cawacko
Well-known member
Not A.D.D. friendly that it takes so long to count. Caruso is the former Chairman of the Board of Trustees of USC (and played a big role in the hiring of Lincoln Riley). He's a former Republican turned Democrat (can't win in L.A. as a Republican) and it shows how fed up people are with the status quo (and the supposed pretend crime wave) in the City that Caruso has done as well as he has. I'll still be surprised if he pulls this off but it shows even a City like L.A. a certain number of people can reach a breaking point.
Caruso-Bass Race for Los Angeles Mayor Might Take More Than a Week to Resolve
Businessman Rick Caruso is running slightly ahead of U.S. Rep. Karen Bass with fewer than half the votes counted
Congresswoman Karen Bass and developer Rick Caruso remained locked in a tight race for mayor of Los Angeles, as political strategists said it could take more than a week for the final result to become clear.
As of Wednesday morning, Mr. Caruso was leading Ms. Bass by just more than 12,000 votes, 51% to 49%, with about 43% of the expected ballots counted, according to the Associated Press. Election administrators said they would release the next batch of results Friday in America’s second most populous city.
Mr. Caruso, a former Republican and independent who registered as a Democrat in January, sought to tap into voter concerns about street homelessness and rising crime. A newcomer to electoral politics, he pitched himself as an experienced executive ready to change the status quo in a city whose leadership has been beset by scandals.
He focused his efforts on an intense ground operation and flights of ads aimed in large part at Latinos, who are the city’s largest ethnic group but have historically been less likely to vote than white or Black residents.
Mr. Caruso’s message was backed by a record $100 million in spending, most of it self-funded. Ms. Bass spent $9 million, though she had more support from outside groups.
A six-term Democratic congresswoman and former state legislator, Ms. Bass anchored her campaign around her experience as a politician and community organizer. She argued she could effectively unite the city and leverage multiple levels of government to tackle problems including homelessness.
The last political neophyte elected mayor of L.A. was businessman Richard Riordan in 1993. That Mr. Caruso is running ahead of Ms. Bass, who was endorsed by liberal heavyweights including President Joe Biden, former President Barack Obama and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.), suggests some voters in the overwhelmingly Democratic city may have reached the limits of their frustration with local political leaders.
Mr. Caruso “framed the race the way voters want to see it, which is, ‘Who’s going to come in to fix the problem?’” said John Shallman, a Democratic strategist who helped run Mr. Riordan’s mayoral campaign.
As early vote counts showed the two candidates running closely, both said they expected to prevail.
“It’s going to be a long night and it might take a few days,” Ms. Bass told supporters at an election night party late Tuesday. “But when we win, we’re going to build a new Los Angeles.”
Mr. Caruso spoke before supporters Tuesday night gathered at one of his shopping malls. “This election has always been about those that have felt left behind and unheard,” he said. “I hear you and change will happen.”
While Ms. Bass outperformed Mr. Caruso by 7 percentage points in a crowded June primary, several public polls in the final stretch showed them neck-and-neck.
One conducted by the Institute of Governmental Studies at the University of California, Berkeley and the Los Angeles Times showed Mr. Caruso had significantly cut into Ms. Bass’s previous lead among Latino voters and was polling well among independents.
Ms. Bass drew on a base that included Black voters, young voters and college-educated women.
In another of the nation’s most closely watched local contests, Lina Hidalgo, the Democratic elected executive of Harris County, which includes Houston, prevailed over GOP challenger Alexandra del Moral Mealer.
Ms. Mealer, who conceded Wednesday morning, spent much of the campaign criticizing Ms. Hidalgo on crime rates and the indictments of three of her staffers on accusations of record tampering. Ms. Hidalgo, who ousted a Republican incumbent to become the county’s equivalent of mayor four years ago at the age of 27, denied the accusations.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/caruso...-take-more-than-a-week-to-resolve-11668037363
Caruso-Bass Race for Los Angeles Mayor Might Take More Than a Week to Resolve
Businessman Rick Caruso is running slightly ahead of U.S. Rep. Karen Bass with fewer than half the votes counted
Congresswoman Karen Bass and developer Rick Caruso remained locked in a tight race for mayor of Los Angeles, as political strategists said it could take more than a week for the final result to become clear.
As of Wednesday morning, Mr. Caruso was leading Ms. Bass by just more than 12,000 votes, 51% to 49%, with about 43% of the expected ballots counted, according to the Associated Press. Election administrators said they would release the next batch of results Friday in America’s second most populous city.
Mr. Caruso, a former Republican and independent who registered as a Democrat in January, sought to tap into voter concerns about street homelessness and rising crime. A newcomer to electoral politics, he pitched himself as an experienced executive ready to change the status quo in a city whose leadership has been beset by scandals.
He focused his efforts on an intense ground operation and flights of ads aimed in large part at Latinos, who are the city’s largest ethnic group but have historically been less likely to vote than white or Black residents.
Mr. Caruso’s message was backed by a record $100 million in spending, most of it self-funded. Ms. Bass spent $9 million, though she had more support from outside groups.
A six-term Democratic congresswoman and former state legislator, Ms. Bass anchored her campaign around her experience as a politician and community organizer. She argued she could effectively unite the city and leverage multiple levels of government to tackle problems including homelessness.
The last political neophyte elected mayor of L.A. was businessman Richard Riordan in 1993. That Mr. Caruso is running ahead of Ms. Bass, who was endorsed by liberal heavyweights including President Joe Biden, former President Barack Obama and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.), suggests some voters in the overwhelmingly Democratic city may have reached the limits of their frustration with local political leaders.
Mr. Caruso “framed the race the way voters want to see it, which is, ‘Who’s going to come in to fix the problem?’” said John Shallman, a Democratic strategist who helped run Mr. Riordan’s mayoral campaign.
As early vote counts showed the two candidates running closely, both said they expected to prevail.
“It’s going to be a long night and it might take a few days,” Ms. Bass told supporters at an election night party late Tuesday. “But when we win, we’re going to build a new Los Angeles.”
Mr. Caruso spoke before supporters Tuesday night gathered at one of his shopping malls. “This election has always been about those that have felt left behind and unheard,” he said. “I hear you and change will happen.”
While Ms. Bass outperformed Mr. Caruso by 7 percentage points in a crowded June primary, several public polls in the final stretch showed them neck-and-neck.
One conducted by the Institute of Governmental Studies at the University of California, Berkeley and the Los Angeles Times showed Mr. Caruso had significantly cut into Ms. Bass’s previous lead among Latino voters and was polling well among independents.
Ms. Bass drew on a base that included Black voters, young voters and college-educated women.
In another of the nation’s most closely watched local contests, Lina Hidalgo, the Democratic elected executive of Harris County, which includes Houston, prevailed over GOP challenger Alexandra del Moral Mealer.
Ms. Mealer, who conceded Wednesday morning, spent much of the campaign criticizing Ms. Hidalgo on crime rates and the indictments of three of her staffers on accusations of record tampering. Ms. Hidalgo, who ousted a Republican incumbent to become the county’s equivalent of mayor four years ago at the age of 27, denied the accusations.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/caruso...-take-more-than-a-week-to-resolve-11668037363