LOS ANGELES (AP) – Many Los Angeles voters, who are very Democrat, are booming over rising crime and homelessness, and that could turn the city into a political right-wing for the first time in decades.
One of the main candidates for mayor is Rick Caruso, a pro-business Republican billionaire who has served on the board of directors of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and vows to expand police spending, not fund it.
At another time, the developer of high-end malls and resorts would seem unlikely to potentially lead the country’s second most populous city, where Social Democrat Bernie Sanders was the runaway winner of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary. A progressive city council has adopted so-called sanctuary city protections for people entering the United States illegally and the “New Green Pact” climate policies.
But these are tough times in LA, with more than 40,000 people living in homeless camps littered with rubbish and rusty RVs, anguish over blatant burglaries and burglaries and home invasions while inflation and taxes are busting wallets. : gas in a built-up region. on car trips they have earned $ 6 a gallon. Rents and house prices have skyrocketed.
Caruso is spending millions of his estimated $ 4.3 billion fortune to fund a seemingly uninterrupted viewing of TV and online ads to take advantage of voter distress. The question is whether enough people will accept his plans to add 1,500 police officers and pledge to take people out of the streets without housing, without stepping back from their great wealth.
There are twelve names on the ballot for the June 7 primary election, although several candidates have withdrawn and the race is shaping up as a fight between Caruso and Democratic MP Karen Bass, who part of the shortlist of then-President-elect Joe Biden. for vice president.
If no candidate exceeds 50%, which is likely with a crowded vote, the top two finishers advance to a second round in November. Bass could become the first woman to hold office and the second black person.
Bass and Caruso are little known in a city that may be notoriously indifferent to local politics.
“Part of that will be how people feel about them as they get to know them better. We don’t know the answer to that,” said veteran Democratic consultant Bill Carrick, who believes voters are looking for solutions to homelessness. and crime, without obsessing over past political affiliations. The contest is technically non-partisan.
Bass, 68, is a favorite on the party’s progressive wing, while Caruso, 63, is a political change who calls himself a “centrist Democrat in favor of employment and security. public “.
According to government records, he was a Republican for more than two decades before becoming an independent in 2011. Caruso became a Republican again in 2016, a year in which he served as co-chair of the California campaign for the candidacy. Presidential Republican John Kasich, and then became independent again. in 2019. She became a Democrat shortly before taking office as mayor in February.
He has given candidates from both parties, which has provoked criticism from Democrats who point to his financial support for Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell, among others. And he has been regularly attacked for an opulent lifestyle, including having a 9-room yacht.
The mayor’s career is one of several competitive contests in state primaries where political loyalty is being tested by questions about the leadership of the dominant Democratic Party of California, which holds all state positions and dominates the margins in the Legislature and the congressional delegation.
San Francisco voters are considering whether to fire District Attorney Chesa Boudin, a Democrat who, according to his critics, has not prosecuted repeat offenders, while Democratic state Attorney General Rob Bonta he faces several challengers who say he is in favor of criminal justice reform on crime victims, which he disputes.
A question that arises in LA is who will appear. About 80% of voters did not vote when outgoing mayor Eric Garcetti was re-elected in 2017.
There is deep dismay with the LA government. A major challenge for Caruso, Bass and other rivals, including City Councilman Kevin de Leon, a former Democratic leader in the state Senate, will be to convince voters that change is possible.
An example: the owner of the gas station Wignesh Kandavel. He says his complaints have not been heard for years about homeless people setting up campsites around an overpass of the freeway just steps from their bomb and convenience market.
Fallen tents and rubbish will be cleaned from time to time, only to return homeless people. He says drug use is rampant, theft is a constant problem, and handling at highway exits is a daily routine.
The registered Nigerian and Republican immigrant who came to the US in search of a better life has lost interest in the election and sees no credible candidate.
“The whole system is gone,” Kandavel said.
Caruso’s rise in the race – polls show he is very similar to Bass – has long alarmed Democrats who attack him as a poser trying to buy the job. His campaign has raised about $ 30 million, most of his money.
There’s the expected competition for celebrity endorsements: Earvin “Magic” Johnson supports Bass, while Caruso has Snoop Dogg and Gwyneth Paltrow behind him. Rivalry is already taking a nasty lead, especially in group announcements that support candidates.
Bass’s announcements recall his work as a physician’s assistant during the crack epidemic and his time in Congress and the Legislature. But the Caruso-backed police union is posting announcements trying to link Bass to a federal corruption case involving his longtime friend, suspended councilor Mark Ridley-Thomas. She tells lies in ads.
Caruso’s advertising promotes his immigrant grandparents, philanthropic efforts and promises to work for $ 1 a year. But announcements by an independent bassist-backed group backed by union-funded and former Disney studio boss Jeffrey Katzenberg portray Caruso as a Los Angeles version of former President Donald Trump trying to hide an “extreme” record.
Retired public defender Paul Enright said he was undecided on the run for mayor, but was discouraged by Caruso’s streak of spending that adds up more than the other candidates put together. Democrat who supports public funding for campaigns, leans for Bass or Leon.
It’s a “classic example of how money talks,” Enright said.