TO: Interested Parties
FROM: Doug Herman, General Consultant
RE: State of the Race - The November Runoff
We all saw what happened this election. Rick Caruso tried to knock Karen Bass out of the runoff and he failed.
This race now stands with Karen Bass at 38.8% and Rick Caruso at 40.5%.
A billionaire luxury real-estate developer spent $40 million selling himself as the 30 second sound bite savior of Los Angeles. Caruso assumed that his wealth, low voter turnout, and an onslaught of attack ads would propel him into an outright primary win.
He did everything in his power to avoid a head-to-head November election against Congresswoman Bass. Because Rick Caruso’s best – only – shot at winning this election was to sneak his way to 50 percent in the primary.
Rick Caruso is in big trouble in the runoff this November.
Massive Spending Advantage
Rick Caruso’s spending accounted for 75 percent of all money in the race. That doesn’t include the special interest police union PAC dollars that funded racist, dog-whistle attack ads against the Congresswoman. This level of spending is completely unprecedented in a municipal race – our campaign was outspent 14:1 – and it still wasn’t enough to knock the Congresswoman out.
Historically Low Voter Turnout
Our campaign was up against the lowest statewide primary turnout in over 100 years – giving Caruso’s Republican-aligned base an edge. Our grassroots base of support is in communities that traditionally turn out in stronger numbers during general elections: young people, communities of color, and working-class voters. During the coming months, our campaign will ramp up our on-the-ground organizing efforts, knocking on doors in neighborhoods that are historically overlooked in local elections – meeting voters where they are and in the language that they speak.
Democratic and Republican Lanes
There were two lanes in this race: one for Democrats, and one for Republicans. While the Republican lane consolidated behind Caruso, the Bass campaign was competing with other progressive Democrats. The Democratic lane for voters was vibrant and led by Karen Bass, totaling votes beyond 57% for the Democratic lane candidates. In Tuesday’s election, the Democratic lane outpolled the Republican lane by 49,418 votes. November is a race between a Democrat and a Republican, and in Los Angeles, the Democrat will win.
Bass’ Popular Progressive Record
Poll after poll shows us that voters in Los Angeles want a progressive leader – someone who can deliver meaningful, material change to their lives. Bass has a distinctive advantage over Caruso in this regard. She can point to both long-standing support for and activism around progressive policies, and the results that show she has delivered victories for Los Angeles at every level of government – from making major investments in communities of color as an organizer, to rescuing the state from economic collapse as a leader in the State Assembly, to working relentlessly for foster children and good-paying jobs in Congress.
United Democratic Support Favors Bass
Rick Caruso’s only path to victory was through a large and fragmented Democratic field of candidates. Now, Democrats will unite behind Karen Bass’ forward-looking, hopeful vision for the future of Los Angeles.
Karen Bass will be boosted by a broad, unified base of support from the progressive base of the Democratic party, the labor movement, and people from every part of the city joining together to make Los Angeles, a safer, more affordable place to live.
Despite being outspent 14-1, multiple Democrats splitting the Democratic vote and one of the lowest ever primary turnout elections, Karen Bass still stands as the frontrunner in the race to become Los Angeles mayor.
Let’s do this together, on to victory in November!
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Paid for by Karen Bass for Mayor 2022 - General
Paid for by Karen Bass for Mayor 2022 - General
777 S Figueroa St
STE 4050
Los Angeles, CA 90017
United States
Additional information is available at ethics.lacity.org.
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