Billionaire developer Rick Caruso (D) spent roughly $100 million in the race for mayor of Los Angeles, yet lost to Democratic Party favorite Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA), whom he vastly outspent, as late ballots were counted.
The insurgent candidate funded his own campaign, especially on ads, yet critics said throughout the race that if he really wanted to help the city, it would have been better to build housing for the homeless with his money.
Caruso is one of several moderate Democrats to learn what Republicans, by now, how found out: that when the party activists want to win an election in a big city, they are capable of turning out the ballots necessary to do it.
As in the primary, Caruso started ahead of Bass in the ballot count on Election Day. But he lost in vote-by-mail ballots — which are valid as long as they are postmarked by Election Day and received within a week…
