Elon Musk offers rare political endorsement, L.A. mayoral candidate, businessman Rick Caruso

Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Friday made a rare political endorsement – backing Los Angeles mayoral candidate Rick Caruso and  what he calls the businessman's exceptional "executive competence."

"Los Angeles is fortunate to have someone like Rick Caruso running for mayor. He's awesome," Musk tweeted. "My political leanings are moderate, so neither fully Republican nor Democrat, which I am confident is the case for most Americans. Executive competence is super underrated in politics – we should care about that a lot more!"

Caruso is a billionaire who only recently flipped his party affiliation to Democrat after becoming an independent in 2019, he was previously a Republican and sits on the board of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation. 

Currently, 12 names, including California Democrat Rep. Karen Bass are on the ballot for the primary election that ends June 7 – though several candidates have dropped out. Democrat Mayor Eric Garcetti cannot seek reelection because of term limits.

Bass, a top contender, was rumored to be on President-elect Joe Biden's shortlist for vice president. The race's top two finishers will head to a runoff if no single candidate clears 50%.

In interviews throughout his campaign, Caruso has focused on L.A.'s recent escalation in violent crime and has said he would hire more police officers, if elected. 

"It’s hard to find officers because good officers don’t want to work for LAPD now because they got defunded in 2019 under the current leadership, including the current commission, and they’re demoralized, so why do you want to come work?," he said in a recent interview.

"I’m going to turn that around, change the culture, get officers excited about being an officer in L.A. city."

In a New York Times article about Caruso titled "The Mall Mogul and Former Republican Who Could Lead Los Angeles," Caruso says he will prioritize making Los Angeles more "livable," which includes plans for "cleaner streets," "better parks" and "lower crime."

"You’re going to be able to go for a walk and not worry about it," he said.