Los Angeles Mayor Special Election Results

[brooklynite]

13% reported:

Caruso 40.6%
Bass 38.2%

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/06/07/us/elections/results-california-los-angeles-mayor.html

[Nixie]

1. The poor showing of DeLeon sure puts a squash on the

Revolution. Wow, that is quite a strong message that liberal Los Angeles wants no part of democratic socialism.

[msongs]

3. ya but will they go for the republican in dems clothing? nt

[Diablo del sol]

6. Time is our friend in this case

The longer Rick has to run, the more evident it will become that he is a Dick. (that being said, shocked people didn't pick up on immediately. First time I saw him, with in a minute, this guys is a Republican.

With that he ran ads for the last month featuring Snoop Dogg, Gweneth Paltrow, and Wolfgang endorsing him.

[Nixie]

9. There is obviously a huge message that he's even gotten

this far. But it’s not like he’s the first one to switch parties to run in our primary, and that switching is obviously being used by other interested parties. They both have some high profile endorsements.

[tishaLA]

21. He hasn't been hit back much

He will be and should be now that Democrats can rally around Bass instead of having their energies so diffuse.

[Nixie]

26. True. Bloomberg sure folded in the debates after Warren went

after him.

[Demsrule86]

57. I personally think that was a bad idea...Bloomberg had done much on guns and

helped take Congress back. I have not noticed him helping us now and why should he? We could use the help.

[AZProgressive]

4. I remember a Democratic consultant said that Karen Bass makes Bernie Sanders look like Ronald Reagan

[Nixie]

25. She endorsed Hillary Clinton. I haven't noticed anything too

extreme about her when she’s on the talk shows. Interesting comment, though.

[AZProgressive]

27. When Karen Bass Went to Work in Castro's Cuba

Karen Bass, the congresswoman from California, is in contention to become Joe Biden's running mate. There are good reasons for this. She is reliably liberal, she chairs the Congressional Black Caucus, and she shares a history of family loss with Biden. But she’s also the only person on Biden’s list who spent part of the 1970s working construction in Fidel Castro’s Cuba with the Venceremos Brigade, a group that has organized annual trips to Cuba for young, leftist Americans for half a century.

The Biden campaign knows about Bass’s history with the Brigade, which began as a joint venture of the Castro government and Students for a Democratic Society, the leftist, antiwar organization that gave birth to the Weather Underground terrorist group. She told Biden’s vetting committee weeks ago that this was probably going to come up. So far, it hasn’t been a deal breaker—in fact, her potential to drive up African-American votes might help in Florida among voters who traditionally haven’t been paid as much attention in the state.

It’s a reflection of the changing politics around Cuba that Biden would consider a running mate whose past might hurt his chances in Florida, where anti-Castro Cubans are still an important constituency. In 1992, being associated with the Venceremos Brigade was enough to prevent Johnnetta Cole, the then-president of Spelman College who was coordinating education policy for Bill Clinton’s transition team, from being nominated to serve as secretary of education.

(Snip)

“There has been a shift on how to engage with Cuba, but there hasn’t been a shift in Castro’s popularity,” argues Fernand Amandi, a Florida-based Democratic consultant and pollster of Cuban heritage whose past clients include the Obama-Biden campaigns. Referring to comments Senator Bernie Sanders made in March that “it’s unfair to simply say everything is bad” about Castro’s government, Amandi added, “Fairly or unfairly, Karen Bass’s history on this subject makes Bernie Sanders look like Ronald Reagan.”

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/07/karen-bass-cuba-venceremos-brigade/614662/

This was when Biden was considering Bass as VP. This and doing a ribbon cutting event for a Scientology building were controversies at the time.

I think De Leon voters will probably vote for Bass in the runoff.

[Nixie]

30. Interesting. It's mostly about Cuba some years ago.

[Just A Box Of Rain]

32. That's completely absurd

[AZProgressive]

35. That is what the Dem consultant said

But it was on the issue of Castro’s Cuba not when it came to all issues. My point was Bass is a progressive so I don’t think De Leon’s poor showing is indicative of the kind of politics voters want since Bass is progressive.

