As mail-in ballots continue to be counted, Rep. Karen Bass now has a slight, but comfortable lead over Rick Caruso in Los Angeles’ mayoral primary election.
Bass holds 41.05% of the counted vote while Caruos has 38.29%, according to the city’s election results website. Kevin De León is in third place with 7.77% of votes.
Because no candidate received more than 50% of the vote, Bass and Caruso will face each other in a runoff during the general election taking place in November.
On Tuesday June 7, the race was called when half of the votes had been counted. Caruso held the lead with 42.1% of the vote, while Bass had 37%. De Leon had 7.5%.
A lifelong Republican, Caruso re-registered as a Democrat in January likely due to the difficulty of winning as a registered Republican in Los Angeles. Since then, he has courted support from some prominent Hollywood figures like Gwyneth Paltrow, United Talent Agency co-president Jay Sures, Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos and his producer wife, Nicole Avant.
Meanwhile Bass – a former social worker who served as speaker of the California Assembly before winning election to Congress in 2010 – has drawn support from the likes of Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and JJ Abrams, along with many self-described liberals, and women, particularly those of color. A close ally of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, she has solid Democratic credentials and a substantial record of progressive positions.
Media mogul Haim Saban, meanwhile, kicked in cash for De Leon.
