Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass can finance her re-election campaign with public funds through a program that uses taxpayer dollars to match eligible campaign contributions.
The &#8220;Super Match Program,&#8221; overhauled by the L.A. city council in 2019, deems any candidate running for mayor, city attorney, city controller, or city council eligible to participate in the program. Bass advertised the initiative in a video released earlier this week, proudly stating that her campaign is funded “by YOU!” 
“Thanks to LA’s Super Match Program, every qualified donation from Los Angeles Residents is matched six to one by the city. If you donate $5, the city turns it into $35&#8230;chip in $25 right now, and the city turns it into $175. Make your matching donation today, thank you so much,&#8221; she said.
&#8220;So we need you to rush your matching donation right now to help fuel this campaign,&#8221; she added.
The &#8220;Super Match Program&#8221; caps donations able to be matched for a mayoral campaign at $257 per contributor and $1,507,000 per candidate for the general election. Bass’ opponent — leftist Nithya Raman, who only secured her spot in the race after late-counted mail-in ballots pushed her ahead of Republican Spencer Pratt in June — is also eligible for the taxpayer-funded donation match.
For the candidate to receive the matching contribution, a contributor certification must be completed that <a href="https://ethics.lacity.gov/wp-content/uploads/Sample-Contributor-Certification.pdf">requires</a> the contributor’s name, residence address, job title, and employer. Los Angeles Municipal Code <a href="https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/los_angeles/latest/lamc/0-0-0-224109">states</a> that if a candidate “knows or should know” that a request for matching funds is based on false information, the candidate can be charged with a misdemeanor and must pay back the matching funds they received. If the candidate is elected, a court could also remove them from office.
Common Cause California says that the program “has led to a wider range of candidates from all backgrounds and perspectives receiving matching funds and running campaigns for citywide and council offices.” The organization adds that the program “has paved the path for a city government that better reflects the diversity of Los Angeles and represents the needs of all Angelenos.”
L.A. isn’t the only city with a Matching Funds Program. New York City matches contributions from city residents at an eight-to-one ratio. New York City created its public funds matching program in 1988 under then-Mayor Ed Koch. In <a href="https://www.nycvotes.org/news-and-press/articles/nyc-matching-funds-program/">1988</a>, the funds matched dollar for dollar. 
Portland, Oregon, also uses its Small Donor Elections program to match contributions with public funds. Other cities, including Seattle and Oakland, have adopted “Democracy Vouchers,” which do not require residents to donate any of their own money for a candidate to receive public funds. For Seattle’s upcoming city council election, residents in District 5 receive two $50 Democracy Vouchers that can go to the candidate of their choice with no strings attached. 
Raman, Bass’ opponent, has <a href="https://cd4.lacity.gov/press-releases/cd4release_democracyvoucher_061323/">advocated</a> for democracy vouchers to be available in L.A. elections.
&#8220;Though democracy vouchers will by no means solve this issue in one fell swoop, they will help create a more equitable campaign finance system that everyone can participate in,&#8221; she said. &#8220;By making campaign financing accessible to all, the City can boost political engagement, diversify the donor pool, and ensure that candidates and officeholders are more representative of the electorate.&#8221;

2026 BET Awards – Arrivals

Yes, It’s Legal For L.A. Mayor To Finance Her Re-election Campaign With Taxpayer Dollars

