Los Angeles elects Karen Bass as mayor in a contentious and close race

KCRW | By Anna Scott

Published November 16, 2022 at 6:55 PM CST

U.S. Rep. Karen Bass focused on addressing homelessness and her ability to bring people together during her mayoral campaign.

Longtime Congresswoman Karen Bass is the projected winner for mayor of Los Angeles, defeating an opponent who outspent her 10 to one during the campaign.

With more than 70% of the vote tallied, Bass had amassed an insurmountable lead of nearly 47,000 votes, according to the Associated Press. She had 53.1%, with real estate developer Rick Caruso notching 46.9%.

Bass, who already represents parts of LA as a U.S. Congress member, is a Democrat and former community activist who positioned herself as a unifier on the campaign trail. She promised to help heal Los Angeles, reeling from a recent City Hall racism scandal, and tap her connections within the local, state and federal government to solve LA's most pressing problems. Homelessness in particular dominated the mayoral race.

Real estate developer Rick Caruso made cleaning up homeless camps throughout Los Angeles a focus of his campaign.

Caruso, best known for his popular outdoor shopping malls, is a one-time Republican who registered as a Democrat less than a year ago. He campaigned as a can-do businessman and political outsider, and promised to clean up corruption at LA City Hall. He also promised to cut bureaucratic red tape and build more shelters to deal with the city's massive homelessness crisis.