Jeanie Buss didn’t just make a donation to Spencer Pratt. She gave him the maximum allowed by law.
According to FOX 11, the Lakers governor donated $1,800 to Pratt’s Los Angeles mayoral campaign. On Pratt’s own contribution page, donors are required to certify that their contribution does not put them over the $1,800 limit for the June primary, the maximum according to local election laws.
Sure, for Buss $1,800 doesn’t seem like much, given that she’s worth about $1 billion. That makes the donation more notable, though. Whether the amount was $500, $1,000 or $1,800, Buss wouldn’t notice a difference. That’s why going to the maximum limit seems more like a statement than a “just helping a friend” type of donation.
As of now, Buss hasn’t publicly endorsed a candidate in the Los Angeles mayoral race. OutKick reached out to Buss and the Los Angeles Lakers PR to ask if her donation represented a formal endorsement but they didn’t immediately respond.
It seems unlikely that Buss is donating the max to Pratt just to turn around and say, “But I don’t actually want him to win.” And it’s not like Buss is alone. Despite having no political background, Pratt is making noise during his campaign to unseat Karen Bass.
Pratt has reportedly raised nearly $540,000 since January, more than Karen Bass (just under $500,000) over the same stretch, and FOX 11 reported that Pratt and Nithya Raman have been leading the recent fundraising pace ahead of the June 2 primary. However, Bass remains ahead in total cash on hand.
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The timing matters, too. UCLA Luskin reported in early April that 40% of likely voters were still undecided, with Bass leading at 25%, Pratt at 11% and Raman at 9%. If none of the candidates receives more than 50% of the votes on June 2, the top two advance to a November runoff election. In a race still very much unsettled, public signals are more important, not less.
Jeanie Buss is not just any donor. She is one of the biggest names in Los Angeles sports. A max check from a donor like that does more than add money to a campaign account. It tells voters, media and other donors that Pratt is a candidate worth taking seriously. Whether Buss intended that message or not is virtually irrelevant.
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Maybe Buss has a perfectly straightforward explanation other than an endorsement of Pratt. Maybe she just likes him and wanted to show a sign of support. Maybe she is frustrated with the direction of the city, particularly after wildfires ravaged the Los Angeles area and residents are complaining that politicians like Bass haven’t done anything to speed up the rebuilding process.
Regardless of the intention, Buss sent a message to Los Angeles voters that Spencer Pratt is someone who deserves to be taken seriously in a race that’s up in the air.
