He was a reality show villain. Can he be the mayor of one of America's largest cities?

He was a reality show villain. Can he be the mayor of one of America's largest cities?Just nowShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleSareen HabeshianLos AngelesLos Angeles Times via Getty ImagesFormer TV star Spencer Pratt is now vying for a very different roleAs one of the stars of MTV's hit show The Hills in the 2000s, Spencer Pratt quickly became one of reality television's favourite villains. But could the 42-year-old former publicist-turned Celebrity Big Brother contestant soon win himself a new role: mayor of the second largest city in America?The Republican political outsider has risen in the polls since announcing his intention in January to run to be Los Angeles mayor, and has since become a serious contender.A new poll released on Thursday found that Pratt was in a tight contest with two Democrats, mayor Karen Bass and city council member Nithya Raman, ahead of Tuesday's primary vote.The primary is non-partisan, meaning that it pits all candidates against each other, regardless of party. Any candidate who wins 50% or more of the vote will win the election outright. If no-one reaches that threshold, the top two advance to November's general election. Among the pool of more than three dozen candidates who entered the race, Bass is leading with 26% support from likely voters, Thursday's UC Berkeley-LA Times poll suggested. Meanwhile, Raman had 25% and Pratt had 22%. In terms of fundraising, Pratt has blown the other two out of the water, raising $2.7m (£2m) between 19 April and 16 May. That is nearly 10 times what Bass - a longtime LA politician - raised in the same period, and approximately seven times what Raman raised.Pratt's success as a Republican in such a liberal-leaning city has come after gaining widespread attention on social media through TikTok rants, reposted AI-generated videos that mock his opponents, and head-turning political adverts. His spokesperson has denied rumours that a reality show will produced if he wi...