LA mayoral candidates react to racist tape in debate

Los Angeles mayoral contenders Rick Caruso and Rep. Karen Bass agree on little else but this: The City Council members behind a racist diatribe recorded behind closed doors should go.

"There needs to be an investigation, and those officials must resign," Bass said Tuesday night, "but that's not enough. We need a new direction in LA and new leadership that will make sure we reject the politics of divide and conquer."

The final debate opened with questions on the explosive recording of then-union leader Ron Herrera and LA City Council members Nury Martinez, Kevin de Léon and Gil Cedillo, whose conversation was riddled with racist comments. It was published Sunday morning.

Caruso — who had previously called for the council members' resignation — focused on crime and corruption, fixtures of his campaign, when asked to discuss the tape.

"What's happened is completely unacceptable and those that did it need to be held accountable," said Caruso, "but I think there's more than we need to talk about. They went into a back room to carve up the city for their own special interest for themselves. The system is broken, and it's full of corruption."

Bass and Caruso — who have long cast each other as elites enmeshed in a corrupt LA establishment — argued over who was the right person to lead the city through the ongoing upheaval.

Bass leaned into her founding of Community Coalition, an organization focused on uniting Black and Latino communities, while Caruso, a billionaire developer, emphasized the importance of connecting "with every community." Both voiced support for creating an independent redistricting commission for the city.

The leaked tape is likely to reverberate over the final month of the campaign, which has centered on corruption, crime and homelessness. Bass and Caruso now are widely expected to discuss race directly as the incident divides the city.

President Joe Biden’s administration pressed Martinez, de Léon and Cedillo to step aside earlier Tuesday, as did dozens of constituents who furiously hurled profanities during the council’s Tuesday meeting. The council members have stayed in office despite crushing political pressure, though Martinez relinquished the presidency and has taken a leave of absence.

Bass predicted they won't stay.

"I do believe that the pressure is going to weigh on them and that they will resign," the congresswoman said. "But the city cannot be in a standstill like this."