Blue cities have been steadily and sometimes precipitously declining for years, but every election voters elect or reelect the same Democrat leadership and things just keep getting worse. The unending misery just deepens every year with no relief in sight save the occasional new flashy candidate, like New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, that only promises more free stuff. Despite the record of demonstrable failures, the Democrat lock on these cities seems irreversible. All citizens regardless of party are suffering, so will average voters finally get fed up?

Blue cities across the country are plagued with perennial problems from such failed Democrat leadership and policies. From New York City to Chicago to Los Angeles, crime is out of control, yet the discussion continues to be is about defunding the police. The streets are infested with drugs, flooded with feces, and ruled by the homeless. Law Enforcement is prohibited from cooperating with federal authorities to remove illegal immigrant criminals and District Attorneys simply refuse to enforce the law. In California, theft must exceed $900 to be prosecuted, so petty larceny is rampant.

Blue cities have the worst schools. Kids are regularly indoctrinated and seldom educated; literacy is abysmal. Infrastructure is crumbling and services are pathetic, trash routinely piles up and power goes out. Yet failing blue cities spend more per capita and still deliver grossly substandard services.

Swimming in ever growing debt, blue cities' tax rates are the highest in the country and blue city mayors led by Mamdani just want to raise taxes even more! Blue city citizens pay increasingly more and get in increasingly less. At what point do voters say enough?

To add insult to injury, voters are discovering that fraud is massive and pervasive. Red state voters are incensed that tax money is being stolen, but blue state voters pay more and have more stolen – when will blue city voters get aggravated? Intrepid independent journalist Nick Shirley is exposing billions of dollars in fraud in blue cities, but you can be sure red cities have their share of fraud. Red city voters are demanding accountability; will blue city voters demand such accountability?

New York City and Seattle elected communists and Chicago elected a buffoon, but all are leading their cities to economic and societal doom. It’s like watching a train wreck. Yet, it seems voters are still not ready to change course.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is patently incompetent. Los Angeles has become a dumpster fire, and due to inept leadership, she let a large swath of the city burn down. Even Hollywood is on the ropes as the movie industry has been heading for the exits.

But Los Angeles has a choice in the upcoming mayoral election. Bass is running for re-election to continue her reign of failure, and she is being challenged by a dim-witted clone, City Councilwoman Nithya Raman. Raman is as incompetent and woke as Bass, so no one expects any change. There are 14 candidates, but upstart Spencer Pratt is making a splash.

Former reality star, Spencer Pratt is running as a “common sense” independent. Tired of all the failures and then his home burned in the Palisades, Pratt is just the common man fed up. He, like the rest of the average folks, is tired of failed Democrat policies, so he just wants to restore his city.

His platform is simple: Prosecute crime, fund the police, remove the homeless and drug addicts, rebuild the city, and make Los Angeles a livable city again. His ideas are not partisan, just common sense. Citizens are taking notice, so his opponents are trying to smear him as a “MAGA Republican.” They don’t want to debate the ideas; they just want to call names.

In a recent debate, Pratt wiped the floor with Bass and Raman. He obviously won because they cancelled the remaining debates. That’s the problem; there is no reasoned debate of solutions for the myriad problems facing Los Angeles. Despite an annual shortfall of a billion dollars, Democrats only offer more free stuff. Bass just came out with free teeth for drug addicts.

Americans around this nation watch this absurd carnival with fascination and horror. It’s all so silly. It's hard to believe anyone takes these Democrat candidates seriously, but blue city voters keep voting for this insanity. It all begs: when will blue city voters get fed up?

Fighting uphill, Pratt is nevertheless gaining traction. He is not spewing platitudes; he is offering solutions and hard work to restore Los Angeles. It seems some Angelinos are listening, but are enough voters finally fed up? Average folks would think so, but Democrats have proved resilient in blue cities. If this time is different, it could be an omen for the midterms that the people are waking up nationwide and are fed up with Democrat deceptions.

At some point, blue city citizens should want better. They have been voting Democrat for decades with nothing to show for it, so Los Angeles really has nothing to lose voting for Pratt.

“When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.” (Proverbs 29:2)

Pete Riehm is a Navy Veteran, conservative activist, and columnist in south Alabama. Email him at peteriehm@bellsouth.net or read all his columns at http://www.renewamerica.com/.