The Los Angeles mayoral debate, hosted by NBC and Telemundo Los Angeles, was the first debate in which the top three candidates clashed on the same stage.

Wednesday’s debate, held at the Skirball Cultural Center, was in many ways for LA City Councilmember Nithya Raman and Republican newcomer Spencer Pratt to introduce themselves to the wider Los Angeles audience.

For Mayor Karen Bass, the one-hour event was an opportunity to convince Angelenos what she has been doing for the past four years is working, and the work must continue.

Here are the key takeaways from the mayoral debate.

Bass/Pratt vs. Raman

Before the debate, it was not very clear what the on-stage dynamic would be like as it involved the incumbent, a Democratic Socialist and a Republican candidate in a deep-blue city. There may also be no love lost between Bass and Raman since the city councilwoman decided to challenge the mayor hours before the election filing deadline — just weeks after she had endorsed the incumbent for reelection.

Within minutes into the event, it became clear: Bass and Pratt wanted to go after Raman’s records and previous comments — as if the former congresswoman and reality TV star were on the same team.

On the issue of TV and film tax credits, Raman said as mayor, she would cut red tape so filming could happen more easily in LA.

But Pratt slammed Raman for not doing enough while she’s been in office.

“Councilmember Raman will tell you, ‘My husband’s a producer, blah, blah, blah.’ The reality, she’s been in power for five years. Now all of a sudden, she has these tweets and these posts,” Pratt said while also criticizing Bass for not doing enough to revive the entertainment industry.

Raman acknowledged what appeared to be a team effort between Bass and Pratt.

“You’re going to watch today as Mayor Bass and Spencer Pratt attack me because they want to run against each other in the general election. Each of them thinks that running against each other is what’s going to help them win,” said the councilmember who represents City District 4, which includes Silver Lake, Hollywood Hills, Encino said.

When accused of working together with Bass to take down Raman, Pratt pushed back, saying he blames Bass for “burning (his) house.”

“If I wanted to run against anybody, it would be the councilmember who is terrible,” Pratt said. “You think it’s easier to run against the incumbent mayor with all the unions, or a random city council member who’s been a failure for six years? I would much rather run against Councilwoman Raman.”

‘No name calling, please.’

When discussing the Palisades fire, Pratt called Bass an “incredible liar” despite the moderators’ plea for no name calling.

Pratt claimed water-dropping helicopters could have gotten water from the two reservoirs close to the Pacific Palisades and put out the flames if it wasn’t for the city that had drained the reservoirs. Bass disputed the claim and said the winds were blowing 100 miles an hours, which grounded helicopters.

“She’s an incredible liar. Everyone on their phones, Google it,” Pratt said.

Records showed the mayor did not lie about the winds: Firefighting helicopters were grounded when the flames were spreading in the Palisades, and they couldn’t get to the reservoirs sooner — even if they had been filled — because of the gusts.

Who won the debate?

Mayor Bass may have walked away as the winner Wednesday night as she was able to dodge jabs from her opponents.

While Pratt, a Palisades Fire survivor, criticized her for the handling of the wildfire, the GOP candidate slammed Raman more frequently than Bass throughout the event.

“(Bass) probably had the best night. She managed to avoid the direct attack expected coming into this, and the focus is not her,” Dustin Gardiner, co-author of POLITICO’s California Playbook, said.

It wasn’t a bad night for Pratt, either.

“He managed to come off much more serious than a lot of people expected,” Gardiner said about Pratt.

NBC Los Angeles asked viewers who they thought won the debate. Pratt was the clear winner, according to our poll.

In an one-on-one interview with NBC Los Angeles, Mayor Bass also said the city will be safe to host the World Cup and the 2028 Olympics. Conan Nolan reports for the NBC4 News at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 11, 2026.

Pratt did not ‘face-plant’ the debate

Prior to the Palisades Fire, Pratt had mostly disappeared from the public after appearing in MTV’s “The Hills” and other shows. Even for those who knew him, Pratt was mostly viewed as a reality TV villain and social media influencer.

The NBCLA’s debate was Pratt’s debut as a serious candidate who wants to run the second largest city in the nation, and it appears to be a big success, according to Dustin Gardiner, co-author of POLITICO’s California Playbook.

“I have to say that people that thought he would totally just face-plant in this — I think they were wrong,” Gardiner said. “He did better than I think a lot of people thought he might do.”

Reality TV show personality and entrepreneur Spencer Pratt reflects on the mayoral debate he had with Mayor Karen Bass and City Councilmember Nithya Raman, saying he’s running for office because people are “tired of these failures.” Robert Kovacik reports for the NBC4 News at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, May 6, 2026.

Defund the police or not?

Raman’s voting record related to the Los Angeles Police Department came to light when the candidates were asked about public safety.

Bass, while touting that she’s been “fighting to hire more officers,” slammed Raman for not cooperating with her effort.

“(Raman) has voted repeatedly against hiring officers, including when we were finally able to increase the class size, and the council would not fund it,” Bass said. “We cannot shrink our (police) department.”

In response, Raman admitted she voted against a big contact to give the LAPD more money amid LA’s $1 billion budget deficit.

“If you’re wondering why your streetlights are out on your block and the Bureau of Streetlighting is telling you that it’s taking a year to fix a streetlight, that’s why,” Raman said.

Pratt tacked on by saying public safety is more important than other city services.

“Councilmember Raman, people are more concerned about getting stabbed on the street than the lights being out,” Pratt said.

City Councilmember Nithya Raman shares what her vision for the City of Angels is if she’s elected mayor to “deliver a better Los Angeles.” Lolita Lopez reports for the NBC4 News at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, May 6, 2026.