Caruso Attempts to Interfere in DA’s Race with Biased Poll Excluding Top Contender and Candidates

On February 15th, former mayoral candidate and billionaire businessman Rick Caruso, posted the results of what appears to be a calculated effort to interfere in one of the most important races that will greatly affect the future of L.A. County public safety.

Caruso’s statement, released on his X account (formerly known as Twitter) said:

“I recently instructed my staff to conduct a scientific poll of L.A. County primary voters. I wanted to see how many voters are looking at key races, including the U.S. Senate and the vital office of District Attorney.”

In the polling data released by Caruso’s company, Impact Research, it states “…we tested the six who we believed to be leaders in the field. Below are some key findings from the poll.”

However, Caruso neglected to reveal he purposely excluded half of the candidates, including embattled DA George Gascon’s top contender Jonathan Hatami, who polled second in the only truly independent poll released to date by USC/Dornsife.

Ahead of the 2020 election, Caruso supported Gascon and co-hosted a high-dollar fundraiser for the pro-criminal challenger to then DA Jackie Lacey.

Once he decided to throw his hat in the ring and run for Mayor, and after a second high-profile recall campaign was launched against Gascon, Caruso quickly switched gears.

But did he?

In 2022, during his campaign, after the devastating consequences of Gascon’s directives, Caruso supported the recall donating $50,000 to the effort.

However, with only 88 days left to collect signatures, he banned petitioners from his luxury retail properties, The Grove, Palisades Village and Americana, prime locations for signature collecting.

Caruso’s Impact Research poll and his interview on Fox 11 News regarding the poll, revealed his true intentions to interfere in the race:

“Nobody based on our polling is breaking out” Caruso told Elex Michaelson, neglecting to acknowledge the purposeful exclusion of half of the candidates, specifically the one with the most support from independently polled voters, which is what led to his manipulated results.

Caruso’s support of Jeff Chemerinsky screams where his loyalties lie – with Gascon’s ideology and the criminal sympathizers that destroyed public safety in L.A. County.

His other choice, Eric Siddall, has the experience, but is far from left-leaning and was a registered Republican in the past.

Chemerinsky came in 4 points below Gascon’s top challenger Jonathan Hatami in the USC/Dornsife poll. Siddall did not register on the poll at all with less than 1%.

Caruso’s attempt to interfere in this election was not only ill-timed, it was clearly ego-driven – not to mention a waste of time as many voters have already cast their mail-in ballots.

The California Primary election is March 5th.