Los Angeles native Chris Pratt believes former Republican Rick Caruso is the mayoral candidate that will pull the city out of “utter disarray.”
“The Terminal List” star virtually endorsed the billionaire real estate developer in the tightening race against Democratic Rep. Karen Bass to replace incumbent Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, who was ineligible to participate due to reaching his term limit.
“I’ve lived in LA for over 20 years. It’s been great to me. In that time I’ve seen what many residents here have seen, the city’s gradual decline into pain and utter disarray,” Pratt said on Sunday. “If you live here, you know exactly what I’m talking about.”
Homicides in the city of Angels reached a fifteen-year high in 2022, with murder rates up by nearly 30% from 2020.
“The onset of the pandemic, the onset of the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder and the civil unrest. These last now three years have been troubling to us,” remarked LAPD Chief Michel Moore.
With out an out of control homeless population and both violent and property crimes up by more than 12% this year, Caruso has vowed to tackle both issues aggressively if elected.
The former LA Police Commission President believes that homelessness is the “biggest problem we have in the city right now,” and plans to get it under control by housing 300,000 people during his first 30 days in office.
“I take a complicated problem, distill it down into multiple solutions, build the best — and the brightest of a team — and work every day and never give up to solve it,” he commented. “I’ve done this before.”
Caruso said the only way to prevent crime is to get more police officers on the streets of LA.
“We are the most under-policed large city in America per capita. We’ve got crime that’s out of control,” he remarked. “We went through a defunding, the City Council and Eric Garcetti voted to defund in 2019. We’re impacted by that mightily. We got to have more officers on the street.”
His political rival Bass called for boosting the police presence by ousting cops from their office posts and replacing them with civilians.
“I believe the quickest way to get officers on the beat is to get them from behind the desk,” she said in June. “I think the right answer is to be smart on crime.”
Caruso disagrees. “Many officers that are behind a desk are behind a desk because of some injury,” he retorted. Pratt clearly came to the same conclusion.
“I don’t normally support political candidates. But in this election, there’s too much to lose,” Pratt explained. “If you’re an LA voter, I urge you to vote for [Caruso]. He’s a builder. He knows how to get s**t done. He’s the guy for our city. Rick Caruso for LA Mayor.”
The Marvel star isn’t the only celebrity to stump for the former Republican, he has also been endorsed by Snoop Dogg, Kim Kardashian, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Katy Perry amongst others.
Kardashian said she “really believes” what Caruso stands for during an Instagram Story in May. “When it comes to my hometown and there’s people that can really make a difference, I think that he really can help with the crime in our city, which is such a big issue,” the reality star remarked.
“Also, the homeless issue. It’s such a problem, and I think that, with him, he can offer a better path to a better life for people that are homeless in California and Los Angeles,” she concluded.
“L.A. is experiencing a tough time right now and we really need a leader who can come in and has the strength to solve some really tough problems,” added Paltrow.