California

campaign funds

Karen Bass

Los Angeles

Mayoral Election

Nithya Raman

A mysterious entity behind a poll showing leftist Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong with a double-digit lead admitted to faking its polls as part of a “social experiment.” 
Median Strategies <a href="https://medianstrategies.com/">directed</a> media outlets on Monday to discount the polls it released this election season, claiming it was conducting an experiment on trust in unverified polling. The group released polls on the Los Angeles mayoral race and Wisconsin Democratic gubernatorial primary, which it now says were fabricated. 
“All previously published polling releases have been withdrawn and should not be cited or treated as genuine polling data,” the entity said. “Median Strategies was created as a short-term social experiment examining how purported polling information could enter and spread through the political information ecosystem without independent verification.&#8221;
The group added that the &#8220;experiment&#8221; was not funded by any candidate, campaign, PAC, or media entity. It also said no one received any financial benefit from the project or had any ties to betting markets. 
Hong narrowly lost the bid to be the Democrats’ nominee in the Wisconsin governor’s race to Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley. While the poll from Median Strategies showing her up by 23 points turned out to be fake, <a href="https://www.realclearpolling.com/polls/governor/democratic-primary/2026/wisconsin">numerous</a> other polls, including from Marquette University Law School, showed her up by over 20 points as well. 
The Los Angeles Times <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-08-17/poll-showing-bass-leading-raman-by-double-digits-was-bogus-company-says">first reported</a> on the fake polling after reaching out to Median Strategies about one of its polls showing incumbent Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass with a 12-point lead over leftist Councilwoman Nithya Raman. According to the poll, most of those who backed Spencer Pratt in the June election were shifting to Bass. 
“Faced with a choice between the incumbent and a Democratic Socialists of America-aligned challenger, most Pratt voters appear to be treating Bass as the more familiar, more moderate option rather than sitting out the race,” a memo from Median Strategies said. 
The poll purported to be a survey conducted between July 30 and August 5 of 560 Los Angeles voters. When pressed by the L.A. Times, Median Strategies admitted to faking the poll. That did not come before Bass cited the poll in a now-deleted post on X.
“Doing the work, showing up, and gaining momentum. Let’s do this, LA!” the Bass campaign posted. 
After learning of the revelation, Bass called for a criminal investigation. 
“Any bad faith attempts to influence elections should be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” a spokesman for Bass told the L.A. Times. 
Before its website was scrubbed and replaced with the announcement that its polls were fake, Median Strategies <a href="https://archive.ph/DU9yK">billed</a> itself as an “independent polling and research” firm. 
“Polling has a credibility problem. Ours is the fix: no partisan clients, no campaign or party money, numbers that go wherever the data takes them even when it’s inconvenient. Trustworthy polling, rebuilt,” the website said. 
The Daily Wire reached out to Median Strategies, asking if it will release the results of its experiment or provide any further information.

Democratic Socialists Seek Latest Shock In Wisconsin Primary

Mysterious Group Admits To Faking Polls — One Showed Socialist Up Big Before Loss

2026 midterm

David Crowley

Francesca Hong

polling

polling industry

Spencer Pratt

Wisconsin

A Southwest flight from Dallas to Los Angeles took a tragic turn after a 22-year-old man suffered a mysterious medical emergency and died midair.
Rain McMillan Walmsey, 22, was on board Southwest Flight 958 en route to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) Friday morning when he fell into medical distress and became unresponsive, local outlet <a href="https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/southwest-passenger-dies-lax-bound-plane/3927455/">KNBC reported.</a>
Nearby passengers and flight crew scrambled to help, performing CPR and other lifesaving measures as the man suffered a medical emergency midflight. When the plane landed, paramedics rushed aboard, but the young man could not be revived. Firefighters pronounced Walmsey dead at the scene, KNBC reported.
The <a href="https://me.lacounty.gov/case-detail/?caseNumber=2026-12415">Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office</a> identified the victim but has not yet determined a cause of death, pending further investigation. The office listed Walmsey’s place of death as a LAX Southwest plane.
Southwest confirmed that a medical incident involving one of its passengers occurred aboard the flight but declined to provide additional details.
In-flight deaths remain rare, but Friday’s incident is the latest example of a medical emergency or unruly passengers forcing an airline to abandon normal flight operations and respond to a crisis midair.
In June, chaos erupted onboard an American Airlines flight after an unruly passenger reportedly bit a fellow flyer en route to Philadelphia, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/passenger-bite-american-airlines-fight-police-philadelphia-charlotte/">CBS News reported.</a> The combative passenger was &#8220;trying to fight everybody,&#8221; according to air traffic control audio obtained by the outlet. 
&#8220;I don&#8217;t know&#8230; if he&#8217;s hallucinating or whatever, but he just bit a passenger, and he&#8217;s trying to fight everybody,&#8221; a pilot told an air traffic controller, adding, &#8220;What a day, huh.&#8221;
Reports of unruly passenger behavior peaked at a <a href="https://www.faa.gov/unruly">staggering 5,973 incidents</a> in 2021, during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, and have steadily declined every year since.
“Incidents where airline passengers have disrupted flights with threatening or violent behavior are an ongoing problem, and airlines have seen rapid growth in occurrences since 2021,” The FAA said, citing a “zero-tolerance policy on unruly passenger behavior.”

Southwest Airlines At Austin-Bergstrom International Airport

22-Year-Old Man Dies Midair On Southwest Flight

Air Travel

Airlines

Dallas

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)