[Just A Box Of Rain]

38. That unknown person is hugely misinformed

Karen Bass is a mainstream liberal Democrat who has broad and deep support within the party.

She is not a political extremist. Someone is feeding disinformation. Don't believe it.

[Nixie]

39. I guess the takeaway is that the revolution players

were heavily rejected in liberal Los Angeles. Bass endorsed Hillary Clinton.

[AZProgressive]

44. Barbara Lee is more progressive than the Squad but she endorsed Kamala Harris

I don’t think her endorsement of Hillary Clinton takes anything away from Bass.

[Nixie]

47. "Progressive"-- Hillary Clinton is a progressive, so of course it

doesn’t take anything away from Bass that she endorsed her.

The Squad refers to something different that didn’t win in progressive Los Angeles tonight.

[AZProgressive]

48. Well I was rooting for Bass over Caruso

It is Caruso that I don’t want to win.

He seems to be pushing “broken windows” type of policing. At least Bass wanted to “refund our communities”.

[Nixie]

50. My comments started with DeLeon's poor showing.

He has history from a prior Senate run, and it looks like progressive Los Angeles doesn’t want it.

I’ve always liked Bass.

[Hortensis]

59. This.

[Just A Box Of Rain]

52. Her endorsement of HRC certainly does not take away from Karen Bass.

It adds a great deal of luster.

[Celerity]

28. Bass is to the left of de Leon, so no clue what you are on about, de Leon had Blue Dog Coalition

conservative and New Democrat Coalition centrist endorsements







Bass (co-founder of the Congressional Medicare for All caucus) was endorsed by one of the anti-prog crew's chief boogeyman orgs/parties :

https://workingfamilies.org/candidates/








and also by the anti-prog crew disliked Katie Porter

[Nixie]

29. Obviously you're ignoring DeLeon's Senate run and

for good reason. Your bloated link doesn’t address that, so it’s not relevant to my comment. As far as who is “on”, your swing and miss shows what that is about.

[Just A Box Of Rain]

33. Karen Bass is not to the left of Kevin De Leon.

Not even close.

[Nixie]

37. Exactly. She endorsed Hillary Clinton, not Bernie, but now

it’s a race to claim her.

[Just A Box Of Rain]

42. The claims some people make are difficult to reconcile with reality sometimes.

Before she went on to the House, Karen Bass was the well-loved Speaker of the CA Assembly. Part of California's liberal Democratic establishment, it the best sense of the expression. A rock-solid Democrat.

I think this tactic to recast her as a leftist is what's known as "re-framing."

[Nixie]

45. Thank you, thank you again. It is exactly reframing. Bass

is an old school, reliable Democrat who endorsed progressive Hillary Clinton. Just saying Hillary Clinton’s name is enough to show what kind of loyal Democrat Bass is and they know it.

[Just A Box Of Rain]

49. I'm rather a large fan of the progressive Democrat Hillary Clinton myself.

It saddens me that our nation missed a great opportunity.

Bass is a loyal Democratic and a progressive in a similar mode to HRC, and you rightfully point out who Bass endorsed for president.

She is the type of candidate who has earned my support.

I will admit I had apprehensions that Caruso's media blitz might lead to a win (over 50%) in the primary.

But when Bass has the opportunity to counter message in the General, I think she will prevail. This was Caruso's big opportunity. And it looks like he's coming up short.

We have work to do.

[Nixie]

51. +1000. Bass is looking good for the long run.

As someone else pointed out, the DeLeon votes plus Bass outnumber Caruso, so she should prevail with their support.

[AZProgressive]

2. Likely heading to a runoff

[Beautiful Disaster]

5. Well Caruso isn't likely to hit 50%, so this is going to a runoff.

Plenty of time to hammer how extreme Caruso is.

