Rick Caruso and wife Tina had good reason to celebrate on election night.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
Billionaire real estate developer Rick Caruso and U.S. Rep. Karen Bass will square off in a November runoff in their costly race to become Los Angeles’ next mayor, with the two far ahead of the rest of the primary field.
Caruso held a narrow but widening lead over Bass in partial returns late Tuesday night. Los Angeles City Councilman Kevin de León was third, far behind the leaders, with progressive activist Gina Viola fourth.
With a November showdown apparently looming, both candidates said the results put them in a good position to win five months from now.
Rep. Karen Bass addresses supporters at her election-night party at the W Hotel in Hollywood.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva meets supporters in Boyle Heights on election night.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
Retired Long Beach Police Chief Robert Luna, center, and wife Celines celebrate election night with supporters at the couple’s home in Long Beach.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
L.A. mayoral candidate Rick Caruso greets supporters at the Grove on election night.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
Karen Bass strides to the microphone at her election-night party at the W Hotel in Hollywood.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
Rick Caruso leans in to talk on the phone to a friend of Ray Alarid’s while getting lunch Tuesday at Al & Bea’s in Boyle Heights. Alarid said he’d convinced the friend to vote for Caruso for L.A. mayor.
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
Mayoral candidate Karen Bass, center, leaves the polling place Tuesday after casting her primary vote with grandson Henry Depaz, 7, and daughter Yvette Lechuga at Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Mall.
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
Mayoral candidate Kevin de León, right, chats with patrons at Arado Japanese restaurant in Koreatown before Tuesday’s primary election.
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva after voting in California’s primary election at the Park in La Habra Heights on Tuesday.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Cameron Porsandeh votes with his bulldog in the primary election at Westminster Elementary on Tuesday.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
Meltonya Bell of Leimert Park, right, carries her granddaughter Layla Johnson, 6 months, as Bell and her sister Norene Bell, left, vote at Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Mall on Tuesday.
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
Kalei Taylor-Trim, 38, voted in the primary election at Westminster Elementary on Tuesday.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
Janice Slattery puts an “I Voted” sticker on poodle Randy after voting at the Park in La Habra Heights on Tuesday.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Hermilia Bustamante, her son Carlos, 4, and daughter Maria, 7, take a selfie with “I Voted” stickers, after Bustamante voted at the Boyle Heights Senior Citizen Center on Tuesday.
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
Chelsea Martinez, 29, votes in the primary election at Westminster Elementary on Tuesday.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
A voter exits after casting their ballot in the primary at the Park in La Habra Heights on Tuesday.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
“I had no idea it was election day. I’m not much of a voter,” said Robert Hinkley, 57, a former plumber who has been homeless since 2019 and is now living in temporary housing downtown. “No one [candidate] really inspires me. I guess I’m jaded. They’re all corrupt.”
(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
Janice Slattery votes as her poodles, Randy and Trucker-T, wait at the Park in La Habra Heights on Tuesday.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Poll worker Sheila Rodgers assists voters at Westminster Elementary on Tuesday.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
Derryl James, 34, voted in the primary election at Crenshaw High on Tuesday. He said he voted not for the sticker, but because it was his civic responsibility.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
Mayoral candidate Rick Caruso stops to hug his son Justin while filling out his ballot at the Boyle Heights Senior Citizen Center on Tuesday.
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
Voters cast their ballots Tuesday at the Park in La Habra Heights.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
A voter casts a ballot with his dogs at the James Wood Community Center polling station in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday.
(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
Mayoral candidate Karen Bass, with grandson Henry Depaz, 7, speaks after casting her ballot at Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Mall on Tuesday.
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
A voter checks in to cast a ballot at Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Mall on Tuesday.
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
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