Caruso gives campaign another $5M

With weeks to go in L.A.’s mayoral race, Rick Caruso is reaching further into his very deep pockets.

The billionaire developer, who shot to a top position in the primary with the help of record spending but has recently been lagging his rival Karen Bass in the polls, gave $5 million to his campaign on Friday, according to a filing with the city ethics commission.

This campaign contribution came less than a month after Caruso had forked over $3.5 million to his campaign in anticipation of the contest’s charged final stretch. The $5 million addition also came just a day after Caruso’s campaign bought $17 million worth of broadcast television ads — the latest sign that Caruso, who blanketed Greater L.A.’s television and social media with ads during the primary, intends a similar ad blitz for the general campaign.

While the initial ad blitz certainly helped to distinguish Caruso, a well known entity and former Republican who was also a political neophyte, from a crowded primary field, it’s less clear that another ad blitz, when most voters already have their minds made up, will be able to bridge Caruso’s sizeable popularity gap.

Last month, a widely cited poll UC Berkeley gave Bass a 12 point lead; while both candidates have secured numerous high-profile endorsements, Bass, a former community organizer and veteran Democratic politician, also has the virtually unanimous backing of the Democratic establishment, support that’s considered particularly important in left-leaning L.A.

To date Caruso, who is almost entirely self funding his campaign, has spent more than $48 million, shattering all records for spending in an L.A. political race.

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