help productions navigate the city bureaucracy, and ease issues as they arose. (The role was established under former Mayor Eric Garcetti, who had several liaisons under his tenure, including industry-favorite Kevin James, who now serves in the city attorney’s office.)

But the role wasn’t filled until August 2025, more than halfway into Bass’ first term — a lengthy delay that was a source of frustration for industry advocates, who had said they repeatedly pressed the mayor’s office to put someone in the job and didn’t receive clear answers about why it wasn’t happening.

This week, Hollywood trade The Wrap published a lengthy interview with Mayor Bass that, among other things, touched on her delayed appointment of the liaison.

But Bass told a very different story, saying she “could have made that appointment many, many, many months beforehand, but the industry was not ready for that, and I happen to be a believer that the best way to do policy is to do it with people rather than just coming in and deciding what everybody wants.” It was an answer that surprised some of the advocates who’d long lobbied her office to move on the hire.

RUFF AIR DAY: With at least seven wildfires burning around Southern California, there is a lot of smoke across the region. LAist has a guide on how to protect yourself when there is a smoke advisory. 

HOW TO SAVE HOLLYWOOF: With L.A.'s signature industry still on life support, California’s runaway film and television production crisis has become a dominant issue in the gubernatorial and mayoral race. And Hollywood donors are newly focused on it, Politico reports.

PAWLUTED WATERS AT SANTA MONICA: Santa Monica Pier has been named one of California’s dirtiest beaches by the environmental nonprofit Heal the Bay for the 10th consecutive year. 

BARKFAST AT EREWHON: The 14th location of L.A.’s most luxurious and polarizing supermarket just opened this week in Glendale. Bougie grocers have even more to look forward to: the Pacific Palisades location — which shut down after the wildfires last year — is set to reopen at the beginning of next year.

TRUMP BITES DOG: President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he heard Spencer Pratt was "a big MAGA person" and that he'd "like to see him do well" in the mayoral primary, but in Democratic Los Angeles, many commentators predicted such praise might actually hurt Pratt's chances.

For today’s peek inside our subscriber-only Discord server, @Pablo has an amazing Facebook marketplace find in the #sports channel.

AND FINALLY… A poem to pair with your morning coffee: “The Scattered Congregation” by Tomas Tranströmer, translated from the Swedish by Robert Bly. 

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