亿万富翁、洛杉矶商场开发商卡鲁索表示，他将投票支持前竞争对手、现任市长凯伦·巴斯连任，后者正面临市议员、民主社会主义者尼蒂亚·拉曼的挑战，民调显示拉曼目前领先。
Caruso, the billionaire Los Angeles mall developer, said he is voting for his former rival Karen Bass for mayor as she fights for reelection against Nithya Raman, a city council member and democratic socialist who is leading in the polls.
2022年，卡鲁索在竞选市长时投入超过1亿美元个人财富，最终败给巴斯。他说，面对美国第二大城市的一系列问题——包括从去年毁灭性山火中恢复、以及持续的无家可归危机——巴斯是更稳妥的选择。
Caruso, who spent more than $100 million of his personal fortune in a losing bid for mayor against Bass in 2022, said she is the safer choice for the second-largest US city as it faces a raft of problems, including recovery from last year’s devastating wildfires and a persistent homelessness crisis.
“为了对洛杉矶的热爱，我必须放下过去，”卡鲁索周一在社交媒体X上发文称。
“For the love of LA, I must put the past behind me,” Caruso said Monday in a post on Raman, who has been on the city council for six years, has gained traction in her campaign by arguing LA is going in the wrong direction under Bass.
拉曼已在市议会任职六年，她通过主张巴斯领导下的洛杉矶正走向错误方向，在竞选中获得关注。根据加州大学伯克利分校为《洛杉矶时报》进行的最新民调，近三分之二的选民对市长的领导力感到失望。距离投票截止仅剩一周左右，许多洛杉矶选民已寄回邮寄选票。
Almost two-thirds of voters are disappointed in the mayor’s leadership, according to a recent poll from the University of California at Berkeley for the Los Angeles Times. With barely a week until polls close, many LA voters have already returned their mail-in ballots.
去年，当数千座住宅在洛杉矶太平洋帕利塞德大火中烧毁时，巴斯正在非洲进行公务访问，尽管此前已收到家乡火险危险的警告，卡鲁索当时曾严厉批评巴斯。他说，市长已表现出愿意学习、并与社区合作重建的意愿。
Caruso was a harsh critic of Bass after thousands of homes burned last year in LA’s Pacific Palisades while she was on an official trip to Africa despite having been warned of dangerous fire conditions back home. He said the mayor has shown a willingness to learn and work with the community to rebuild.
巴斯在一份声明中表示，她已与卡鲁索在帕利塞德的重建工作以及帮助家庭回家方面展开合作。
Bass said in a statement she has worked with Caruso on rebuilding efforts in the Palisades and getting families back into their homes.
“我很荣幸获得他的支持，期待在未来四年里与他合作，解决城市面临的重大问题，”她说。拉曼竞选团队发言人拒绝置评。
“I’m honored to receive his support and I look forward to working with him over the next four years to solve major problems in our city,” she said. A spokesperson for Raman’s campaign declined to comment.
拉曼的崛起与全国范围内日益壮大的民主社会主义运动相吻合，其中包括纽约市长佐赫兰·马姆达尼的当选。卡鲁索批评了拉曼的一些政策，称一项提议替换洛杉矶警察局局长吉姆·唐奈尔的提案“鲁莽且危险”。卡鲁索还表示，拉曼针对该市无家可归者危机的提议含糊不清，且缺乏足够的领导履历。
Raman’s rise coincides with a growing democratic socialist movement across the country, including the election of Mayor Zohran Mamdani in New York. Caruso criticized some of Raman’s policies, calling a proposal to replace LA Police Chief Jim Donnell “reckless and dangerous.”Caruso also said Raman had vague proposals for addressing the city’s homelessness crisis and not enough of a leadership track record.
“与其说是意识形态问题，不如说是能力问题——她缺乏行政经验，”卡鲁索说。
“It is not so much about ideology, but about competence — her lack of executive experience,” Caruso said.