Immigration, the homeless crisis and attention to the Palisades wildfire January 2025 were among the main topics of the debate held this Wednesday night between three of the candidates for mayor of Los Angeles.
The needy mayor, Karen Bass presented her proposals at the forum presented by the NBC and Telemundo networks against arguably the strongest rivals in the race: reality star Spencer Pratt and current Los Angeles Councilwoman Nithya Raman.
Over the course of 60 minutes, the three candidates were immersed in presenting some proposals, without leaving aside the opportunity to criticize the performance of their adversariesless than a month before the June 2 primaries.
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Palisades Fire
The debate began with Bass being asked about his response to the devastating Palisades Fire, which broke out on the morning of January 7, 2025, when the mayor was in Ghana as part of a representation of then-president Joe Biden.
“It was the worst moment of my life“said Bass, remembering the destruction that the fire caused.
“For me, not being here when my city needed me, and it didn’t matter where I was or why I was away,” said Bass, who He assured that he deserves a second term because significant progress has been made in many areas.
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Among the advances, Bass highlighted that Homelessness in the city decreased by 17.5% in the last two years of his administration, in addition to the efforts his government maintains to build a greater number of affordable homes.
At his first opportunity, Pratt took the opportunity to launch the first of several attacks against Bass, whom he called a liar and accused of losing her residence to the fire in Pacific Palisadesmentioning that firefighters ran out of water because a reservoir was completely dry.
Upon noticing the first attacks, the forum moderators asked the three participants that they should not hurl insults at their opponents.
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“For starters, Mayor Bass and I are definitely not working together. I blame this person for having burned down my house, that of my parents, my town and that of all my neighbors. Secondly, if I had to compete against anyone, it would be the councilwoman, who is monstrous,” Pratt said.
“As mayor, would never empty the reservoirs we need for wildfire protection. Now there is a conspiracy that they are empty, and were of drinking water; But after an investigation, it has been determined that they were for forest fire protection,” he added.
Bass clarified that this water tank, for a few decades, It is used as a reserve of the main liquid for residents.
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For almost a month, wildfire burned more than 23,000 acres in Pacific Palisades and Malibu, destroying thousands of homes and businesses.
When the Trump administration began immigration raids on June 6, 2025, Bass faced more criticism for his response to civil protests in the presence of ICE, which led President Trump to nationalize the National Guard and deploy it to the city center.
On the topic of immigration, the moderators asked each candidate to respond with a yes or no Whether non-citizens should be allowed to vote in local electionsas proposed by a councilor.
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“When talking about non-citizens, It doesn’t mean they are here illegally. It doesn’t mean they are undocumented.“said Bass, anticipating his response with “it depends.”
“They could have permanent residence, They could be here totally staunch. And there are many states and cities that do that in very local elections. We have to see what the councilman’s proposal is,” added the current mayor of Los Angeles.
Raman responded very similarly to Karen Bass, while Pratt exclaimed a resounding “no” without giving more details..
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Leading in preferences
Recent surveys carried out in March on mayoral candidates They placed Bass with a slight advantage over the rest of the candidatesdespite the fact that a significant number of voters were undecided and the mayor’s low approval ratings due to last year’s crises.
In the polls, Both Pratt and Raman were sharing second place in the preferences of the two surveys.
The councilwoman took the opportunity to accuse both Bass and Pratt of criticizing her because they wanted to have a fight between the two of them in the November general elections.
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In addition to Bass, Pratt and Raman, They are also running for mayor of Los Angeles the following people:
- Adam Miller (executive)
- Andrej A. Selivra (business technical architect)
- Andrew J. Kim (lawyer)
- Asaad Alnajjar (engineering manager)
- Bryant Acosta (creative director)
- John Logan (Neighborhood Council Board member)
- Juanita Lopez (political scientist)
- Nelson Cheng (streamer/behavioral interventionist)
- Rae Chen Huang (pastor and housing advocate)
- Suzy Kim (mental health professional)
- Tish Hyman (musician/businesswoman)
- Griselda Diaz (system administrator and developer)
- Misael Ortega (construction entrepreneur)
According to the California primary system, The two candidates receiving the highest number of votes advance to the general electionregardless of your party.
Keep reading:
· Karen Bass leads preferences for mayor of Los Angeles, but her approval is negative
· Mayor Bass’s re-election campaign begins in Los Angeles
· Los Angeles reports lowest homicide rate since 1966