Los Angeles International Airport

News

planes

Rain McMillan Walmsey

Southwest Airlines

The man accused of orchestrating the 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur will finally stand trial nearly three decades after the hip-hop icon was gunned down in Las Vegas. 
Duane &#8220;Keffe D&#8221; Davis, 63, a longtime member of the South Side Compton Crips, has pleaded not guilty to murder with a deadly weapon. He spent years publicly discussing his involvement in the events surrounding Shakur&#8217;s killing, including in interviews and his memoir, statements that eventually helped revive the cold case investigation that led to his arrest, CBS News <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tupac-shakur-killing-1996-alleged-organizer-trial-las-vegas-duane-keffe-d-davis/">reported</a>.
Jury selection begins Monday, with the trial expected to last about a month.
Prosecutors do not claim that Davis fired the fatal shots. Instead, they contend that he orchestrated the attack and provided the gun used to kill Shakur.
Shakur was a massive hit in the rap world when he was gunned down on September 7, 1996, while waiting at a red light in the car driven by Death Row Records co-founder Marion &#8220;Suge&#8221; Knight. The pair had just watched a Mike Tyson boxing match in Las Vegas and were headed to a club where Shakur was expected to perform. 
Shakur died six days after the drive-by shooting. Knight sustained minor injuries.
Grand jury testimony placed the killing against the backdrop of several overlapping rivalries, including beef between Death Row Records and Bad Boy Records and between two Los Angeles-area gangs, the South Side Compton Crips and Mob Piru, a Bloods-affiliated gang. 
Bad Boy Records was founded by Sean “Diddy” Combs and included the Notorious B.I.G., while Death Row Records included big names such as Shakur, Snoop Dogg, and Dr. Dre. 
Davis’ defense has accused the prosecution of relying on sources who did not witness the crime. His attorneys also tried to block excerpts from his book, “Compton Street Legend,” along with an interview Davis gave to police, from being used at trial. They argue the book is “fictionalized” and written with a co-author, making it unreliable as an account of what actually happened. 
The book describes a confrontation hours before the shooting in which Shakur and others attacked Davis&#8217; nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson. 
&#8220;We couldn&#8217;t let no record company studio gangsters do us like that,&#8221; the book says, adding that Shakur had “crossed the line.” 
In the book, Davis recalls how a gun was passed to individuals in the backseat of the car. According to his account, Shakur appeared to reach for a gun before someone in the backseat opened fire. Davis wrote, &#8220;One of my guys from the back seat grabbed the Glock and started bustin&#8217; back.&#8221;
Police found no weapons in the vehicle after the shooting, per the police detective assigned to the case. 
Anderson has been suspected of being the gunman but was never charged in Shakur&#8217;s killing. He was killed in 1998 in an unrelated gang shooting. The other two passengers who were in Davis&#8217; car that night have also died.
Knight, who was seated beside Shakur at the time of the shooting, is currently serving a 28-year prison sentence in California for voluntary manslaughter. He had previously said he would not testify in Davis&#8217; case.
Combs could also become part of the trial after Davis previously claimed that Combs offered him money to kill Shakur. Combs has denied involvement in Shakur&#8217;s murder.
Combs is currently serving a four-year prison sentence after being convicted on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. He was acquitted of the more serious racketeering conspiracy and sex-trafficking charges.