[brooklynite]

10. Is he?

Their platforms are virtually identical.

[SoCalDavidS]

12. He's A repub

He ran as a Democrat because a repub has ZERO chance of winning in Los Angeles.

He's a billionaire, and is willing to buy the office, like a true repub.

[brooklynite]

16. See: Michael Bloomberg

Billionaire elected three times by NYC Democrats

Unless you have a specific policy issue to attack him on, I don't think going after his business background will succeed.

[Polybius]

17. I miss Bloomberg

Best Mayor we had since Koch.

[AZProgressive]

19. Also see Donald Trump

Billionaire real estate developer. Trump used to be a Democrat.

[SoCalDavidS]

20. He Used To Be Pro-Life

NYC Democrats also elected Rudy, so they're not exactly on the ball every time.

Bloomberg was a repub, through and through. He may have been repub Light, but he was still essentially a repub.

And I don't live in L.A. City, so I'm not familiar with Caruso's positions. I do know that he used to be a repub, and he's always struck me as being one, even before I knew that he switched parties prior to this election run.

[Beautiful Disaster]

23. Counterpoint: Rudy Giuliani.

He was a Democrat too before he, like Bloomberg, got into politics.

At the end of the day, Caruso has not been an advocate for progressive policies - Bass has been. I don't trust him.

Also, your Bloomberg comparison just proves my point. Bloomberg was a Democrat, who decided to run as a Republican in 2001 to avoid a crowded primary. That's the only reason he ever switched parties. It wasn't over any ideological differences he had with the party - it was just to have an easier path at getting to the general election where his $$$ and name recognition could help boost his support (along with the endorsement of the aforementioned Giuliani).

If anything, your Bloomberg comparison is exactly why Democrats should not want him to win - his running as a Democrat is purely political opportunism. Bloomberg's ideology didn't change much from his switch to Republican - it's extremely naive to think Caruso's will change, even with his 'policy proposals' will change now that he considers himself a Democrat after years of being a Republican, even during the Trump era (tho, I will concede he did not personally support Trump).

[JI7]

24. People don't want "progressive policies" when they are voting for Mayor

They want someone that will go after criminals and make sure the streets are clean .

[brooklynite]

54. I'm NOT "wanting him to win"'; I'm observing that its a strong possibility

Large City voters, even Democratic ones, are not as progressive as the blogosphere imagines they are.

[Celerity]

46. Elon Musk endorses Rick Caruso for Los Angeles mayor

https://www.axios.com/2022/06/03/elon-musk-endorses-rick-caruso-los-angeles-mayor

[Beautiful Disaster]

22. Yup!

Bass has been a long-time champion of progressive causes. Ruso has not. I don't care what his platform is, he's a snake and I hope he loses.

[dsc]

56. He was pro life in 2007 and gave boatloads of money to anti abortion politicians over the years

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-05-03/mayor-candidate-rick-caruso-past-abortion-views

But a 2007 Los Angeles Magazine profile painted a different picture. The story paraphrased Caruso’s views on the subject, based on interviews with him: “He says he opposes abortion in most cases but would support some stem cell research.”

[Hortensis]

60. ? He's a longtime Republican who turned Democrat to run for mayor.

They do both promise to focus on homelessness. However, he's a conservative billionaire businessman who spent most of his life supporting Republican policy and she's a lifelong liberal social activist.

One guess how deep a pretend "virtual identical" goes on just that one issue? Much less all the others.

[brooklynite]

62. Not just one issue...

Read their platforms. You may not trust Caruso on his promises, but I wouldn't assume the average voters thinks the same way.

[Hortensis]

63. The average voter is not pushing the toxic idea that she's like him.

[brooklynite]

64. Close to half the voters in LA (mostly Democratic) would disagree

Caruso 42.1%
Bass 37.0%

[Hortensis]

65. No. Their votes don't say they can't tell them apart.

Why even go this way? 2015-2016 was all about how Hillary was just like the Republicans for the same factions targeting this same meme now.

