Recently Elon Musk made a statement Los Angeles is fortunate to have someone like Rick Caruso running for mayor. He’s awesome. Now the question that came was who is Rick Caruso? According to their Wikipedia profile Rick Joseph Caruso is an American billionaire businessman. He is the founder and chief executive officer of Caruso, an American real-estate company.
Since entering the campaign a few months ago, the millionaire developer has been pounding the airwaves. According to a recent poll, Caruso is almost tied for first place with Congresswoman Karen Bass, indicating that the plan is working.
The Caruso campaign is effectively deploying the advertisements, according to Jim Newton, a former LA Times reporter who now teaches communication and public policy at UCLA.
“The advantage of money is that it allows you to get your name out there and create a great first impression with voters.”
According to Newton, Caruso is following in the footsteps of another wealthy businessman, Richard Riordan, who was elected mayor of Los Angeles in 1993 after the riots. Riordan’s campaign emphasised lowering crime and clearing up a political mess created by City Hall insiders. This time, Caruso has taken advantage of people’s grievances with homelessness.
“He’s clearly discovered a path; whether it’s enough to win is another thing, but it’s surely enough to propel them into the first tier.”
Meanwhile, Bass appears to have stolen a page from the playbook of Tom Bradley, Los Angeles’ first and so far only Black mayor.
“I believe Karen Bass begins with a coalition that resembles the one that Tom Bradley has successfully navigated for years – South Los Angeles, liberals on the west side, a smattering of Latinos, moderates, and liberals in the valley.”
Newton claims that with a month to Election Day, well-known candidates such as City Council members Kevin de Leon and Joe Busciano, as well as City Attorney Mike Feuer, have struggled to generate substantial traction with voters.
“Anyone other than Karen Bass or Rick Caruso appears to be facing an uphill battle to make the top two at this point.” But they all have a point to make.”
