The latest vote total gave U.S. Rep. Karen Bass a 36,349-vote advantage over her opponent, real estate millionaire Rick Caruso, on November 15.
A week after Election Day, Bass had won with 52.55% of the votes counted, with 338,794 votes, while political newcomer Caruso had 47.45% of the votes counted in L.A. County.
Chance of Winning the Election
Even though there are still votes to be counted, political experts agree that Caruso has a limited chance of winning the election.
According to the most recent statistics, Bass got 60.6% of the about 33,300 votes that were counted on Tuesday.
When reached for comment on Tuesday, Bass’s campaign did not immediately react. The lawmaker had told a spokeswoman the day before that he or she was thankful for the “continued support we are seeing.”
It’s been five days since Caruso tweeted about the vote tally, and in that time, Bass has closed the gap to within half a percentage point. After that, Caruso stated he was still “cautiously hopeful.”
Battle to Win the Election
Even though the registrar’s office had given four positive updates in a row, Bass’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment on Monday.
According to this week’s reports from political experts who have followed the campaign carefully, Caruso has an uphill battle to win the election.
Before Tuesday’s results update, Mindy Romero, director of USC’s Center for Inclusive Democracy, indicated that things were looking “extremely positive” for Bass, although she was not calling the race.
Currently, “I believe Karen Bass’ team may feel quite secure,” Romero remarked.
Paul Mitchell, vice president and data analyst at Political Data Inc., claimed Monday that Bass had a 20-percentage-point advantage.
Favouring Progressive Candidates
Mitchell said “not much evidence” suggests a reversal. Later vote-by-mail ballots tend to come from Democrats and younger voters favouring progressive candidates, so Bass should gain, he said.
Romero said the gap between Caruso and Bass among possible voters, as evaluated by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies in September and October, will be analysed after new post-election data became available.
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Caruso spent more than $100 million on commercials, door-to-door canvassing, and campaign workers.
In the days before the November 8 election, rumours arose that Caruso was targeting Latino, Asian, and San Fernando Valley voters.