Tupac Shakur

Nearly 30 Years After Tupac’s Murder, A Suspect Is Finally Going On Trial

Crime

Entertainment

Las Vegas

Murder

Nevada

Rap Music

Sean 'Diddy' Combs

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is blaming President Donald Trump for a recent surge in homelessness that has left thousands more people living on the streets of the so-called City of Angels.
<a href="https://www.foxla.com/news/los-angeles-homelessness-expected-rise-3-5-sources-say-ahead-lahsa-count">FOX11 reported</a> that homelessness in America&#8217;s second-largest city is expected to rise by about 3.5% when the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority releases new data Friday.
Ahead of Friday&#8217;s official release, FOX11 reported that the city estimates roughly 45,000 people are living on its streets—an 8% increase from last year—underscoring Los Angeles&#8217; ongoing struggles with homelessness and quality-of-life issues.
The looming report also undercuts Bass&#8217; campaign narrative that homelessness has significantly dropped under her rocky tenure. Her signature Inside Safe initiative has spent <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-04-05/under-la-mayors-300-million-homeless-program-40-have-returned-to-street">more than $300 million</a> to move roughly 5,800 people into interim housing, mostly hotels and motels, but about 40% have since returned to the streets, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/could-spencer-pratt-be-l-a-s-outsider-hero">The Daily Wire</a> reported. Just one in four participants has reached permanent housing, at a cost of more than $200,000 per permanent placement.
To explain the recent surge, Bass turned to her party’s favorite political punching bag: President Trump. 
&#8220;For two years straight, we drove down homelessness by historic margins — but as expected, last year our efforts ultimately couldn’t keep up with policies and funding cuts on the federal and state levels,&#8221; Bass said, according to FOX11. &#8220;The Trump administration has driven up the cost of gas, groceries, and rent — pushing more families to the edge — and slashed critical safety net funding.”
The embattled mayor, who is facing a stronger-than-expected challenge from her left flank, also took aim at Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom&#8217;s handling of the state budget.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
WATCH: Inside sources tell me L.A.’s homeless count is expected to rise… ending two straight years of reported declines.
The official numbers won’t be released until Friday, but multiple sources familiar with LAHSA’s latest count say homelessness is trending upward in Los… <a href="https://t.co/sUYPMVcN54">pic.twitter.com/sUYPMVcN54</a>
— Matthew Seedorff (@MattSeedorff) <a href="https://x.com/MattSeedorff/status/2080162994324144515?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 23, 2026</a></blockquote>
“And, last year’s state cut of over $70 million severely impacted our work to keep people housed and get more Angelenos off the streets,” she said in a <a href="https://x.com/MattSeedorff/status/2080161071936221606?s=20">statement</a>. “The lack of adequate services continues to be a real problem and a contributing factor to people cycling in and out of homelessness, and these services are controlled by LA County.” 
The latest figures come as little surprise to many Los Angeles residents, including billionaire real estate developer Rick Caruso, who unsuccessfully challenged Bass in the 2022 mayoral race. “I doubt anyone living in LA is surprised,” he <a href="https://x.com/RickCarusoLA/status/2080334679530758318?s=20">said.</a>  
Some residents questioned the city&#8217;s count, arguing the actual homeless population is far higher than reported.
“I don’t listen to the numbers, my eyes are better than numbers,” one man <a href="https://x.com/RickCarusoLA/status/2080334679530758318?s=20">told FOX11</a>, in a report showing littered streets, vandalized buildings, and open drug use. 
Leftist L.A. City Councilmember Nithya Raman will face off against Bass in the November mayoral election after <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/spencer-pratts-race-has-been-called-see-the-results">troves of late-arriving ballots</a> locked Republican Spencer Pratt out of the race.
Pratt’s viral campaign ads tapped into the reality TV star’s savvy social media background to push a message of change in a city plagued by chronic challenges. His platform captivated nationwide attention but ultimately fell flat in a deep-blue city dominated by leftists. 
His election defeat, however, has not stopped the Palisades wildfire victim from speaking out against the city’s leadership.  
“SHOCKER&#8230;the LA homeless count is going UP!” Pratt <a href="https://x.com/spencerpratt/status/2080284771846918154?s=20">said</a> Thursday. “I warned you guys: the more homeless people, the more money Nithya Raman and Karen Bass can launder through their corrupt NGOs. You will NEVER fix this problem by electing people who profit off it.”

US-HOMELESS-CENSUS-LOSANGELES

L.A. Mayor Blames Trump For City’s Homelessness Surge

Democrats

Donald Trump

Gavin Newsom

Homelessness

Housing

Housing Crisis

Inflation

Politics

President Trump

Rick Caruso

Former MTV reality star Spencer Pratt has repeatedly made it clear that he is not going to walk away silently after his loss in the Los Angeles mayoral race — and in his most recent video, he took direct aim at California&#8217;s election process and the potential for fraud.
Pratt, in a nine-minute video posted on Wednesday, laid out the reasons people believe California elections are rife with fraud — and why he believes they&#8217;re right to be worried.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
I didn’t get cheated.
You did. <a href="https://t.co/ihDoZeEh9J">pic.twitter.com/ihDoZeEh9J</a>
— Spencer Pratt (@spencerpratt) <a href="https://x.com/spencerpratt/status/2075036220803993958?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 9, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;In judicial ethics, the mere appearance of potential fraud is disqualifying,&#8221; Pratt began — and then compared that to elections. &#8220;Whether or not there is widespread fraud occurring, there certainly could be. And it doesn&#8217;t matter how many times you scream, &#8216;There is no widespread fraud.&#8217; A lot of people believe there is.&#8221;
Pratt went on to explain how California, in particular, had built a system that at best enabled the appearance of fraud and at worst facilitated it: &#8220;This isn&#8217;t about whether fraud is swinging the election — the appearance of fraud already is swinging the election.&#8221;
Using his own election as an example, Pratt explained that the mail-in ballot system — which allows votes to be counted for days after the election — created the appearance of fraud even if that wasn&#8217;t what was happening. In the Los Angeles mayoral race, he explained, he was in second place on Election Day — and the mail-in ballots that came in after benefited Nithya Raman, who had been the third-place candidate.
&#8220;For some reason, only the third-place Democrat who needed the votes saw a disproportionate spike in votes several days after the election,&#8221; he said.
Pratt compared the whole system to a bank heist in which the bank owners &#8220;can&#8217;t lock the bank vault, you&#8217;re not allowed to have security cameras, and you can&#8217;t count the money inside the vault. Robbing the bank is still 100% illegal, but there&#8217;s no way to stop it from happening.&#8221;
&#8220;How can you secure the money if you can&#8217;t lock the vault?&#8221; Pratt asked. &#8220;How can you catch the robbers if you&#8217;re not allowed to monitor the vault? And how can you even identify if the vault were even robbed in the first place if you can&#8217;t even count the money? &#8230; The bank vault is wide open.&#8221;
Pratt called for an overhaul of the system, saying that the right way would not be easy, but it would end with &#8220;commie animals in handcuffs.&#8221;
&#8220;To all you fraudsters out there, we&#8217;ve been watching you,&#8221; he added. &#8220;And justice is coming.&#8221;

