Rick Caruso Endorses Karen Bass, Slams Raman’s LAPD Plans

WHO:

ABC7 Los Angeles - Rick Caruso, a former Los Angeles mayoral candidate and former LAPD Police Commissioner, said he will vote for Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.

ABC7 Los Angeles - Bass’s challenger is Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman; Caruso said Raman is “not ready for the job” and “not prepared.”

ABC7 Los Angeles - Caruso praised LAPD Chief Jimmy McDonnell, calling him “one of the best chiefs of police in this country.”

ABC7 Los Angeles - Bass said she was “honored to receive” Caruso’s support and looked forward to working with him to address major city problems.

ABC7 Los Angeles - ABC7 Political Reporter Josh Haskell interviewed Caruso for the exclusive report.

NY Post - Caruso backed Bass for mayor and criticized Raman’s LAPD plans.

WHAT:

ABC7 Los Angeles - Caruso said, “I’ve looked at the records and I’ve made a clear decision of who I’m going to vote for...And that’s going to be Mayor Bass.”

ABC7 Los Angeles - Caruso said Bass had worked to learn from past mistakes and was, in his view, the candidate “most prepared to take us into the future of L.A.”

ABC7 Los Angeles - Caruso praised Bass’s support for rebuilding Pacific Palisades, expediting permitting, and bringing city resources to help reopen his Palisades Village shopping mall.

ABC7 Los Angeles - Caruso said Raman’s stated plan to remove McDonnell was “reckless,” would harm LAPD morale, make recruitment and retention harder, and set the city back years.

ABC7 Los Angeles - Caruso said he was speaking out because he opposed Raman’s readiness and positions on the police chief. He did not call his statement an endorsement, though he clarified whom he supports.

NY Post - The headline described Caruso as endorsing Bass and calling Raman’s LAPD plans “reckless and dangerous.”

WHERE:

ABC7 Los Angeles - The mayoral race and the cited city issues concern Los Angeles; Caruso’s shopping mall is in Pacific Palisades.

WHEN:

ABC7 Los Angeles - The article said eight days remained to vote.

NY Post - The article said the mayoral election was scheduled for Nov. 3.

WHY:

ABC7 Los Angeles - Caruso said he had “a lot of thought” about the candidates and wanted to put the past behind him for the future of Los Angeles.

ABC7 Los Angeles - Caruso said his concerns about Raman’s plans for McDonnell and the importance of public safety motivated him to speak out; he also cited the Olympics as a reason the city needs to keep residents safe.

HOW:

ABC7 Los Angeles - Caruso said Bass had been open to suggestions, public-private partnerships, and collaboration to help devastated communities.

(UPDATED October 27, 2026 16:15 UTC)

Rick Caruso says he will vote for Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, praising her work on city problems and calling her the candidate most prepared to lead. He criticized challenger Nithya Raman’s plan to remove LAPD Chief Jimmy McDonnell as reckless, warning it could hurt police morale and recruitment, while praising McDonnell as one of the country’s best police chiefs. Bass said she was honored to have Caruso’s support and looked forward to working with him to address the city’s challenges.