LOS ANGELES — An avalanche of celebratory confetti rained down on revelers at the Grove late Tuesday night, as the mall’s billionaire developer Rick Caruso maintained a small lead over Rep. Karen Bass in the Los Angeles mayoral race. But the path from early primary returns to a November victory is far from a straight shot for either candidate.
The next five months of campaigning will likely amplify the partisan schism between Caruso, a Republican turned centrist Democrat best known for his business bona fides, and Bass, who began her career as an outside-the-system activist and became a more pragmatic progressive over two decades in elected office.
Ahead of the primary, both candidates spent much of their time introducing themselves to voters — and the direct attacks on one another picked up as election day got closer. The road to the runoff election will now be a head-to-head battle, with both candidates fighting to define themselves in opposition to each other.
