The race for Los Angeles mayor is growing more competitive as businessman Rick Caruso and U.S. Rep. Karen Bass barrel toward the upcoming Nov. 8 election.
The mayoral race has tightened, according to the results of a Southern California News Group poll released this week, with Caruso, a billionaire and former-Republican-turned-Democratic candidate who runs a mostly self-funded campaign, leading by 3% over Bass, a congresswoman and former state Assembly speaker who is backed by labor groups.
The poll shows the two candidates are neck-and-neck, with Caruso gaining significantly compared to earlier polls.
In the survey of 400 likely voters, conducted by J. Wallin Opinion Research, nearly 40% said they would cast ballots for Caruso while 37% said they would back Bass. About 24% of respondents said they still haden’t decided who they would support.
Survey: LA voters answer 9 questions leading up to Nov. 8 election
But the results, which came out on Tuesday, Oct. 18, could change in the three weeks before Election Day. And many community leaders in the San Fernando Valley say they are divided over who should lead the city and tackle its most pressing issues — including the fallout from a series of scandals that have tarnished Los Angeles City Hall.
When asked which of the two candidates would better tackle the key issues facing the city, the poll respondents sided with Caruso in four of the five categories, including managing the city’s finances, dealing with inflation and the economy, homelessness and poverty, and crime and public safety. But in only one of those categories — finances — did Caruso have a lead greater than the 4.9% margin of error.
The survey respondents also said both candidates would be equally successful at dealing with the aftermath of the scandals that have beset City Hall.
But Pastor Cue Jn-Marie, of Skid Row’s Church Without Walls, said in a phone interview on Wednesday, Oct. 19, that he was disappointed to see Caruso leading in the polls because “we definitely don’t feel like a billionaire really understands the concerns of our people.”
“Rick Caruso has made his money off of California’s number one crisis, which is the homeless crisis,” he said. “To allow the person who has been basically causing trauma to our communities to be the mayor of the city, I don’t see anything getting done.”
Caruso, though, has tapped into the support of voters who have grown weary of rising crime and the worsening of the ongoing homeless crisis, which the coronavirus pandemic exacerbated.
Jn-Marie said he was disappointed to find out that Caruso wanted to add 1,500 officers to the Los Angeles Police Department.
“Where do you think he’s going to have them?” the pastor said. “They are going to target Black and brown communities. It’s going to be the same old, same old.”
When the city and county law enforcement agencies have multi-billion-dollar budgets, Jn-Marie said, elected officials could skimp on funding for housing initiatives.
“(Politicians) want to build little shacks to put people into them,” he said. “They just want to put us in housing projects and basically forget about us.”
Caruso, for his part, has said he’s the best candidate to solve the homeless crisis.
“Voters know the best way to address homelessness and safety,” Caruso said in a Tuesday evening statement, “is to have a leader who doesn’t accept the deterioration of our quality of life.”
But Stuart Waldman, president of the Valley Industry and Commerce Association, also known as VICA, said Caruso’s campaign is gaining momentum — and there’s a reason for that.
“We have to remember that this is a little-known businessman — not a career politician — who has been working hard to get his message out,” he said. “He’s been reaching out to different communities and he’s been getting out there in person, and I think it’s having an effect.”
The recent scandals embroiling City Hall, meanwhile, are going to benefit Caruso, a political outsider, Waldman said.
“All of the insiders are supporting Karen Bass,” he said. “So if we want more of the same, then go ahead and elect Bass. But if we want something different to be able to make some change, it’s Caruso. I think that message is getting out there.”
Garry Fordyce, a longtime member of the North Hills West Neighborhood Council, said he was excited to find Caruso was slightly leading in the poll.
“I’m not happy with the sanctuary City Hall,” he said. “It creates the situation where people don’t need to go to work because they keep money coming.”
Fordyce said he sympathized with those who are homeless, but also said he feared that the city was throwing money away when it came to building housing that currently costs as much as $700,000 per unit.
“I want everybody off the street,” Fordyce said. “Get them off the street and animosity from the homeowners will subside.”
Fordyce said he believed Caruso would be more productive in tackling homelessness and other issues.
“Caruso is going to deal with problems in a prudent way,” he said, “considering both sides, the homeless and homeowners.”
But Carolyn Chriss, the founder and group leader of the advocacy group East Valley Indivisibles, said she didn’t believe Caruso was qualified to become mayor.
“Many people who support Caruso are falling for his advertising,” she said, adding that Caruso lacked a history of being interested in public service.
“He is like your uncle at Thanksgiving, who says, ‘If only I ran the world, I would tell them what they need to do,’” she said. “Because he’s got a lot of money, he thinks he can be that uncle and maybe get a chance to do it.”
