Karen Bass calls Rick Caruso a 'con' over millions spent on campaign

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- There is only 14 days until Election Day and Los Angeles mayoral candidate Karen Bass's campaign continues to see the race as a dead heat over how much money her opponent, developer Rick Caruso, has spent to get elected.

According to data reported through Oct. 24 to the L.A. Ethics Commission, Bass has received about $8 million in contributions.

Carusos' campaign has seen 11 times more money than that at more than $88 million, most of which was funded by himself.

Bass campaigned Tuesday morning at a meeting of UFCW Local 770.

"We can come together, we have always done that. That's what working people do," said Bass. "That's how we solve our problems. We don't have $80 million to buy an election. Can you imagine how many people would have been housed for the $80 million that Rick Caruso has spent disparaging me and creating a new image for himself? Thousands of people could have been housed with that. We can't elect a con. We have to elect a person who has spent her entire life fighting for working people."

Meanwhile, Caruso campaigned in Mission Mills, visiting the Paws For Life K9 Rescue where he discussed the issues facing L.A.'s animal shelters.

The shelter in Mission Hills has been privatized, but adopting is still free. Eyewitness News didn't see overcrowding or rough conditions that exist at some of the other shelters. Caruso said it's time elected officials changed their way of thinking.

"We've got a system. The system is broken," he said. "Everybody continues to do business the same way. They're not trained to think outside the box and they're dependent on basically old thinking, and we need to be innovative and entrepreneurial. That's the spirit of Los Angeles."

Caruso believes Bass would be more of the same and connected her to the ongoing scandal at city hall, saying we need new leadership.

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"They all surround each other," said Caruso. "They're all part of this broken system. They're all part of the system that isn't representing and working for Angelenos every day. That's their job and [Bass is] a part of that."