Jul 1, 2022
Bass Beats Caruso in Los Angeles Mayor Primary, Set for Runoff
Bloomberg News
,(Bloomberg) -- US Democratic Congresswoman Karen Bass finished solidly ahead of her rival, billionaire real estate developer Rick Caruso, in the final tally of the Los Angeles mayoral primary, a reversal from early results.
Bass got 43.1% support in the June 7 vote compared with Caruso’s 36%, according to the certified tally from the county clerk’s office announced on Friday. The two candidates now will face off in a Nov. 8 general election after failing to secure an outright majority -- or more than 50% of the votes -- needed to win the first-round.
Caruso initially came in first on election night, but Bass leapfrogged him as a surge of mail-in ballots were counted over the past month.
“Later vote-by mail-ballots skewed more democratic than the votes that have been counted as of election night,”said Mindy Romero, director of the Center for Inclusive Democracy at the University of Southern California. “I’m sure Bass feels good about her prospects right now.”
Bass, who was on Joe Biden’s shortlist for running mate in 2020, started out as a community activist and later became a six-term congresswoman representing a district in Los Angeles. She’s promised to tap her connections at the state and federal level to bring funds and resources for social services and housing to clean up the city.
If elected, she will become the first female mayor of Los Angeles, and the second Black person after Tom Bradley.
Caruso, 63, built an estimated $3.7 billion fortune with malls in the city and spent more than $40 million on his mayoral campaign, mostly on advertising over local TV channels and social media. The former Republican registered as a Democrat in January as his campaign kicked-off, and has promised to eliminate homeless encampments, hire 1,500 police officers and cut down on red tape in city hall in a liberal city.
Almost 30% of eligible voters cast a ballot in elections across the county, according to the clerk’s office. Mayor Eric Garcetti, who has been in office for almost nine years, was banned from running for re-election due to term limits.
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