HomePoliticsWill the LA fires revive Rick Caruso's political ambitions?

Will the LA fires revive Rick Caruso’s political ambitions?

As homes smoldered and the extent of the destruction from fires raging through Los Angeles was just beginning to become clear, real estate developer Rick Caruso called a local Fox station to cast the first stone.

“It seems like we are in a third world country here,” Caruso told on-air correspondents on January 8. “We have a lot of tough questions to ask the mayor and the city council and our representatives and the province. representative.”

It had been just over 24 hours since two major fires broke out in the city. The first in the affluent Pacific Palisades on the coast, the second hours later further inland in working-class Altadena. Fueled by dried out brush and abnormally strong winds of 100 miles per hour, the fire spread easily through homes and businesses. Gusts of wind downed power lines and grounded firefighting aircraft. Some residents were caught so unprepared that they ultimately had to flee the threat on foot.

But when Caruso spoke to the TV station that evening, at a time when many local residents were still unaware of the fate of their homes, he called out one politician in particular for what he saw as negligence: his former rival in the mayoral campaign, Karen Bass.

“These are basic things. This isn’t high science here. It’s all about leadership and management that we see a failure in, and all these residents see the ultimate price for that,” he said.

When the fires started, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass was on the other side of the world, on a planned trip to Ghana. Bass still had to come home the next day, and her absence opened the door for Caruso.

“On January 7, 2025, it felt like no one was in charge of Los Angeles. No communication with residents, no one to answer questions and no one to give a voice, or no one to even validate the shock and horror of Angelenos,” said Sam Yebri, board chairman of Thrive LA, a group that focuses on electing moderate Democrats candidates. “And when Rick voluntarily stepped into that void, as a resident and a business owner, as a business owner in the Palisades and a resident of Brentwood, I think a lot of Angelenos really appreciated that.”

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Caruso’s involvement in the disaster resembled a dress rehearsal.

“This was a pretty coordinated PR campaign to be in as many places as possible,” said a Los Angeles political expert, who asked not to be named because of his past work with the candidate. “I don’t think this is just something that someone would do if they had no political ambitions.”

A charred chimney is the only thing left standing Thursday in a fire-ravaged oceanfront home in Los Angeles’ Pacific Palisades neighborhood. FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images

Caruso ran for mayor in the 2022 nonpartisan elections, spending more than $100 million of his own money and expenditure Bass 11 to 1. Days before registering, he changed the political parties from Republican to Democratic. He ran on a platform of law and order and real estate finesse and did well largely richer neighborhoods, including Bel-Air and the Palisades. But Bass, also a Democrat, ultimately prevailed. She won by 9 percentage points. The former congresswoman, who at one point was vetted as Biden’s 2020 running mate, announced last year that she would run for mayor again.

But some have criticized the slow pace of change when it comes to affordable housing and homelessness, her top campaign issues since Bass came to power. Moderate Democrats see the frustration as an indictment of her leadership skills, and they see the fires as a political opportunity. Politics in the Golden State have also changed. Last fall, California voters overwhelmingly approved a tough-on-crime approach proposal raising some sentencing guidelines, and Los Angeles voters expelled their progressive district attorney, who chose a challenger who ran on a platform of increased public safety. There have been similar voter trends toward the middle seen in Democratic cities like New York.

Bas declined a request for comment.

“I think for too long Angelenos have mistaken performative politics for actual performance in office. As a lifelong Democrat, I can say that I have seen too much emphasis on who could be, who could seem the most progressive, as opposed to who would do the best job. And I think that was a factor in the magnitude of these infernos, the damage of them,” Yebri said.

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This wouldn’t be the first time disaster launched a candidate to success. Several political consultants pointed to former California Governor Pete Wilson’s actions after the deadly 1994 Northridge earthquake, which occurred in Los Angeles, and said he was re-elected in part based on his response. They warn that Bass’s responses – including painfully stoic appearances at conferences – do not earn her any favors. “She won’t necessarily get many opportunities to redefine herself,” the political pundit said.

It is reported that Caruso has been considering a second chance at political office for some time. The Los Angeles Times reported that he has hired a full-time political director in 2023. Quietly, some moderate Democrats and Republicans are pushing him to run, though it’s unclear which role he would be better suited for: a rematch with Bass or a run for governor afterward. Gavin Newsom will retire next year. The governor’s race could be more opportunistic for someone with Republican roots, but a voter poll Preferences in a gubernatorial race last October put Caruso at the bottom, behind former Rep. Katie Porter and Vice President Kamala Harris.

In his mid-20s, Caruso served as commissioner of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, a government position he still refers to when discussing Los Angeles’ water needs. But in reality, the 66-year-old, whose father founded Dollar Rent-a-Car, is best known as a billionaire real estate developer. He has been responsible for building two of the city’s most famous outdoor shopping centers – picturesque, Disney-esque spaces with cobblestone streets and shooting fountains – The Americana and The Grove.

Caruso declined an interview request.

Employees of private fire companies hired to protect Rick Caruso's Palisades Village shopping district from fire gather near their vehicles Wednesday.

Employees of private fire companies hired to protect Rick Caruso’s Palisades Village shopping district from fire gather near their vehicles Wednesday. ETIENNE LAURENT/AFP via Getty Images

But when the Palisades burned, his focus was largely on Palisades Village, another Caruso development at the heart of the catastrophe. While most of the houses around the shopping area went up in flames, including the home of Caruso’s daughter, the village escaped unscathed thanks to a private fire crew that Caruso hired to protect the property.

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The village’s narrow escape has become its own symbol of division. Some consider his ability to save his property as a testament to his leadership, although the village survived largely by relying on the water supply that Caruso criticized as inadequate.

“From a corporate governance perspective, I think there is no better symbol of management versus mismanagement than the fact that this mall is standing and the rest of the Palisades, which was the responsibility of City Hall, is tragically driven to the ground burned down,” Yebri said. .

Mike Madrid, a Republican political consultant at GrassRootsLab and founder of The Lincoln Project, disagreed.

“The only people who would say that are Trump people or MAGA Republicans,” he said, referring to President-elect Donald Trump and his supporters. “If he were to hire private firefighters and use public water and turn limited scarce resources into a time of disaster to protect that while people were losing their homes, I don’t think that would sit well.”

Caruso’s comments have received support from right-wing parties to vote on social media, like investor Tyler Winklevoss, but it’s attention that Caruso, who is trying to appeal to liberals, may not have intended.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass speaks at a news conference Thursday about the status of the fires in Los Angeles County.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass speaks at a news conference Thursday about the status of the fires in Los Angeles County. Katie McTiernan/Anadolu via Getty Images

Yet Madrid claim Caruso’s move could still be effective.

“I think he’s operating in a circumstance where Karen Bass is deeply, deeply, deeply wounded, yes. So is it enough to prevent him from winning if he were to run again? No. I think he will be extremely competitive.”

Experts say much will depend on how Bass’ team responds as the city’s major fires come under control. She may have missed the opportunity to take control of the story when the fires started, but she can take the reconstruction into her own hands.

“I don’t know of any elected official, not even Trump, who can stop a natural disaster with his magical powers… but their magical powers come into play after the tragedy,” said Mike Trujillo, a Democratic strategist who worked with former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa . “Bass will have a tough test ahead of him, and it will be about rebuilding, cutting red tape, essentially getting government out of the way so homeowners can rebuild their homes, and people and families have a sense of normalcy back.”

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