Bass takes slight lead over Caruso in LA mayor’s race as count goes on

LOS ANGELES — Rep. Karen Bass took a slight lead Friday over billionaire developer Rick Caruso in the LA mayor’s race, but there were still so many uncounted ballots that the election was too early to call.

Bass, a congresswoman since 2011 and a former speaker of the California Assembly, led Caruso by about 4,300 votes, according to the latest figures released by the Los Angeles County Registrar.

Caruso, the developer of the upscale Grove shopping center and other projects in the city, was ahead by less than 3,000 votes a day earlier.

Both candidates expressed optimism as polls closed on election night but a large number of mailed ballots meant that the final result may be days, and perhaps even weeks, away. County election officials estimate that there are hundreds of thousands of votes left to tally.

California, which has universal mail voting, gives ballots postmarked on election day an additional seven days to arrive at elections offices. The Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk plans to release more updated vote counts in the coming week.

Bass and Caruso are both Democrats, but the congresswoman had the endorsement of major party figures such as President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Barack Obama. She overcame a deficit when polls closed after the June primary and went on to win by seven points.

Caruso, a former Republican who changed his party registration to Democrat months before the primary, spent about $100 million of his own fortune — making this the most expensive mayor’s race in LA history.