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LA Mayor’s Race Pits Veteran Politician Bass Against Billionaire Developer Caruso
Caruso may have trouble fulfilling campaign promises
By Manny Otiko |IVN
The Los Angeles mayoral race has come down to two candidates. Billionaire developer Rick Caruso and U.S. Rep. Karen Bass finished on top of a crowded primary field. Since neither candidate attained 50% of the vote, they will go to a runoff in November.
However, the candidates are as different as can be. Caruso is a former Republican, who only became a Democrat because it was difficult for a red candidate to win in a blue city. Also, Caruso used his personal fortune to raise his profile. He spent an estimated $40 million on the campaign. Much of that went to a huge advertising buy which blanketed television with attack ads focused on Bass. Bass, a veteran politician who worked her way up the ladder, had a much smaller war chest.
Caruso finished narrowly ahead of Bass in the primary. And he has also drawn celebrity endorsements from the likes of rapper Snoop Dogg and actress Gwyneth Paltrow. The attack ads portrayed Bass as part of the corrupt Democratic establishment and Caruso as a reformer who could solve L.A.’s homeless problem.
