LOS ANGELES — U.S. Rep. Karen Bass’ already substantial lead in the Los Angeles mayor’s race got slightly larger Tuesday, with the longtime Washington lawmaker pulling more than 5% ahead of businessman Rick Caruso, one week after election day.
The results marked the fifth straight release of updated vote totals in which Bass has gained ground on Caruso, a trend that most election observers have said seems all but certain to make Bass the first woman elected mayor in Los Angeles.
Bass now holds a 52.55%-47.45% lead, a 36,349-vote margin, according to the L.A. County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s office. Tuesday’s update again heavily favored Bass, with the congresswoman from South L.A. taking in about 60% of the roughly 33,000 newly counted ballots.
Bass has held a roughly 60%-40% margin, or better, over Caruso in every day of vote total releases since Thursday.
The lead in the vote totals changed hands three times in the hours immediately after the polls closed on Nov. 8, with Caruso holding a 2.5% lead on Wednesday morning. But since then, every new release of voting information from county officials has favored Bass, with the congresswoman taking the lead.
