The special election for a new LA Mayor has come down to a runoff between progressive Congresswoman Karen Bass and former Republican Billionaire turned Democrat Rick Caruso.
A recent count of votes in the race showed Caruso, who has made supporting law enforcement and business owners a key part of his platform, leading Bass 42% to her 37%. In California, if no candidate breaks 50%, it triggers an automatic runoff between the top 2 candidates.
Karen Bass, who has represented California’s 37th Congressional district since 2011, was recently on the short list for Joe Biden’s Vice Presidential candidate in 2020. She was beat out by Kamala Harris, a fellow California Democrat, for the spot.
Rep. Bass, traditionally considered one of the more progressive members of her party, has been feeling the pressure as of late to change her stance on law enforcement.
The Defund the Police movement gutted police departments in liberal cities around the country and led to a string of progressive DA’s being elected, including in Los Angeles. Now the District Attorney of LA, George Gascon, is facing a recall election for his soft on crime policies after they apparently led to a huge spike in crime in the city.
Shortly before Tuesday’s election, Karen Bass flipped on her progressive roots, going on FOX News and announcing “My plan calls for getting officers on the beat immediately in neighborhoods that want to see an increased police presence. But I believe the quickest way to get officers on the beat is to get them from behind the desk.”
She then added, “I’m calling for hiring civilians so those officers can be on the beat. But I’m also calling for hiring some 200-400 officers…I also believe in making a serious investment in crime prevention.”
Despite her last minute change to being a pro-cop candidate, Caruso has made supporting law enforcement a part of his campaign since the beginning. The billionaire spent over $39 million of his own money on the election so far, helping him land high level celebrity endorsements from Kim Kardashian, Gwyneth Paltrow, Elon Musk, Wolfgang Puck, and Snoop Dogg.
The success of Caruso in this race is sure to send shivers down the spines of Progressive Democrats everywhere. It’s clear that America is rejecting their policies when even California is picking the more conservative option. Do you think Caruso will manage to win his race and help clean up LA or does the left have enough tricks up their sleeves to make Bass the next LA Mayor?
