Rik Caruso apparently not ready yet.
The billionaire businessman spent more than $65 million for the privilege of losing the 2022 Los Angeles mayoral race Karen Bassbut he impressed some voters and observers with his command of the issues, his debate performance and his overall approach to the campaign.
He lost anyway – and badly. After a close initial count on election night, late returns broke Bass, ultimately beating him by nearly 10 percentage points, or nearly 90,000 votes.
Afterwards, Caruso accepted defeat and wished Bass the best. But even then he said he wouldn’t be far.
“More will come from the movement we have built,” he said in a statement, “but for now, we must unite as a city around newly elected Mayor Bass and give her the support she needs to tackle the many issues that we have. sight.”
As that suggested — and as Caruso’s more recent comments have emphasized — his defeat in the mayoral race has not quelled the businessman’s desire to influence public policy or secure political office. He has spent the past two years observing and assessing the work of elected officials, including the woman who hit him and the emerging field for California governor.
He gives the impression of someone hunting for an opening.
In recent weeks, Caruso has stepped up his criticism of Bass’ performance, without criticizing her directly. Through his newsletter, he blames the city’s “pothole problem” for budget deficits. He has sounded the alarm about the shoplifting “crisis” and the deployment of LAPD officers to respond to graffiti.
Some of his criticisms are more oblique. For example, he has warned that the cost of housing in Los Angeles threatens the city’s “vibrancy and economic health” by making it unaffordable for “young adults, teachers, first responders and many others.” Mind you, that’s from a developer whose beachfront property in Montecito, the Rosewood Miramar Beach hotel, offers rooms ranging from $1,500 to $6,500 per night.
His compassion for struggling youth has its limits.
The most pointed criticism focuses on the city’s response to chronic homelessness, given Bass’ intense focus on the problem since she took office. He has strongly suggested that Bass – again, not by name – is not doing enough to get people off the streets.
“I find it unconscionable that valuable funds are being wasted and homes are sitting empty while tens of thousands of our fellow Angelenos are left on the streets,” he said in a message to supporters last month.
Does Caruso fancy a rematch with Bass? The Los Angeles Times noted that his recent posts have “incited conversations about his political ambitions,” but he doesn’t say what: He declined an interview with The Times and declined an interview for this column.
Still, it’s enough to make people wonder.
The most obvious question is whether he could win a rematch. Bass continues to do well in the polls and is well-liked – even among more conservative voters. That makes unseating her an uphill battle, but some political experts I spoke to disagree on whether Caruso would have a chance, in part because they have different theories about why he lost. Each leads to a different conclusion about his future prospects.
For example, some say he was doomed by his last-minute decision to register as a Democrat (he was previously registered as No Party Preference and before that as a Republican). The change on the eve of his campaign announcement fueled a sense of cynical opportunism.
If that’s what sunk him, maybe he would do better if he was a member of the party for four years. And he has been busy raising his profile as a Democrat, denouncing Donald Trump and hosting party fundraisers, including a December event for President Joe Biden.
Others believe that Caruso, even with his late conversion to the city’s dominant political party, might have had a chance in the mayoral race had it not been for the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Dobbs case just as the campaign was heating up. The ruling, which stripped women of the federal right to abortion, was a blunt reminder to voters in Los Angeles and elsewhere of the sharp partisan differences over fundamental rights.
It also didn’t help Caruso that he had contributed to candidates who opposed abortion rights. Again, those feelings wouldn’t be as strong if he decided to seek the mayoralty in 2026.
But there’s a third analysis of Caruso’s loss that’s more sobering for his chances: Los Angeles is a very liberal city, and Caruso’s moderate politics — either in his previous life as a Republican or in his current incarnation as a Democrat — are simply a nonstarter. -sale. in LA.
Consider the election and re-election of Nithya Raman to the Los Angeles City Council. An outspoken progressive, Raman was elected in 2020 as a newcomer to a historically moderate part of the city. The district includes the Hollywood Hills, Sherman Oaks and Reseda — enclaves of wealthy homeowners and even Republican remnants — along with more traditionally liberal communities like Silver Lake and Los Feliz.
Raman dethroned an incumbent to win her race in 2020, and won outright re-election this year in March despite a credible challenge from a moderate opponent, Deputy City Attorney Ethan Weaver, a candidate Caruso supported.
That reminds us that Los Angeles is becoming more liberal, not less; Today, fewer than 1 in 5 Angelenos are registered Republicans. That’s not good news for a Caruso comeback.
But the mayor’s office isn’t Caruso’s only potential political entry point. There is a notable opening elsewhere in California’s government: the governor’s office.
Oddly enough, Caruso may have a clearer path to that office. With Governor Gavin Newsom in office, the office is open, and the current field lacks a dominant candidate and is swamped by liberal contenders.
If Caruso could position himself as a moderate candidate and finish in the top two of the primaries, he could appeal to a broad spectrum of voters. California has generally shown little interest in Republicans – the hapless Steve Garvey is proof of that – but has far more use for them than Los Angeles, and is still open to moderate Democrats, as Caruso would.
Although Caruso himself did not answer this week whether he might pursue the governorship, someone with knowledge of his strategy confirmed he was considering it.
“It is clear that there is a strong need for leadership,” the source told me. “He’s clearly looking into that race.”
There’s something strange about the idea that being defeated in the race for mayor of Los Angeles is a step toward becoming governor of California, but it’s possible. And Caruso is ready to jump.
Jim Newton is an experienced journalist, best-selling author and lecturer. He spent 25 years at the Los Angeles Times as a reporter, editor, bureau chief and columnist, covering government and politics.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Rick Caruso considers another political run
