LOS ANGELES – Congresswoman Karen Bass has widened her lead over developer Rick Caruso to more than 9,000 votes as ballots in the Los Angeles mayoral election as ballots continue to be counted.
On Saturday, the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk posted the latest numbers, with Bass at 306,990 votes to Caruso’s 297,527, for a 50.7% to 49.3% lead.
Hundreds of thousands of ballots still remain uncounted, however, and a winner might not be determined for days or even weeks. The next update will be provided Monday between 4 and 5 p.m., according to election officials. Further updates will be announced every Tuesday and Friday until all ballots are tallied.
Sarah Leonard Sheahan, Bass’ communications director, said in a statement last week that the campaign was confident Bass would eventually prevail.
“In the coming days, the voice of the people of Los Angeles will be heard and we feel confident that we will win,” Sheahan said.
“As predicted, this is a close race,” Caruso said. “There are hundreds of thousands of votes to count and as expected we are going to see different results each time. I continue to be cautiously optimistic about these numbers and look forward to the next series of results in the coming weeks.”
Bass, a six-term member of Congress, is seeking to become the first woman and only the second Black person to lead Los Angeles. Caruso, a billionaire developer, is looking to win a campaign that’s on track to spend more than $100 million — much of it from Caruso’s own fortune — to propel him into office.
The winner will inherit leadership of a city grappling with a worsening homelessness crisis and a scandal that has embroiled City Hall for the past month, after three council members and a top county labor official took part in a leaked conversation in October 2021 that included racist comments and attempts to manipulate redistricting.
