(We Chinese in America Media Editor Tang Zhao, February 14, 2022) Billionaire Rick Caruso has announced his candidacy for mayor of Los Angeles. (Photo from KTLA5)

Billionaire developer Rick Caruso announced Friday that he has joined the ranks of Los Angeles mayoral candidates hoping to become the city's next mayor. The move disrupted the career plans of several Democrats hoping to succeed outgoing Mayor Eric Garcetti.

Caruso, 63, said in a statement posted on Twitter that Los Angeles, the second-largest city in the United States, could reverse a spike in crime and a homeless crisis. He filed his application a day before the registration deadline, announcing his intention to run for mayor of Los Angeles.

Caruso, known for building high-end shopping malls, joins several high-profile Democratic candidates in expanding the mayoral pool. Including Rep. Karen Bass, who hopes to become the first woman and second black mayor since Tom Bradley, who served as mayor from 1973 to 1993; other candidates include city councilor Liang Jiaxun (Kevin de Leon) of Chinese descent.

A first-time mayoral candidate and one-time Republican, Caruso has positioned himself as an outsider who accepts the political status quo. But he has already faced attacks from his Democratic rivals.

In the recent political history of Los Angeles, there is a precedent for a rich man to run for and be elected mayor of Los Angeles. For example, Richard Joseph Riordan, the 39th mayor of Los Angeles from 1993 to 2001, was an investment banker, businessman and politician. That year, Riordan, who ran for office for the first time as a moderate Republican, defeated Chinese American candidate Michael Woo in the runoff to be elected mayor. Therefore, Caruso may also become the next rich mayor of Los Angeles.

Caruso, once a decades-long Republican, turned independent in 2011, and after changing his party registration the same year, he describes himself as a "pro-centrist, pro-jobs, pro-public safety Democrat.”.

(Source: Compiled from Online Information)