Rick Caruso, the billionaire developer who was defeated by Karen Bass in the 2022 Los Angeles mayoral election, may not be done with politics just yet.
Despite asserting he wouldn’t run again for mayor if he lost that race, Caruso “has been behaving a bit like a candidate,” which is “raising questions about whether he’ll run for mayor again, or declare himself a candidate in another high-profile race, such as California governor,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
The Times reports that he’s discussed issues such as potholes on edits from the 405 Freeway, homelessness and graffiti-tagged towers in downtown L.A. in his email missives and in local media.
“Ongoing challenges and illegal activities plague the abandoned Oceanwide Towers in Downtown LA,” Caruso wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “We live in the greatest city in the world, but these towers are a stark symbol of the struggles in our downtown.”
While Caruso declined to comment to the Times, “political experts interviewed by The Times said that Caruso is clearly setting himself up in case he decides to run for mayor again or enter the governor’s race.”
“In the meantime, he’s pushing for “A person familiar with his strategy told The Times that the developer hasn’t ruled out a run for either mayor or governor in 2026,” the Times added.