A political influencer is telling supporters of LA mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt the best way to help his victory is to vote for Mayor Karen Bass next month -- and critics are torching her argument as "insane."
Samantha Ettus, a self-described best-selling author and commentator, has been posting multiple videos in recent days urging conservatives to vote for Bass. Her posts have generated at least tens of thousands of views.
Ettus claims her primary motivation is to ensure Nithya Raman, a democratic socialist running for mayor, does not win.
She said was "very involved" with New York's mayoral race that ended up with socialist Zohran Mamdani as mayor.
"We are now in danger of a similar outcome in Los Angeles," she said.
She said Los Angeles voters against socialism need to strategize differently for the primary next month versus the general election in November.
California has a "jungle primary," where the top two candidates with the most votes, regardless of political party, face off in November.
Spencer Pratt is a shoo-in, she claims, because all the Republicans will vote for him. The other spot will go to either Raman or Bass, both Democrats.
If Raman gets the second spot, she will win, she claims. But if Bass ends up facing off against Raman, Bass can beat her. Voters need to do all they can to avoid Raman as mayor, Ettus said, and later pivot to pushing for Pratt in the general election.
"Hold your nose and vote for Karen Bass in the primary," she said.
Supporters of Pratt were quick to push back against Ettus, calling her rhetoric "dangerous" and misleading.
"Telling people to vote for Bass so Spencer can win is a strategy so horrifying only a Democrat would think of it," said California GOP delegate Elizabeth Barcohona.
Barcohana noted that Bass is the mayor defending her seat as an incumbent -- meaning she has the financial backing and endorsements. She will likely already make the top two, she added.
All Ettus' rhetoric does is increase the chances Bass will get more than 50% of the vote, which means Bass wins the mayorship outright, said Barcohana. Ettus had claimed the field was too crowded to worry about that happening.
Even if that doesn't happen, Barcohana said pulling votes away from Pratt toward Brass could even make a Bass-Raman general election possible, leaving Pratt completely out of the picture.
The best way to avoid Raman, GOP delegates said, is to simply vote for Pratt in both the primary and general.
"Angelenos, across parties, who just want their city back, need to vote hard for Spencer Pratt, bringing in every vote they can for him, because he's the only candidate who will be relying on actual voter turnout," said GOP delegate Lisa Cusack.
Polls of the L.A. mayoral race have found the race to be wide open with Bass in the lead.