election night Spencer Pratt

Spencer Pratt Just Went Scorched Earth On ‘Communist’ Election Fraudsters

Spencer Pratt Just Went Scorched Earth On 'Communist' Election Fraudsters

2026 elections

Election Fraud

Elections

Los Angeles mayor

President Donald Trump offered some advice — from his own experience — to former MTV reality TV star Spencer Pratt in the wake of his loss in the Los Angeles mayoral primary election.
Trump mentioned Pratt while speaking to the Faith &amp; Freedom Coalition on Friday, jabbing at California&#8217;s long, drawn-out ballot-counting process, which he and numerous others argue opens the doors wide for anyone with the desire to commit election fraud.
WATCH:<iframe style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; max-width: 100%; width: 100%; margin: 20px auto 5px; border: 0;" src="https://player.mux.com/bpVrFHWzivCfxT600ZT02VsRnbeL6n5lpA?metadata-video-content-type=embed_video&amp;metadata-video-id=b93417f7-9a96-4528-a5a9-9eb4b4cc8b50&amp;metadata-video-stream-type=on-demand&amp;metadata-video-title=2026-06-26%20Trump%20Says%20Pratt%20Should%20Not%20Go%20Quietly&amp;poster=https%3A%2F%2Fdailywireplus-v2.imgix.net%2Fimages%2Fembedded-videos%2Ff7384346-0d5f-47b6-b078-4ad5a2327ad3.png&amp;autoplay=false&amp;accent-color=%23DB3D3B&amp;primary-color=%23ffffff&amp;secondary-color=%23000000" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
&#8220;It&#8217;s happening in California, where the ballots still aren&#8217;t in,&#8221; Trump began. &#8220;They&#8217;re still not — can you believe it? You know what&#8217;s happened? They&#8217;re cheating. The kid won. Or he was certainly in the top two. I don&#8217;t know him, I never met him. Spencer Pratt.&#8221;
The president then advised Pratt to keep pushing back, adding, &#8220;And he went away quietly. We didn&#8217;t go away quietly. He shouldn&#8217;t go away quietly; he should protest, because it was, in my very strong opinion, a rigged election. That kid should be in the runoffs.&#8221;
Trump went on to describe how Pratt — solidly in second place when the polls closed on Election Day — had seen his lead chipped away and then eventually obliterated as mail-in ballots overwhelmingly favored Democratic Socialist City Councilwoman Nithya Raman.
&#8220;The woman who edged him out after like a long time,&#8221; Trump referenced Raman with a chuckle. &#8220;Days. Days and days. And then you&#8217;d hear reports: &#8216;Spencer Pratt is not doing so well&#8217; even though he was strongly in the lead.&#8221;
Despite his loss, Pratt has promised to continue his efforts to expose the failures in the city&#8217;s leadership — beginning with incumbent Democrat Mayor Karen Bass, whom Pratt and many others blame for the disastrous response to the deadly Palisades Fire. He has also promised to continue his efforts to help clean up Los Angeles.
While Trump did not officially endorse Pratt, he spoke positively about him when asked — and Pratt, who is a registered Republican, made it clear from the beginning that his campaign was interested in results over partisanship.

