U.S. Rep. Karen Bass expanded her lead on Saturday against businessman Rick Caruso in the race to be the next mayor of Los Angeles, with an updated tally putting her 9,463 votes ahead of the developer in a contest that will not be settled until next week at the earliest.
The new totals from an additional 29,000 ballots had Bass at 50.78% to Caruso’s 49.22%, according to the latest tranche of results from the L.A. County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s office.
Until Friday, Caruso had a tiny lead on the Congresswoman of one-half percentage point, or 2,695 votes, but results from about 60,000 ballots released Friday and Saturday showed Bass overtaking and then widening her lead.
Since Tuesday’s election, both would-be mayors have taken decidedly different approaches during the protracted ballot counting. Bass, who would be the first female mayor in L.A. history, remained out of the spotlight, spending time with family and staff members, while Caruso has continued making public appearances and reiterating optimism for victory.
In recent days, he visited Langer’s Deli and on Friday, he made an appearance at a Veteran’s Day parade with his golden retriever and posed for a photo with outgoing Mayor Eric Garcetti.
Independent analysts suggest that a minimum of 270,000 ballots remain to be counted, the vast majority of them mail-ins.
In the race for L.A. County Supervisor in the 3rd District, Lindsey Horvath kept a narrow 1,500 lead above opponent Bob Hertzberg. Horvath had 50.23% to Hertzberg’s 49.77%.
In the race for L.A. County sheriff, former Long Beach Police Chief Robert Luna expanded his lead of 259,184 votes over incumbent Sheriff Alex Villanueva. Luna had 58.78% to Villanueva’s 41.22%.
Meanwhile in other races, city attorney candidate Hydee Feldstein Soto continued to lead attorney Faisal Gill. Feldstein Soto has 57.63% of the vote, to Gill’s 42.37%, according to Saturday’s results.
In the City Council race for a Glassell Park-to-Hollywood seat, labor organizer Hugo Soto-Martinez maintained his edge over Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell, who is vying for a third term. Soto-Martinez leads 53.3% to O’Farrell’s 46.7%.
On the Westside, attorney Erin Darling made a marginal inroad in the lead held by fellow attorney Traci Park. But Park still had a nearly 9-point lead over Darling in the race to succeed Councilmember Mike Bonin.
In the race to replace Councilmember Paul Koretz for a Fairfax-to-Bel-Air seat, political aide Katy Young Yaroslavsky continued to lead attorney Sam Yebri, 57.28% to 42.72%.
Attorney Tim McOsker also maintained a significant lead over neighborhood council member Danielle Sandoval in the race for the San Pedro-to-Watts District 15, with McOsker at 65.32% and Sandoval at 34.68%.
In the city controller’s race, accountant Kenneth Mejia was well on his way to being declared the official winner. Koretz conceded earlier in the week, and the results showed Mejia at 61.2% to Koretz’s 38.8%.
Matt Hamilton
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