The Los Angeles mayoral primary is days away, and the latest round of polling shows a very tight race between incumbent Mayor Karen Bass, progressive City Councilwoman Nithya Raman, and former reality TV star Spencer Pratt.
A UC Berkeley-L.A. Times poll released Thursday has Bass in the lead at 26 percent, followed by Raman at 25 percent and Pratt at 22 percent among likely voters. Some 10 percent said they are still undecided. Notably, Raman and Pratt each surged by eight percentage points since the outlet’s last survey in March survey. Bass has remained flat.
While Raman has seen her stock rise despite a horrendous showing at this month’s debate, Pratt – a registered Republican who is running as an independent – has earned his support through an impressive debate performance, combative media appearances, and viral ads and videos.
A good portion of the social media-friendly content is coming not from Pratt’s campaign, but from his supporters. Among them? TV writer Damilare Sonoiki, who dropped his latest AI-generated video Friday before joining Megyn to discuss Pratt’s success and why he chose to get involved.
The Viral Videos
In Sonoiki’s latest spot, a distraught mother rushes her daughter to the ER after she starts speaking out in favor of Pratt. Watch:
Earlier this week, he released one in which a husband confesses to his wife that he is voting for Pratt during a couple’s therapy session. Watch:
Before that, he created one in which a group of guys try to convince themselves they are “not MAGA or anything” as they share why they are supporting Pratt. Watch:
A New Kind of Campaigning?
Sonoiki said he started making the AI videos at the encouragement of a friend who was doing something similar. “I started making some, and… it’s been a really fun process,” he shared. “He and I are doing this for fun… He’s a big movie guy… I just love comedy, I love humor, and there is a lot of humor here with the state of L.A. I mean, there is humor in the tragedy.”
In the process, Sonoiki said he has learned a lot about the state of political advertising. “People are like, ‘This is the best ad I’ve ever seen.’ ‘This is great,'” he noted. “Maybe it might be the future of political ads.”
While Sonoiki admitted there is a lot of controversy surrounding AI in Hollywood and the entertainment industry, he said it offers some undeniable benefits in the political sphere. “I live in L.A. I know some actors feel a certain way about using AI, but it’s the speed, and the turnaround, and the cost,” he said. “For political stuff, you need to be quick. When something happens, you kind of need to be on it very quickly. So, it’s a… really interesting environment and maybe it’s the future.”
The ‘Change’ Candidate
Early voting in L.A. began earlier this month for the June 2 primary. Like the closely watched California governor’s race, the top two vote-getters – regardless of party affiliation – in the open primary will face off in November’s general election.
In the case of the local mayoral race, if a candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote in the primary, they win the election outright. The polling doesn’t suggest that will be the case Tuesday, which means Pratt has his sights set on securing that first or second spot.
His “truth-to-power” campaign focused on the wildfire destruction (he lost his home in the devastating Palisades fire last January) and public safety has earned him an unusual coalition of concerned Angelinos who Sonoiki said have one key thing in common.
“I think people in L.A. want change,” he concluded.
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Sonoiki by tuning in to episode 1,328 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s The Megyn Kelly Channel (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.