Spencer Pratt/Donald Trump

Trump’s Advice To Spencer Pratt

The old &#8220;Baywatch&#8221; featured lifeguards in signature red bathing suits rescuing beachgoers in the ocean, but in 2026, the lifeguards are rescuing beachgoers on land. 
L.A.&#8217;s homelessness crisis made its way into the &#8220;Baywatch&#8221; reboot as filming featured a homeless man attempting to attack one of its lifeguards, The New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/06/24/entertainment/baywatch-scene-shows-the-scary-realities-of-visiting-venice-beach/?utm_campaign=capost&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter">reported</a>. The scene takes place on Venice Beach when a homeless man approaches Hassie Harrison’s character with a knife. Stephen Amell’s character rushes in to intervene and fights the homeless before Amell knocks him to the ground and paramedics aid the fallen attacker. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
A video of the cast filming a scene for the new “Baywatch” reboot blurred the lines between the fantasy and reality of living in modern-day Venice Beach. <a href="https://t.co/O0Y9eBFyo3">https://t.co/O0Y9eBFyo3</a> <a href="https://t.co/GzZVkHsqni">pic.twitter.com/GzZVkHsqni</a>
— California Post (@californiapost) <a href="https://x.com/californiapost/status/2070086205044085188?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 25, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The fictitious scene is grounded in reality as L.A.&#8217;s large homeless encampments continue to plague residents, including near Venice Beach, where encampments have grown this year and attracted drug users, KTLA <a href="https://ktla.com/news/local-news/large-homeless-encampment-in-venice-continues-expanding-attracting-crime-drug-activity/">reported</a>. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass cleared out the encampments in 2023, but residents of the area claim the homeless residents stayed in the area after their tents were cleared and eventually expanded their encampment. 
Venice resident Craig Riveiro told KTLA 5, “Mothers and babies cannot walk on the sidewalks. It hurts the mom-and-pop businesses. It hurts the residents. It caused mayhem.” Other residents say the area has become a hotspot for crime, drug activity, and safety hazards. 
Bass, who declared 2026 as her goal to end street homelessness in L.A., blames government bureaucracy for the failure. 
“We haven’t ended it,” she <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/karen-bass-grilled-over-broken-homelessness-promise-blames-bureaucracy-slowed-progress">said</a> in May. “Basically when I said that, it was at the beginning of my term. I am very committed to achieving that goal. I didn’t anticipate some of the bureaucratic barriers that I would experience, but I am prepared to take those on now.” 
Bass, who advanced to the mayoral general election over outsider Spencer Pratt, also claimed people who work in the government are reluctant to end homelessness. &#8220;The city and the county never made that commitment before, and I found something that surprised me. I found a lot of people who work internally in the system who were very resistant to ending street homelessness.&#8221;
While homeless individuals represent a small percentage of the population, the R Street Institute estimates that they are responsible for about roughly <a href="https://www.rstreet.org/commentary/the-crime-and-safety-blindspot-do-homeless-populations-pose-an-increased-risk-to-public-safety/">15%</a> of violent crimes in the city. 
Earlier this month, the federal government halted all funds going to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) after the city failed to deliver results after nearly $1 billion in the last five years. 
The Trump administration will keep the suspension in place until the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) completes its investigation into the LAHSA. “Under President Trump’s leadership, HUD will fund results, not corrupt failure or the homeless industrial complex,” <a href="https://www.hud.gov/news/hud-no-26-048">said</a> HUD Secretary Scott Turner.
“Year after year, hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars were funneled to LAHSA with little accountability. Meanwhile, homelessness skyrocketed,&#8221; Turner added. &#8220;Taxpayers will no longer bankroll an organization that puts its own self-interests ahead of the Americans it was created to serve.”

SEE IT: ‘Baywatch’ Is The Latest Victim Of California’s Homeless Crisis

Baywatch

Former reality TV star turned Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt dropped another viral video on Friday, declaring &#8220;war&#8221; on what he called &#8220;the machine&#8221; that left voters with &#8220;two corrupt communists&#8221; in the general election.
&#8220;I got in this to expose this corrupt machine,&#8221; Pratt says at the beginning of the video. &#8220;I don&#8217;t have the campaign laws hamstringing me now. It&#8217;s war.&#8221;
The three-minute video, called &#8220;Saving LA &#8211; Phase III,&#8221; targets incumbent Mayor Karen Bass and far-left Councilmember Nithya Raman, two Democrats who advanced to the November runoff after Pratt finished third in the primary.
Pratt said he is now &#8220;moving on to the next, more interesting phase&#8221; of his mission, which includes a secret recording he claims implicates &#8220;one of your exalted candidates.&#8221; He threatened to make the recording public and said it would &#8220;make her resign in shame.&#8221;
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Credit: X: @spencerpratt
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&#8220;Go ahead and pick your demon, certify your choice, and then you get to see it,&#8221; he said. &#8220;So Karen and Nithya, ask yourself, is it possible that one of your employees may have a recording of you doing or saying something that would force you to resign in disgrace? I hope you sleep well over the next five months.&#8221;
Pratt painted a bleak picture of L.A. through images of rampant graffiti, garbage-strewn streets, drug activity, public defecation, burned-out structures, and shuttered businesses.
&#8220;Angelenos are now stuck with two morons responsible for all of their problems, and they have to choose between dumb and dumber,&#8221; Pratt said. &#8220;That&#8217;s not a choice. That&#8217;s the machine protecting the machine.&#8221;
&#8220;And now every problem that plagues Los Angeles because of these two corrupt communists is going to accelerate, and the city will tumble headlong into the abyss,&#8221; he added.
With roughly 98% of the vote counted, Bass finished first in the primary with 34.3% of the vote, while Raman overtook Pratt earlier this week to finish second with 28.9%. Pratt received 25.5%. The top two finishers advance to the general election unless one candidate receives more than 50% of the vote.
Pratt, a Republican, vowed to continue attacking both Democrats through the runoff campaign.
&#8220;I&#8217;m going to be lighting you up every single day,&#8221; Pratt promised.
&#8220;My goal hasn&#8217;t changed. I&#8217;ve been laser-focused on stopping these commie animals, and I will stop them.&#8221;