I assume you don't like what that proven swiftboating technique got us then.

[brooklynite]

66. Meaningless comment...

"Hillary = Republicans" was a comment by people who chose to vote for NEITHER.

My point is that LA voters apparently don't see a radically different platform between Caruso and Bass (based on voting); if they did, then they apparently were happy with a "billionaire Republican". Which explanation would you prefer?

[Just A Box Of Rain]

70. Let me point you to this little nugget from Caruso's platform...

a part of his agenda that I myself--as an Angeleno and one who is active in Democratic politics--am embarrassed to admit I was unaware of until yesterday when I was enlightened my DU member @tishaLA.

I have inextricably never hear this discussed in the media, or in ads, or in any other venue for political discourse.

It Caruso's deeply troubling "solution" to end homelessness.

His solution? Declare a "State of Emergency" that would allow Caruso as mayor to sideline the political authority of the LA City Council and grap unchecked political control.

Does this sound unbelievable to you? Because I must admit that sounded that way to me.

Caruso's "solution" straight from his website:

DECLARE A STATE OF EMERGENCY

Declaring a State of Emergency will give us [here "us" means Caruso alone] the ability to expedite sheltering decisions by creating a single point of accountability in the Mayor and getting City Council politics out of the way.


He has the political impulses of a dictator, who seeks to take unfettered power by declaring a state of emergency, as other do declaring martial law to take total power.

Seems very revealing of Caruso's attitudes towards liberal democracy and the checks and balances that come with the distribution of power.

I can assure you that Karen Bass has nothing similar in her platform. The two are not analogues of each other.

I have many other issues with Rick Caruso, but this alone is disqualifying in by book.

Editing to add a link to Caruso's website where one can read more about his plan to rule under a State of Emergency: https://carusocan.com/issues/homelessness/

[Just A Box Of Rain]

34. Thank goodness.

[In It to Win It]

7. COME ON REP. BASS!!!

[RandySF]

8. Closer than I expected .

[SoCalDavidS]

11. This Was Always Headed To A Runoff

Neither one polled anywhere close to 50%.

Caruso is going to back up the Brinks truck to fund his campaign, and So Cal is going to be bombarded with his ads for the next 4 months.

If people vote based upon how many ads they see, he's going to win unfortunately.

[IcyPeas]

13. 41.2 - 37.8 now.

[msongs]

14. at least bass + deleon is more than the repub is getting nt

[Nixie]

15. That's a good point.

[ripcord]

18. Democrats are bailing on Bass

The problem is that she is touting the same programs as her predecessors that have failed, democrats have led Los Angeles for 30 years and many just don't see things improving under them until they are shocked out of their complacency.

[Just A Box Of Rain]

43. Well this Democrat certainly isn't bailing on Karen Bass.

She will make a great mayor.

[question everything]

31. Why are these special elections?

[JI7]

36. Because Biden picked the Current Mayor for an ambassador position

[question everything]

58. Thank you. Forgot about it. Hope the senate confirmed him.

[Demovictory9]

68. they haven't. He has baggage... aid accused of sexual harassment

[Tom Rinaldo]

53. I hate that Billionairs start out wiith an excellent chance to buy any seat they want

Just hate it. Sure there may be some decent billionaires who might want an elected office. There are lots of decent social workers who might want an elected office also. The playing field is as level as Mt. Everest.

[uponit7771]

55. +1, right America has decent billionaires but it only takes one to really screw things up for all

[Hortensis]

61. Hate it also. Throw in some celebrity endorsements, etc, and

here we are. The winning edge, though, may turn out to be drawing Snoop Dogg and some black males who prefer a white male conservative to a black female social justice warrior.

[honest.abe]

67. So who's likely to win the runoff?

There's a big chunk of voters who voted for neither Caruso or Bass.

[Demovictory9]

69. Caruso ran nonstop ads. Bass ran none