Rick Caruso’s wealth bought him a seat in the mayoral runoff

While mayoral races are important, they generally do not attract as much attention from voters in Los Angeles as compared to San Diego or San Francisco. Voter turnout for the Los Angeles mayoral race, both primaries and runoffs, has not exceeded 35% since 2001. 

Nonetheless, 2022 candidate Rick Caruso poured over $22 million of his own fortune and $41 million total into his mayoral campaign. Much of his campaign has been focused on media advertisements, essentially leaning into the idea that tormenting voters will gain him enough notoriety to win. 

Caruso has never held political office in his life, instead making his money as a real estate developer through well known shopping malls such as the Grove, the Americana at Brand and the Palisades Village. What is even more interesting and sets Caruso apart from many political candidates is that he was a lifelong Republican before conveniently switching to become a Democrat in 2022, just in time for the mayoral race in one of America’s most liberal cities. 

Caruso holds many parallels to former President Donald Trump. Both men hid the entirety of their tax returns from voters and made money as businessmen before entering politics later in their careers. In fact, Caruso can be seen in the background of the Republican Debate in 2015. It is not far off to say that his values and his recent past are in stark contrast to what L.A. has shown itself to represent. Yet, Caruso still has a chance at the mayoral seat, thanks to his personal fortune. 

While the results of the primary race show Caruso falling behind Karen Bass by about 7%, the mere fact that he has made it to the runoff shows the power of money in elections. House candidates who spend more money win over 90% of the time, according to FiveThirtyEight, and about the same is true for senatorial elections. Our democracy cannot be entirely democratic if money has such a large influence on election results.

Caruso is banking on the fragility of American democracy in order to win. As a candidate, he does not have much to offer Angelenos. Not only does he plan on expanding the L.A. police department by 1,500 officers, which does little to help Angelenos, but he has no stated plan on climate change. Instead, his website, carusocan.com, states only three issues: homelessness, public safety and corruption and ethics — ironic considering buying your way into becoming mayor doesn’t feel quite ethical.

Caruso is running on the ideal that he will create “the most transparent mayoral administration in history,” while ignoring his own role in corruption and scandal. Not only did he lead the Board of Trustees during numerous University scandals, including issues involving sexual violence on campus and Operation Varsity Blues, but Olivia Jade Giannulli was on his boat when the news broke about her family’s lies to get her into USC.  His hypocrisy as a “Democrat” has been called out by Planned Parenthood, since Caruso has donated to anti-abortion political candidates. How much of a Democrat can he really be if he only declared himself one in 2022, the same year as the mayoral election? It appears that Caruso is manipulating the political system to make himself appear more palatable to Angelenos. 

Caruso is using his money to try and paint an entirely different picture of who he is. Not only has he ignored his Republican past, but he has not made an effort to actually tap into what Los Angeles needs: an experienced, diligent leader.

Angelenos have the opportunity to send a strong message to Caruso and to other billionaires who will inevitably try to gain power. While Caruso signs may grace the yards of many homes in the Los Angeles area, the vote count means much more. Every Angeleno should exercise their right to vote this November.