LOS ANGELES — Billionaire developer and former unsuccessful mayoral candidate Rick Caruso decided Thursday not to pursue another potential challenge to Mayor Karen Bass, while another prominent candidate announced he was dropping out of the fray for personal reasons.
Caruso’s decision not to run for Los Angeles mayor in the June mayoral primary comes a day after contemplating a run in the wake of a bombshell story published Wednesday by the Los Angeles Times saying Bass directed the watering-down of an after-action report critical of the LA fire department’s handling of the deadly Palisades Fire. Bass vehemently denied the accusation.
“Rick is incredibly moved by outpouring of support but reached an earlier decision in a thoughtful process and it stands. He will not be a candidate for mayor,” Mike Murphy, a political consultant for Caruso, told the Times Thursday.
Caruso — who lost the 2022 election to Karen Bass — told KNX radio Wednesday evening that he needed time to process the news before he makes a decision on another possible mayoral run. But he did not rule out entering the 2026 race after all at the time.
“I need to spend some time thinking about this,” Caruso said. “It’s very fresh news. I’ve gotten a lot of calls today, as you can imagine, and there’s been a lot of posts on X and other places asking me to jump back in. I’m honored by that, but let’s give me some time.”
Caruso did not have much time to make such a decision — the deadline to file a declaration of intention for the June primary election is noon Saturday.
The mayoral campaign took another turn Thursday morning when former Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Austin Beutner announced he was dropping out of the race.
Beutner, whose 22-year-old daughter Emily died unexpectedly last month, was considered the top challenger to Bass in the upcoming election.
“I have made the difficult decision not to run for Mayor of Los Angeles,” Beutner said in a statement Thursday morning. “My family has experienced the unimaginable loss of our beloved daughter Emily. She was a magical person, the light of our lives. We are still in mourning.
“A successful campaign, and more importantly the job of mayor, requires someone who is committed 24/7 to the job,” Beutner said. “Family has always come first for me. That is where I need to be at this time.”
His message concluded with the comment that Los Angeles is “a special place, but every day it’s becoming less affordable, less safe and a more difficult place to live. To solve these problems, new ideas are needed along with leadership capable of implementing them.”
Beutner served as LAUSD superintendent from 2018 to 2021.
Meanwhile, another possible plot twist that might alter the landscape of the June mayoral primary was also simmering — with LA County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath potentially throwing her hat into the ring.
Horvath was a vocal critic of the city’s response to the Palisades Fire. The supervisor called on Gov. Gavin Newsom to fully investigate the true cause of the disaster.
“The city’s diluted report has lost all credibility,” Horvath wrote on a social media.