A business leader and former city council candidate said Spencer Pratt’s rise in the Los Angeles mayoral race is a result of voters’ unhappiness with the status quo on crime, the recent wildfires, and the unfriendly business climate.
“I think a lot of people are concerned about what’s happening, they really don’t know how to fix this, and I think the crime, the homelessness, the addiction, all the above behaviors of what’s happened in our city,” said John Putnam, the president of Putnam Brands & Putnam Accessory Group.
“The politicians that are causing this, I think a lot people are seeing that,” Putnam added.
“And I think Spencer’s actually bringing the light in a real way. He’s pretty basic with his delivery of his issues,” Putnam continued.
“And I think that’s resonating a lot. Even if you don’t want to vote for him, you’re listening, though and I think that’s resonating with a lot of people,” Putnam decalred.
“California’s got a big issue, but the city, especially where we live, Santa Monica, is a byproduct of what’s happened in Los Angeles and across the world,” Putnam said.
“In Santa Monica alone, we’re a people-driven economy. 80% of our revenue comes from outside this city. We need revenue being generated from people who are coming here to visit,” he said.
Putnam’s company, which he has run for 40 years, is based near downtown Los Angeles.
“It costs so much to operate a business here,” Putnam said. “Out of 250 cities that were surveyed a few years ago, Santa Monica came in number one of being the most expensive place to do business and that’s because of all the regulation, all the other aspects.”
“There’s all sorts of stats, it’s worse, everyone’s trying to sugar coat it in different ways, but the stats are out there, they’re saying crime is down, I think violent crime is down across the country, but all this petty stuff is happening,” Putnam said.
“People are feeling left out, they’re not feeling like they’re being helped,” Putnam said.
“I mean, their whole town, Altadena and Palisades were just destroyed. Beyond that, you had nail salons, you have all these hair salons, you had restaurants, these people are homeless from their businesses, their income and they aren’t getting the love and the attention they deserve, we need to come together and help those people,” he added.
“That’s what’s frustrating. I think people are angry, but also just really concerned. And I think this is really, Spencer’s really done a good job of bringing that out and letting people know this is not acceptable, and we have a choice here,” Pratt continued.
This comes after two incidents of attempted election interference may have occurred in Long Beach and elsewhere before the June 2 primary election.
The county registrar-recorder stated that the burned votes were discovered during the routine collection of ballots at an official ballot drop box located at the Department of Public Social Services-Civic Center in Los Angeles.
The fire occurred sometime between the last ballot pickup on Saturday and the first ballot pickup on Sunday, and it involved a “small number” of ballots, according to officials.
Vandalism was discovered on Sunday morning at the voting center located in Long Beach’s Cesar E. Chavez Park.
The county registrar-recorder’s office said election workers responded and that voting operations were uninterrupted.
The county registrar-recorder stated that it is ‘carefully reviewing both incidents and working to identify any voters who may have been affected.’
“Replacement ballots are possible,” remarked the county registrar-recorder.
Tomorrow is Election Day in California and Mail-in ballots are being found burned and voting centers vandalized.
This is what election integrity looks like in a Democrat-run city.
This is why we need the SAVE America Act NOW.
Vote in person tomorrow! pic.twitter.com/vKqigkolJO
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) June 1, 2026
