When businessman Rick Caruso summoned a group of reporters to his offices in Pacific Palisades after his defeat in the November 2022 Los Angeles mayoral race, those of us who attended were left with the feeling that it wasn't the end of his political career.

What happened next, we've all seen: a very active Caruso, especially after the Pacific Palisades fire hit him hard because in That area has several properties, including Palisades Village.

He created the non-profit organization Steadfast LA to help rebuild not only Pacific Palisades and Malibu but also Altadena, where the Eaton Fire caused devastation.

And he became a fierce critic of Bass, saying her track record was very poor, leading people to believe he was seeking revenge to try to unseat the mayor.

The billionaire kept in constant communication with people through emails and social media to report on his work in the recovery of the disaster areas.

As time went on, political fans wondered when he would announce his entry into the race for mayor of Los Angeles; or for governor of California.

The mystery ended when we least expected it. On Friday, January 15, Caruso announced that he would not be running for mayor of Los Angeles or governor of California. That night, the mayor surely relaxed and slept soundly, relieved to be rid of a powerful rival. In 2022, Bass beat Caruso by ten points. This time, the businessman had a better chance because the Pacific Palisades fire had politically damaged the mayor; and in general, there is a feeling of a lack of leadership and frustration among Angelenos regarding her performance. It was expected that Caruso would politically capitalize on that disillusionment. What motivated him to give up on a second chance at an election campaign? As a level-headed businessman, he surely commissioned his own polls, and the numbers didn't indicate that he could win.Why throw away another $100 million of his own fortune, or much more if we're talking about the gubernatorial campaign?

Something few people consider is that perhaps Caruso isn't the mayor that the city of Los Angeles needs in these turbulent times of anti-immigrant sentiment.

While he supports immigrants and has donated thousands of dollars to the Catholic Church to buy food for those who have lost their jobs due to the raids, we can't expect him to openly advocate for immigrants. It's not his style.

That said, the question that arises is whether, after Caruso's announcement, another prominent Democrat will come forward to challenge Karen Bass.

Will Supervisor Lindsey Horvath be encouraged?

On the Democratic side, there's former Superintendent of Education Austin Beautner, Reverend and left-wing activist Re Huang; And on the Republican side, Spencer Pratt, a former reality TV contestant and victim of the Pacific Palisades fire, was immediately adopted by members of the MAGA movement as their candidate for mayor of Los Angeles.

Could any of these unseat Bass? No, because they lack the political capital to pose a real threat to his reelection.

It would take someone of Alex Padilla's stature.

And speaking of the senator

It caused a stir among the progressive community of California, specifically in Los Angeles, to see Senator Alex Padilla, the son of Mexican immigrants, giving an effusive welcome to Corina Machado, the Venezuelan opposition leader who went to Washington to present Trump with her Nobel Peace Prize and beg him not to rule her out as a future president of Venezuela.

Who would have imagined that someone who was a victim of Trump's repression, when security agents threw him to the ground, disrespecting his position as a senator, would shower praise on a loyal admirer of the president? Something doesn't add up here.