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LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Real estate mogul, billionaire and possible 2022 Los Angeles mayoral candidate Rick Caruso announced today he changed his voter registration to Democrat after almost a decade of being registered with no party preference.
Caruso considered running for mayor in 2013 but opted out, and in October it was reported that he hired a high-profile political consulting firm as he considers another run for mayor of Los Angeles, which is led almost entirely by Democrats. Caruso said in a statement on his Twitter Sunday that he will make a decision soon. The filing deadline is Feb. 12.
``For more than a decade I have been registered to vote with no party preference -- I have been a true political centrist -- because neither the Democratic nor the Republican parties captured what I believed we needed to do as a nation,'' Caruso said. He was registered as a Republican before 2012, according to the Los Angeles Daily News.
``...In short, because our upcoming elections in 2022 and 2024 will be existential for our democracy, now is the time for me to take a side. Today I am registered as a Democrat so that I can stand firmly on the side of the fundamental values that we will all need to invoke and enforce to thwart the coming attacks on our democracy.''
Caruso, the developer behind The Grove, Palisades Village and other shopping centers, was born in Los Angeles and served as the president of the civilian police commission after being appointed to the commission by Mayor James Hahn in August 2001, as well as on the Board of Water and Power Commissioners.
He said Monday he will be a ``pro-centrist, pro-jobs, pro-public safety Democrat.''
If Caruso announces a run for mayor, he'll join a field of high- profile candidates, including Rep. Karen Bass, L.A. City Councilmen Joe Buscaino and Kevin de León and City Attorney Mike Feuer. The primary for the 2022 Los Angeles mayoral election will take place on June 7, with the top two finishers squaring off in the election on Nov. 8.