Behind the Scenes of the Bass campaign, with political strategist Doug Herman

CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: Billionaire developer Rick Caruso emerged from the Los Angeles mayor’s race primary as the only serious contender to the frontrunner, Congresswoman Karen Bass. Bass, a former Assembly Speaker who was rumored to be on Joe Biden’s shortlist of VP candidates, had the name ID, but Caruso had the money. A lot of it. By the end of the bruising campaign, Caruso had burned though over $100 million – mostly his own money – outspending Bass eleven-to-one. The spending disparity made the race closer than many expected, though Bass ultimately prevailed.

We’re joined today by Doug Herman of The Strategy Group. Doug was inside the Bass campaign and helped build an effective strategy to compete successfully against a nearly-overwhelming spending disparity. Doug has served as a political advisor to Mayor Garcetti, former Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez and Congressman Henry Waxman, and was a lead mail strategist for Obama for America in the 2008 and 2012 campaigns.

Plus, we tell you who had the Worst Week in California Politics.

:32 The race

1:56 Direct mail

5:04 The Caruso ground game: what happened?

7:46 The polls

10:59 USC

13:39 Why didn’t Newsom endorse?

15:06 What is California’s role in 2024?

19:14 #WWCA