Skid Row: Uh, We Got Paid By Dems to Vote for Their People

Matt Vespa | June 10, 2026 6:55 AM

California elections are chaotic. Los Angeles mayoral candidate Nithya Raman cried on election night after losing. Then, the mail-in ballots arrived, and now she and incumbent Karen Bass are heading to a runoff. Republican Spencer Pratt didn’t make it; he was leading until the mail-in ballots came in. This always sparks controversy and fascination: the election results and what seem like Democratic adjustments after all the votes from election day are counted. Now, there are reports from those on Skid Row claiming they were paid to vote for Bass or Raman (via NY Post):

A series of shocking videos show homeless residents on Los Angeles’ Skid Row claiming they were paid to vote for Mayor Karen Bass and councilwoman Nithya Raman.
The California Post obtained copies of the videos after they were published Tuesday on the TikTok account LaneNeedsSpencerPratt.
The footage, recorded near 7th Street and Flower Street in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday morning, has since been provided to the Department of Justice. It also follows The Post’s revelations that thousands of homeless voters were registered to shelters where they didn’t live.
One shelter in Venice, where 185 Raman voters were registered, received $600,000 from taxpayers care of the socialist Raman.
In one of the clips, a man who calls himself Kevin Shepherd, claimed he received $4 to vote for Bass.
[…]
“They gave you an optional choice,” Shepherd claimed, alleging the was offered $2 but negotiated for a higher payment and ultimately received $4.
Shepherd further claimed he completed a mail-in ballot for Bass and deposited it in a ballot box.
Skid Row resident, Rene Johnson, 39, also claimed she received $5 after being told to vote for Bass.
Johnson said she supported Bass, but told the creator she was still unclear about some of the forms she had completed.
“But, you know, at the time, I didn’t know that that was going on,” she said.
[…]
Another woman, who said she was living on the street, also claimed she accepted money to vote for Mayor Bass.
“It was like two bucks,” the unidentified woman said, adding that “yeah they come out here all the time.”
Many interviewees for the piece said this was routine. It’s nothing new. It’s been happening forever in American elections, where political machines dominate and run wild.