Congratulations to Karen Bass, Los Angeles’ next mayor and the first woman to serve in that role. Condolences as well for a difficult job ahead. Bass will inherit a sharply divided city in upheaval by political scandals and seemingly intractable problems, like housing affordability and homelessness.
While ballots are still being counted, Bass now has a big enough lead that the race was called Wednesday by The Associated Press. The results showed Bass has 53% of the vote and a 46,000-ballot lead, which has been growing over the last week. Her victory over billionaire businessman Rick Caruso is not entirely surprising — she won the June primary by 7 points. But recent polling suggested the race was a toss-up, in part because Caruso had blanketed the airwaves with ads and put many paid door-knockers on the streets. In the end, it wasn’t that close.
The outcome of this race is a reminder that money often doesn’t equal election success. Caruso spent more than $100 million of his own fortune on his campaign, more than 11 times what Bass’ campaign spent. He joins a long line of wealthy individuals who have opened their wallets to try to win elected office, only to come up short. It’s satisfying to see that big money doesn’t necessarily turn elections and that voters make their own decisions.
