Caruso refills campaign coffers with $7M contribution

Here’s a line that never seems to get old: Rick Caruso is spending again.

The mayoral candidate and billionaire developer gave his campaign a fresh $7.3 million last week, according to a 24-hour campaign contribution report filed with the city’s ethics commission.

The donation is not exactly a surprise: Caruso, who is mostly self-funding his campaign, has been spending large in his efforts to move from the C-Suite to City Hall, and earlier this month his campaign purchased $17 million worth of broadcast television ads, foreshadowing a likely Caruso check-writing splurge.

The next day he gave himself $5 million;
to date, the candidate has spent more than $56 million on his campaign, a figure that has shattered L.A. mayoral spending records. Still, it looks like play money compared to Mike Bloomberg’s $1 billion failed presidential bid.

Despite his deep pockets, in recent weeks analysts have painted Caruso as a serious underdog to Congresswoman Karen Bass, an established politician who also has the backing of the national and local Democratic Party establishment.

But voters still have six weeks to make up their minds, leaving plenty of time for Angelenos to see and hear Caruso’s ads — and for the candidate to keep opening his wallet.

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