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A controversial reality TV star decides to launch a second career as a firebrand politician.
Initially dismissed as a joke by both media pundits and party leadership, he begins to gain momentum among voters fed up with the status quo.
Sound familiar?
Yes, as you may have heard, history might be repeating in Los Angeles these days, as MTV alum Spencer Pratt is running for mayor of Los Angeles.
Pratt’s house burned down in last year’s Pacific Palisades fires, and like thousands of other SoCal residents, he’s since become a very vocal critic of current LA mayor Karen Bass.
“We have no other choice, so it’s pretty simple. We can’t do four more years of Karen Bass,” Pratt toldABCwhen he announced his run back in January.
Now, unlike Donald Trump, who was host of The Apprentice and was therefore able to transcend most of the show’s drama, Pratt was right in the thick of things during his years on The Hills.
And he was often a genuine menace.
Spencer’s tumultuous relationship with Heidi Montag ultimately led to the end of her friendship with the show’s main protagonist, Lauren Conrad.
But that was a long time ago. In fact, Los Angeles has tens of thousands of potential voters who would have zero memory of Pratt’s time as a reality TV villain.
However, it’s worth noting that Spencer’s years away from the spotlight have not been entirely free of controversy.
You may recall the 2022 incident in which Pratt was accused of spreading a rumor that Conrad had made a sex tape.
Or there were the times that Pratt went on a bizarre tirade against Caitlyn Jenner or claimed to be besties with Ryan Gosling.
And knowing that Spencer blew through $10 million in a shockingly short period of time might give some voters feel hesitant about putting him in charge of their state’s treasury.
Then again, businesses run by the current White House resident have filed for bankruptcy on four separate occasions, so that sort of financial incompetence is clearly not a dealbreaker for a lot of people.
One early critic of Pratt’s campaign was none other than his sister, Stephanie Pratt.
“Spencer has done great work for the Palisades,” Stephanie tweeted in February, according to Buzzfeed.
“But LA does not need another unqualified and inexperienced mayor. A vote for him is a vote for stupidity.”
Stephanie went on to allege that Spencer is “just trying to stay famous and sell his memoir.”
It’s true that Spencer has not held elected office before, but again, that’s not the sort of thing that seems to discourage voters these days.
And this country has certainly elected politicians who are guilty of worse misdeeds than trying to start a social media feud against the Olsen twins.
The only question now is: can a man who’s never held a job other than reality star be trusted to run one of the largest economies in the world?
He might get one step closer to doing exactly that when LA holds its open mayoral primary on June 2.