With less than a week until the Los Angeles mayoral primary, Rick Caruso’s political evolution from Republican to Democrat still remains opaque to many voters in the overwhelmingly liberal city he hopes to lead.
Shortly after changing his registration in 2016,that he had made the switch so that he could vote for John Kasich in the Republican presidential primary that year. Caruso served as Kasich’s California co-chair and was outspoken about his dislike for then-candidate Donald Trump.
Kasich dropped out of the race in May 2016, and Caruso did not vote in that year’s primary, according to county records. Caruso spokesperson Peter Ragone said Caruso did not vote for Trump in 2016 but declined to say whether he voted for another candidate in the November 2016 presidential race. Darry Sragow, a veteran Democratic strategist and publisher of the nonpartisan California Target Book, thought that Caruso’s repeated changes in party affiliation could raise questions for voters.
He categorized the matter as a data point for voters — hardly fatal, but something that could resonate negatively if they believe it’s part of a larger picture.