The race to become the next mayor of Los Angeles remained too close to call Wednesday, and it may be several days before one of the candidates is declared the winner.
With about 44% of votes counted, developer Rick Caruso had a 51% to 49% lead over U.S. Rep. Karen Bass.
The contest seesawed throughout the night without either candidate ever leading by more than a few thousand votes until Caruso opened up a 12,000-vote lead in the update Wednesday morning.
Bass, currently the representative of the 37th District, is hoping to become the first woman to be elected mayor of Los Angeles and the second Black person to hold the office.
If elected, Bass said solving the homeless crisis would be a top priority for the city.
She received support from several top Democrats during her campaign, including President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Bass spoke about how proud she was of her campaign to a crowd of supporters at the Hollywood Palladium Tuesday night.
“We have a vision for this city. We wanted a campaign that looked like Los Angeles. That looks like this room. A campaign that reflected the hope, the diversity, and the brilliance of our city. A vision of our city moving in a new direction. A city that pulls out all the stops,” Bass said.
Bass also tweeted about the tight race for mayor just before midnight Tuesday.
“We won’t know the final result of the election tonight, but we do know that we made history with our movement,” the tweet read.
Caruso spent millions of dollars of his own money on the race and picked up several celebrity endorsements, including Katy Perry, Chris Pratt, and Kim Kardashian.
Caruso, the owner of The Grove and Americana at Brand shopping centers, spoke about his chances Tuesday night.
“The wonderful thing I never knew as a candidate, when you’re running for mayor, is that you develop a larger family alongside the people that you would never have met in communities, because we’ve all come together for a cause. And that’s a very uplifting thing,” Caruso said.
Caruso took to Twitter as well to send several early morning messages Wednesday.
“Together, I know that we have the power, and the plans, to end street homelessness, stop corruption, and finally get to work building a brighter future for LA — one where every Angeleno can thrive,” one of the posts read.
With the race for mayor being so close, the final results of the election may not be known until Friday or even Saturday.