WATCH: Spencer Pratt Goes Scorched Earth On ‘Two Corrupt Communists,’ Declares ‘War’

Spencer Pratt responded with skepticism Sunday night as his socialist opponent overtook him in the Los Angeles mayoral race after days of vote counting that has led to Republicans calling for major election reforms in California.
Leftist councilwoman Nithya Raman officially jumped out in front of Pratt on Sunday after mail-in ballot dumps throughout the week consistently shifted the race in her favor. Pratt led Raman by around nine percentage points on election night. After the big swing in Raman&#8217;s favor, Pratt raised questions about where all the ballots came from to support her. 
&#8220;&#8216;A net swing of more than 43,000 votes since Tuesday..&#8217; 43,000, huh? Where have I seen that number before&#8230;? Probably nothing,” Pratt posted on X, highlighting an article which reported that Los Angeles had over 43,000 homeless people out on the average night. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
&#8220;A net swing of more than 43,000 votes since Tuesday..&#8221;
43,000, huh? Where have I seen that number before&#8230;?
Probably nothing. 🤷 <a href="https://t.co/W2E3k6PHyR">https://t.co/W2E3k6PHyR</a> <a href="https://t.co/ZfzHCy9enb">pic.twitter.com/ZfzHCy9enb</a>
— Spencer Pratt (@spencerpratt) <a href="https://x.com/spencerpratt/status/2063784193688056310?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 8, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
After the Sunday ballot count update, Decision Desk HQ projected that Raman would advance to the general election against incumbent Mayor Karen Bass, leaving Pratt locked out of the race. 
President Donald Trump, who supported Pratt’s campaign, claimed that Pratt and Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton were being cheated in their elections. Hilton, who started in first place, has seen his Democrat opponents rapidly gain ground as mail-in ballot counting continues. 
“Has anybody been watching the CROOKED Election going on in California. Two great Republican Candidates are being cheated, and so is America, which if the Dumocrats are able to fulfill their mission, great trouble and consternation will follow,” Trump posted on Truth Social on Sunday night. “Watch this ‘Election’ closely!!!”
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Federal officials are seeking to audit California’s election system, which has been criticized for its agonizingly long vote-counting process. 
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said Sunday that California was blocking an audit of its voter rolls and noted that the state <a href="https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/hava-id-standards">allows</a> first-time voters to use &#8220;surprising&#8221; forms of ID to register to vote, including a gym membership card, employer ID card, credit or debit card, prescription drug label, and insurance card. 
“This is permitted when a voter fails to provide a Social Security number or driver’s license at registration. Our office believes this policy deserves a closer look,” he said. “We also have serious concerns about how California maintains its voter rolls. There are open questions about whether the state is promptly removing deceased voters, people who have moved, and individuals convicted of disqualifying felonies.”
“On top of that, California allows third parties to collect and turn in ballots on voters’ behalf (a practice known as ballot harvesting) with few restrictions. This makes it difficult to track who actually received, completed, and submitted each ballot,” he added. 
The Trump administration sued California after the state failed to provide information on its voter rolls as it attempts to ensure that only American citizens are registered to vote.

