Democratic frontrunners Rick Caruso, Karen Bass advance to November runoff in LA mayor race

LOS ANGELES — The race for Los Angeles mayor will head to a November runoff after no candidate secured at least 50% of the vote in Tuesday's primary. Both Democratic frontrunners – Rep. Karen Bass and billionaire developer Rick Caruso – will move forward. 

As of 10 p.m. PDT, Caruso held a 3-point lead over Bass, a win in itself against an established Los Angeles politician who was on President Joe Biden's short list for vice president. 

Both candidates will appear on the November ballot for the general election, where voters will also be tasked with deciding on a number of other races, including governor, Senate and House seats. The race could mark a turning point for the city, which boasts the second largest population in the country, and put its reputation as a progressive trendsetter at risk. 

The winner will take over for Eric Garcetti, who was nominated to be the U.S. ambassador to India. 

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Caruso, a Republican-turned-Democrat, poured millions into the race, far surpassing fellow candidates. His advertisements, from cable TV to streaming services and YouTube, blanketed the L.A. region. He attracted voters with promises to be tougher on crime and attacks on the bureaucratic systems that he says are too slow to successfully alleviate the city's homelessness crisis. His campaign to pivot from the path laid out by predecessors came at a moment when voters expressed growing dissatisfaction with the state of the city in numerous polls.

Bass, on the other hand, was the favorite of party’s progressive wing and garnered national headlines after helping lead on police reform policies in Congress after the death of George Floyd in the summer of 2020, which spurred widespread protests over racial justice and police brutality. 

U.S. Rep. Karen Bass smiles as she listens to Rick Caruso during a Los Angeles mayoral debate on March 22.

Throughout the day, people filed into polling locations across the city to cast their ballots. At a Goodwill center in Atwater Village, a neighborhood north of downtown, voters weighed the myriad of issues plaguing the city and the candidates who each promised solutions. 

Randy Baer said he was still trying to decide on who to vote as he arrived to cast his ballot. He was torn between Bass and Caruso. 

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“I think I'm going to vote for Karen Bass,” he said. “I want it to go to a runoff. I'd rather have some more time to hear both of them.”

Caruso was endorsed by a number of high-profile celebrities, including Snoop Dogg, Kim Kardashian, and Elon Musk. But to Baer, such endorsements were words of caution, not selling points.

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“I'm wary of an attraction to celebrity,” Baer said, adding the endorsements made sense in the city with a strong connection to celebrity culture, along with the film and music industry. “But you know, they're all multimillionaires, or probably billionaires."

Others came in knowing who they wanted to lead the city. Felix John Garcia, 52, said Caruso's hardline stance on crime and homelessness won him over. 

“It's the platform that he runs with – law enforcement, especially now with rising crime, we need some,” Garcia said. “We need something done about homelessness.”

Caruso, who developed The Grove – a popular shopping and dining area in the city – along with other commercial properties, centered his campaign on bolstering the Los Angeles Police Department with more officers and blasting the bureaucracy that he says has moved too slowly to stop homelessness and create more housing and shelters. He aims to end street homelessness, would declare a state of emergency over the crisis and touted a goal to build 30,000 housing units in 300 days, many of which would be shelter beds.