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LOS ANGELES - Rick Caruso, the billionaire developer certainly seems like a candidate in waiting as he paid for a slick, direct mail brochure calling for the passage of Proposition 50, the statewide referendum that seeks to gerrymander the current congressional map that would decrease the number of Republicans representing California from 9 to potentially just 4, all but eliminating any semblance of a competitive, two-party dialogue.
Democrats currently occupy 43 of the 52 congressional seats or 82% of the delegation. Caruso is pushing for a 48-4 map or 92% of the seats occupied by Democrats. The only place bluer would-be Massachusetts, where the state's entire congressional delegation is composed of 9 Democrats.
California Democrats insist this initiative to gerrymander is in reaction to the Texas reapportionment plan to grow their Republican caucus from 25-13 or 65.75% to 30-8 or 78.79% of the delegation in the House.
Maybe true, but when do two political wrongs make a right?
Judging from the math versus the rhetoric on either side of the aisle, Texas Republicans and California Democrats are both manipulating their super majority status to recreate even larger lopsided delegation majorities heading into the all-crucial 2026 midterm elections.
So where does Caruso fit in this map-making process?
Hardly a partisan Democrat if a Democrat at all, Caruso has historically straddled the party persuasion game when it best suited his own electoral goals and objectives.
Caruso has changed his party status four times since 2011 when he was a registered Republican only to leave to a "no party preference." In 2016 Caruso leaned back to becoming a Republican and endorsed former Ohio Governor John Kasich for president over Donald Trump. Caruso played a key role as national finance chair for the Trump antagonist.
In 2019 Caruso left the GOP again for a "no party status" label and opted to endorse no one for President in 2020. In 2022 just months before announcing his run for mayor of Los Angeles, Caruso drifted into the Democratic Party camp as a pro-business, pro-growth moderate.
But Caruso's flip-flopping from party to party has hurt his status as a true identifiable Democrat and it did little to help his cause in his 2022 defeat to then Congresswoman Karen Bass in what was officially regarded as a non-partisan affair. Like former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg before him, Caruso's popularity with rank & file Democrats will always be tenuous at best.
Even with an endless amount of personal fortune that resulted in over $100 million in campaign expenditures and financing, this human ATM machine still was defeated by a healthy margin of 55-45% four years ago by Bass.
For Caruso in many ways has been pragmatic in policy and uncomfortable with party labels, as his core beliefs seem more center right for this DINO (Democrat in name only).
As of this writing, Caruso has not made any final decision whether to seek a rematch with Bass or opt for a statewide odyssey for governor in an already crowded of Democrats. And with former LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa already in the hunt, the decision to take on Bass again is the more practical and the safer bet. For making another non-partisan run for mayor makes the most sense for this independent political species of sorts.
Caruso raised $244,600 for Kasich's Super PAC in 2016, and since his latest party switch raised $120,000 for the Biden Victory Fund in 2020 and another $41,300 for the Democratic National Committee in 2023.
But despite this change from red to blue, Caruso made no formal presidential endorsements in 2020 or 2024 (Kamala Harris and Joe Biden endorsed Bass for mayor in 2022).
For Caruso's splurge into the Prop 50 equation seems to be more of a financial shot in the arm for Governor Gavin Newsom, who is all in on securing a Democratic takeover of the House of Representatives in 2026 which if successful, could see him remerge as a consensus presidential frontrunner against the likes of Vice-President JD Vance or Secretary of State Marco Rubio with Trump unable to seek a third term.
Caruso claims that voting "yes" on 50 "is one of the most important things we can do to protect our democracy."
Really?
While Caruso asserts what Texas is did is wrong, but not illegal, is what California is trying to do is just another form of gerrymandering veiled in a velvet glove?
The placing of silk hat on a hog's head?
While Caruso is correct that the Texas plan would "impose Republican representation" in several new districts, isn't that exactly the case with a "yes" vote on Prop 50 here in California?
Again, the Texas "two-step" on the congressional map is hyper partisan indeed.
But what is truly different, should Prop 50 create five more Democratic districts that would all but eliminate responsible two-party government here in California as if it were not already the case?
If Rick Caruso is serious about saving America as indicated in his enthusiasm for passage of Prop 50, congressional reapportionment and gerrymandering shenanigans in Texas or California is hardly the path to salvation.
(Nick Antonicello is a thirty-two-year resident of Venice who covers the political scene from a Westside perspective, believing all politics is truly local indeed. Have a take or a tip? Contact him via e-mail at [email protected])
