Billionaire developer Rick Caruso, who is running for mayor of Los Angeles and secured a spot this summer in a runoff against Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA), is spending millions of dollars in a bid to reach “marginalized communities” in the final weeks of the race.
Caruso, a former Republican who became a Democrat this year and is boosted by a $60 million war chest filled mostly with his own money, deployed several hundred paid canvassers and volunteers to scour communities for potential voters overlooked by other campaigns, with an eye especially for those who did not vote in the primaries, according to the Associated Press. The report said select staff who use demographic research and polling decide where to send canvassers, with a focus on undecided Latinos, Asians, and independents. The canvassers then go door to door or call, text, or email these people.
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Caruso has a chance at winning the election if his campaign can convince enough people to vote for him who would not have voted otherwise, according to Dveen Babaian, who oversees the paid canvassers. “Our door knocks are the first door knocks some of these voters have ever gotten,” Babian told the outlet. “This campaign will be won by engaging marginalized communities.”
Latinos make up approximately half the city’s 4 million people and leaned toward Caruso in the primary. But Bass has also been fighting for the Latino vote, with endorsements from former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, former City Council President Nury Martinez, and labor leader Dolores Huerta. If elected, Bass would be the city’s first black female mayor.
The gap between Caruso and Bass has gotten smaller among likely voters recently. While Caruso still trails Bass, the businessman’s backing from Asian and Hispanic voters and growing support from registered Angelenos is closing the gap, according to the latest Los Angeles Times/UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll. Among registered voters, Bass leads Caruso by 3 percentage points, 34% to 31%, down from a 12-point gap in August.
Caruso has vowed to crack down on crime in the city and promised to expand the Los Angeles Police Department and get homeless encampments off the streets. Bass has taken aim at Caruso for jumping from being a long-term Republican to a Democrat in a contest to govern a predominantly liberal city.
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Caruso’s gain in popularity toward the end of the primaries is what led to a runoff election between the candidates. In the primaries, Caruso trailed Bass by 7 points. The winner of the Nov. 8 election will replace Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.