Celebrity Sightings In Los Angeles – June 02, 2026

Spencer Pratt Connects Raman’s Vote Surge To A Statistic LA Can’t Escape

California Elections

The man accused of killing &#8220;Top Gun: Maverick&#8221; actor James Handy made a chilling 911 call after allegedly stabbing the 81-year-old actor outside of a Los Angeles home.
Michael Gledhill, who is the son of Handy’s girlfriend, Wendy, allegedly stabbed Handy in the chest in the front yard of the home of Handy’s girlfriend, where her son also lived. After the stabbing, Gledhill told 911 dispatchers, &#8220;I am the son of man, I just killed the man of sin,&#8221; according to <a href="https://ktla.com/news/local-news/i-just-killed-the-man-of-sin-tarzana-man-arrested-in-fatal-stabbing/">KTLA</a>.
The stabbing that has shocked avid movie fans who knew Handy’s work most recently in &#8220;Top Gun: Maverick,&#8221; happened around 9:30 a.m. Wednesday in the 19200 block of Erwin Street in the Tarzana neighborhood of Los Angeles.
“I’m just trying to make it through one day at a time, a minute at a time,” 76-year-old Wendy Gledhill <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/06/05/us-news/james-handys-girlfriend-breaks-silence-after-her-son-allegedly-killed-top-gun-maverick-actor/">told</a> The California Post.
“I loved James and my son. I still can’t believe it. &#8230; I can’t believe my son did it. I’m just trying to,&#8221; she added.
When officers arrived after the phone call from Gledhill, they found the veteran actor unconscious, per KTLA. Handy was taken to a local hospital by Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics and was later pronounced dead.
In video obtained by <a href="https://www.foxla.com/video/fmc-qaaks9n29mquwcyp">Fox 11 Los Angeles</a>, Gledhill is seen on a neighbor’s doorbell camera walking away from the gruesome scene before returning and turning himself in to police. The video also shows a blue shirt on the ground covered in blood.
The motive for the killing is still under investigation, but according to KTLA detectives believe the stabbing was an isolated incident and there isn’t a threat to the public. Gledhill’s bond is set at $2 million, <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/06/05/us-news/james-handy-girlfriends-son-seen-calmly-walking-away-from-where-top-gun-maverick-actor-was-stabbed-to-death/">the New York Post</a> reported.
Handy had a long career in Hollywood starting back in the 1970s. He had a role in &#8220;Arachnophobia,&#8221; as well as playing the exterminator in the blockbuster hit, &#8220;Jumanji,&#8221; alongside Robin Williams. He had several TV roles as well, including &#8220;Melrose Place,&#8221; &#8220;Alias,&#8221; &#8220;The West Wing,&#8221; and &#8220;NYPD Blue.&#8221;
Handy lived a reclusive life in his later years and made his last public appearance nearly 10 years ago in September 2017, per the Post.

Credit: Adam Larkey/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images

‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Actor Stabbed To Death — Suspect Made Chilling Call To Police

Hollywood

Nearly 48 hours after the polls closed in California, the results of the gubernatorial primary and the Los Angeles mayor’s race remain unresolved as President Donald Trump has accused Democrats in the state of attempting to &#8220;steal&#8221; the elections.
With just 58% of the vote reported Thursday evening, Republican Steve Hilton still leads the gubernatorial primary with 27.2% support, ahead of Democrat Xavier Becerra at 25.9%. Both were ahead of billionaire Democrat Tom Steyer, who was at 20.1%. On Wednesday evening, 55% of the vote had been counted.
Despite Hilton’s lead, millions of ballots are still uncounted, making it too early to determine the final order of finish. Under California’s top-two primary system, candidates from the same party can advance to a runoff in November’s general election if they finish in the top two.
In the Los Angeles mayoral race, just 66% of the vote had been counted by Thursday evening, up from 62% from Wednesday evening. Incumbent Democrat Mayor Karen Bass still leads with 35.1% support, followed by Republican Spencer Pratt at 29.4%. Far-left Councilmember Nithya Raman was third with 23.4%.
The top two votegetters in the mayoral primary, regardless of party, secure a place in the November runoff if neither receives more than 50% of the vote. Bass has already secured a spot in the runoff, according to projections.
Trump took to Truth Social late Wednesday night and again on Thursday to accuse Democrats of election fraud, asking, &#8220;Why the vote counting DELAY???&#8221;
&#8220;Look what&#8217;s happening in California, the Dumocrats, right before our very eyes, are stealing the vote,&#8221; Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116693025089379568">posted</a> on Thursday.
Mayor Bass responded on X Thursday evening.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Trump only says this when MAGA candidates, like Spencer Pratt, start losing.
LA will count every vote. <a href="https://t.co/gNi5m13uq7">pic.twitter.com/gNi5m13uq7</a>
— Karen Bass (@KarenBassLA) <a href="https://x.com/KarenBassLA/status/2062644938710581401?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 4, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Trump only says this when MAGA candidates, like Spencer Pratt, start losing,&#8221; she posted. &#8220;LA will count every vote.&#8221;
Delayed results are routine in California because of the state’s extensive vote-by-mail system, signature verification, and procedures for resolving ballot errors.
The final tally of California’s races could take as long as three weeks. Unlike many states that require mail ballots to arrive by Election Day, California accepts ballots that arrive up to 7 days later if postmarked on time. Then, those ballots have up to 7 days to reach a processing center. Counties must verify signatures, count provisional ballots, and allow voters to cure certain ballot defects before results are certified.

Primary Election Ballot Counting

California Still Counting Votes As Trump Says Democrats Are ‘Stealing’ Elections

steve hilton

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