LOS ANGELES (AP) – Many voters in highly democratic Los Angeles are seething with rising crime and homelessness, and this could cause the city to turn to the political right for the first time in decades.
One of the leading candidates for mayor is Rick Caruso, a pro-business billionaire who has become a Republican, a Democrat, who is on the board of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and promises to increase police spending, not compensate.
At other times, the developer of high-end malls and resorts would seem unlikely to head the country’s second most populous city, where Democratic Socialist Bernie Sanders was the runaway winner of the Democratic presidential election in 2020. The Progressive City Hall adopted the so-called protection of the asylum city for people who have entered the United States illegally; and the Green New Deal’s climate policy.
But these are tough times in Los Angeles, with more than 40,000 people living in garbage-filled homeless camps and rusty trucks, suffering from burglary and home raids as inflation and taxes dig up wallets – gas in a built-in travel region with a car cracked $ 6 a gallon. Rents and house prices have risen.
Caruso is spending millions of his estimated $ 4.3 billion fortune to fund a seemingly ongoing television and online commercial to get involved in voter anxiety. The question is whether enough people will embrace his plans to add 1,500 police officers and promises to get the homeless out of the streets, while not backing away from his vast wealth.
Twelve names are on the ballot for the June 7 primary, although several candidates dropped out and the race was a battle between Caruso and US Democratic Representative Karen Bass, who was on then-President-elect Joe Biden’s list as vice president.
If no candidate completes 50% – which is likely if the ballot is full – the first two graduates qualify for the run-off in November. Bass could become the first woman to hold the post and the second black man.
Bass and Caruso are not well known in a city that may be known to be indifferent to local politics.
“Part of it will be how people feel about them when they get to know them better. We don’t know the answer to that, “said Democrat veteran consultant Bill Carrick, who believes voters are looking for solutions to homelessness and crime, not obsessed with past political affiliations. The competition is technically non-partisan.
Bass, 68, is a favorite of the party’s progressive wing, while Caruso, 63, is a political transformer who calls himself a “centrist, professional, public safety democrat.”
According to government documents, he was a Republican for more than two decades before becoming independent in 2011. Caruso returned to being a Republican in 2016, the year he co-chaired the California campaign for Republican presidential candidate John Kasic. he became independent again in 2019. He became a Democrat shortly before entering the mayoral race in February.
He has donated to candidates from both parties, prompting criticism from Democrats who point to his financial support for Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, among others. And he is routinely attacked for a lavish lifestyle, including owning a 9-bedroom yacht.
The mayoral race is one of several state primary contests where political loyalty is tested by questions about the direction of the dominant Democratic Party in California, which holds all positions throughout the state and commands the legislature and congressional delegation.
San Francisco voters are considering recalling District Attorney Chesa Budin, a Democrat who critics say has failed to prosecute repeat offenders, while Democratic Attorney General Rob Bonta faces several contenders who say he prefers criminal reform. justice for the victims of the crimes he disputes.
An emerging question in LA is who will show up. About 80% of voters did not cast their ballots when incumbent Eric Garcetti was re-elected in 2017.
There is deep concern from the government in Los Angeles. A major challenge for Caruso, Bass and other rivals – including City Councilor Kevin de Leon, a former Democrat leader in the state Senate – will be convincing that voter change is possible.
Example: owner of Vignesh Kandavel gas station. He says his grievances have remained unheard of for years for homeless people who set up camps around a motorway overpass just steps from its pumps and convenience market.
Hanging tents and rubbish are cleaned from time to time, only to bring the homeless back. He says drug use is widespread, shoplifting is a constant problem, and manipulating highway exits is a daily routine.
The Nigerian immigrant and registered Republican, who came to the United States in search of a better life, has lost interest in the election and sees no candidate for office.
“The whole system is gone,” Kandavel said.
Caruso’s superiority in the race – polls suggest he is closely associated with Bass – has worried longtime Democrats who are attacking him as a poser trying to buy the job. His campaign has raised about $ 30 million, most of his money.
There is an expected competition for celebrity approval – Irwin “Magic” Johnson supports Bass, while Caruso has Snoop Dogg and Gwyneth Paltrow behind him. Rivalry is already gaining a nasty advantage, especially in the ads of groups supporting candidates.
Bass’s ads recall her work as a physician’s assistant during the foot epidemic and her time in Congress and the legislature. But the police union that backed Caruso is running commercials trying to link Bass to a federal corruption case involving her longtime friend, ousted city councilor Mark Ridley-Thomas. She calls the ads lies.
Caruso’s ad advertises his immigrant grandparents, philanthropic endeavors, and promises to work for $ 1 a year. But commercials by an independent Bass-backed group funded by unions and former Disney studio boss Jeffrey Katzenberg portray Caruso as a LA version of former President Donald Trump trying to cover up an “extreme” record.
Retired Public Defender Paul Enright said he had not decided on the mayoral race, but was repulsed by Caruso’s walks, which are more than the other candidates combined. A Democrat who supports public funding for campaigns, he leans towards Bass or de Leon.
This is a “classic example of how money speaks,” Enright said.
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