‘This is Even Bigger than Me’: Kailee Caruso’s once long-shot progressive campaign secures big endorsements and big bucks

When Kailee Caruso, a homeless program administrator who admits she knew almost no one in City Hall and was out fundraised by her competitors, placed second in the June primary, it came as a bit of surprise. But as the general election looms, things have become much more competitive with labor money buoying her campaign and shoring up her support among registered Democrats.

“I got a lot of phone calls the day I moved up to the top two,” said Caruso. 

Along with phone calls and introductions came coveted endorsements from the Democratic establishment and from labor, eager to pick up another vote on council and armed with a sizable war chest of campaign dollars. She’s received endorsements from State Senator Lena Gonzalez (D-Long Beach), the Los Angeles County Democratic Party, the Long Beach Firefighters Association, and the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor.

Her opponent, Kristina Duggan, a former staffer to outgoing Councilmember Suzie Price, is being backed by the district’s old guard and business community. Former Third District councilmembers Gary De Long and Frank Colona have both endorsed her bid. She’s also received endorsements from the Long Beach Police Officers Association (POA), former Mayor Bob Foster, and the Los Angeles County Business Federation. 

With a Nov. 8 voting deadline quickly approaching, the race for the Long Beach City Council’s Third District is tight. Political observers, quick to call other council races in the Fifth and Ninth, are hesitant to name a presumptive winner in this district, which includes everything east of Redondo and south of PCH.

Caruso, a mother of three whose previous political experience includes canvassing for progressive candidates and causes, says she got into the primary because she wasn’t too impressed with the candidates, a smattering of political insiders and conservative-leaning neighborhood association types. She switched her voter registration from no party preference to Democrat upon deciding to run, benefiting from a registration advantage in the district.  

In contrast, Duggan has dug in as the more conservative candidate—championing a tough-on-crime platform and supporting continued oil drilling. 

Mostly, the rhetoric of the race has been light on policy specifics and heavy on platitudes.

A recent mailer funded by the POA supporting Duggan says that she advocates for proactive policing that will “deter crime before it happens.” Another mailer features an image of a tent on the beach and reads: “Don’t let Long Beach end up like Los Angeles.”

“We need to increase the number of police officers that are patrolling our streets,” Duggan said at a recent forum. “For a city our size, it’s estimated that 1,000 officers, 250 more than we have, would be good.”

At the same forum, Duggan said the revenue the city garners from oil is “immense” and implied that the Long Beach Climate Action Plan’s timeline for eliminating oil drilling in the city by 2035 is shortsighted: “I don’t think it’s a reasonable [timeline].”

Since the primary, Caruso has veered to the center, backtracking on her support of a citywide rent increase cap and not increasing the police budget.

In FORTHE’s primary questionnaire, Caruso said she would support a citywide rent stabilization ordinance. But she now calls rent stabilization a “band-aid solution” and instead offers a supply-side solution without clear commitments to renter protections: “It’s [as] basic as economics: the more housing we have, the less expensive they’ll be.” 

In late May, Caruso said in an interview, “I’m the only one talking about not increasing the police budget.” By early October, she’d soft-peddled on her position, saying during a debate: “It’s not about increase or decrease, it’s about the leadership in Long Beach.” 

We spoke with Caruso about housing, the police budget, climate change, and the racist conversation between a union boss and three LA councilmembers that made headlines after a recording was recently leaked.

Duggan was offered a similar sit-down interview but declined.

Our conversation with Caruso spanned multiple hours, both in person and over the phone, and has been edited for clarity and length. It is our hope that the reader will receive a digestible dialogue concerning the policy, politics, and personal histories that are animating this race. Below are some excerpts from the interviews highlighting the candidates position on major issues and a link to the full Q & A.

Why she’s running: “I am really passionate about policy and all the community work that I do. I know how important people power is and activating folks on a community level and community action. And we need to be thoughtful and intentional about having folks in leadership that will bring people to the table.”

On homelessness: “I think Long Beach is tracking data around homeless services and resources and programs, but I don’t think we’re doing it well enough or effectively enough. And I would really want to look at that data first and see where our gaps [are]. Right now, we don’t have enough outreach teams. And that’s a crucial first step. I’m definitely pro-housing first and working with homeless folks.” 

On public safety: “Why can’t we come from a curious place and put on the table having more than one solution to public safety? We have to be creative right now. We have to look at preventative data in terms of crime and violence and that data is calling for filling in the gaps with non-emergency crisis teams, mental health workers, social workers responding to non emergencies, and mental health crises.”

On the police budget: “The police budget has increased this year, the police have a budget enough to fill 100 more officers, but recruitment and retention challenges exist. So right now, there’s no need to increase it.” 

On mental health services: “If we had our own mental health department we could just rely on more accessibility, more resources, jobs, and true prevention here in Long Beach. So it would just make it closer to home and we wouldn’t have the barriers that might exist with it being through LA County.”

On housing affordability: “I don’t want to push band-aid solutions and sometimes I think rent control can be a band-aid solution. I know sometimes we need stabilization while we address the root and implement something for that, but I would like to be creative and see how we can maybe not just turn to something that we’ve always used and maybe has shown that it hasn’t always been effective where we continue to see the same challenges and concerns… I want to ensure renters know their rights. I want to make sure landlords know their rights. And I want to make sure to come to the table and find wins.”

On oil drilling: “My opponent has accepted thousands of dollars from oil companies. And I have chosen not to. I think it’s really important that I have relationships with all these folks and that we work together, and we need to be mindful of the economy. So how we do it is so important, and we need to make small win-win steps towards progress.”

Read the full Q & A here.