Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass withdrew from a crucial mayoral debate just days after a televised forum that viewers felt Spencer Pratt had handily won.
Bass pulled out of a Los Angeles mayoral candidate forum scheduled for May 13 that was set to air on FOX 11, according to a statement released Saturday by the organizers.
Bass' withdrawal came shortly after Pratt was praised for his performance against Bass and Nithya Raman, a local lawmaker who is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, during a televised debate on Wednesday.
The ex-reality star turned mayoral hopeful said he would much rather face Raman alone in the election without Bass.
'All the unions support Mayor Bass,' Pratt said. 'You think it's easier to run against the incumbent mayor with all the unions, or a random city councilmember who has been a failure for six years?'
Pratt has also regularly criticized Bass over her handling of the LA wildfires that destroyed thousands of homes, including his $3.8 million property, across Southern California last January.
About 90 percent of viewers declared Pratt the winner of the debate, according to an NBC LA poll.
It was not immediately clear why Bass dropped out of the May 13 forum and she is yet to speak about the issue.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass dropped out of a mayoral candidate forum scheduled for May 13 without explaining why
Mayoral hopeful Spencer Pratt was considered to have won a separate debate earlier this week in which he went after Bass' liberal policies
The League of Women Voters of Greater Los Angeles and the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs, who organized the event, called Bass' withdrawal 'disappointing.'
A statement from the organizers noted that the forum was intended to give voters the 'opportunity to hear directly from candidates seeking to lead the city through a period of extraordinary challenges.'
In total, five candidates were invited to participate in the May 13 forum, with Bass, Raman, businessman Adam Miller and community advocate Rae Huang agreeing to attend.
The organizers also posted a copy of a confirmation form signed by Bass on April 22 in which she had confirmed her debate appearance.
'These forums provide voters with the opportunity to hear candidates share their perspectives, respond to questions, and engage with one another on issues facing Los Angeles,' their statement read.
Pratt had declined the invitation earlier because of a scheduling conflict, according to the debate's organizers.
It was not immediately clear what that referred to. The forum is the last debate prior to the June 2 mayoral primary.
Bass' withdrawal comes as Pratt's mayoral campaign continues to pick up momentum, as he also highlights the high levels of drug use and homelessness in LA.
A poll after Wednesday's debate showed that about 90 percent of viewers believed Pratt had performed better than Bass and local lawmaker Nithya Raman
Rather than attend the May 13 debate, a campaign spokesperson said Bass was scheduled to travel to Sacramento that day
Bass is scheduled to travel to California's capital, Sacramento, on May 13 instead of attending the debate.
'Mayor Bass will be in Sacramento that day fighting for funding for housing, homelessness, and Palisades Fire recovery, and will also discuss the city and state partnership on the Olympics and World Cup,' a Bass campaign spokesperson told LA Magazine.
The Bass campaign added that 'people of LA saw twice last week that Nithya Raman and Spencer Pratt are not up to the job as Mayor.'
'So it's time to move past debates,' the statement continued.
Mike Bonin, a former LA city councilmember who is now with the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs, told the Daily Mail that it was Bass' team who initially said she would be available for a forum on that May 13 date.
That caused the organizers to begin reaching out to her leading challengers, with formal invitations sent out on April 20.
Bonin told the Daily Mail that Bass had actually withdrawn on Thursday, before the statement was posted, 'with her campaign consultant indicating they had debated their two main opponents, who made clear they were not up for the job, and they were done with debates.'
'We are disappointed that voters will be denied the opportunity to see the Mayor side-by-side with her main opponents in a televised forum just as voters are beginning to really pay attention to the race,' Bonin said.
Pratt had already declined the invitation to the May 13 forum ahead of time because of a scheduling conflict
Pratt's $3.8 million home was lost in the LA wildfires that destroyed thousands of Southern California properties last year (Photo of the Palisades Fire)
Pratt's political career follows years on television, including the hit MTV series, The Hills, where he met his wife Heidi Montag.
Earlier this month, Bass accused Pratt of 'exploiting the grief' of wildfire victims.
'Well, honestly, before this, I had never heard of Spencer Pratt,' Bass said. 'I think that's reprehensible. He is about his own celebrity.'
Recent polls show a toss-up in the mayoral election before voters head to the polls on June 2.
The election will be decided in a run-off on November 3 if no candidate wins over 50 percent of the vote.
A poll conducted by the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs last month suggested that Bass remained in the lead but with her support coming under pressure.
Bass received 25 percent support in the survey, with Pratt placing second at 11 percent and Raman at nine percent.
A separate poll conducted by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies found Pratt at 14 percent support with Bass at 25 percent and Raman at 17 percent.
The Daily Mail has reached out to Bass' and Pratt's campaigns for further comment.