LOS ANGELES (CNS) — Rep. Karen Bass surpassed billionaire real estate developer Rick Caruso Tuesday as ballot-counting continued in the mayoral primary election, but the two are still likely headed for a November runoff.
Initial election results from the June 7 vote showed Caruso in the lead, but when the latest tally was released Tuesday afternoon, Bass had 41.05% of the vote, with Caruso behind at 38.29%. With no candidate receiving more than 50% of the vote, the top two finishers will advance to the November general election.
In another surprising reversal, Tuesday's election update put community activist and public policy advocate Eunisses Hernandez in the lead over incumbent Councilman Gil Cedillo in the race to represent Council District 1. That race only includes two candidates and will be decided once all votes are counted. As of Tuesday afternoon, Hernandez had 50.65% of the vote, while Cedillo had 49.35%.
In the race for city attorney, meanwhile, civil rights attorney Faisal Gill was leading the seven-candidate field with 96,127 votes, or 22.01%. Former federal prosecutor Marina Torres was in second place with 20.27% of the vote, but financial law attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto was close behind with 19.88% of the vote, followed by Deputy City Attorney Richard Kim in fourth with 17.81% of the vote. The top two finishers will face off in November.
Labor organizer Hugo Soto-Martinez widened his lead over incumbent Councilman Mitch O'Farrell, with Soto-Martinez receiving 38.35% of the vote versus O'Farrell's 33.88%. The two will advance to the November runoff.
An estimated 365,820 ballots from the June 7 election still remain to be tallied in the county, according to the Los Angeles County Registrar- Recorder/County Clerk's Office.
Meanwhile, former Los Angeles City Councilwoman Jan Perry leads Culver City Mayor Daniel W. Lee by 1,250 votes in their battle to take on Sen. Sydney Kamlager in the Nov. 8 general election for the 37th Congressional District seat, which was vacated by Bass. Perry has 10,520 votes (18.56%), Lee 9,270 (16.35%) and Kamlager 24,354 (42.97%).
All three candidates are Democrats.
Nonprofit director/businesswoman Tina Simone McKinnor leads Lawndale Mayor Robert Pullen-Miles, a fellow Democrat, by 1,571 votes in the 62nd Assembly District special election, with McKinnor receiving 23,773 votes (51.6%) and Pullen-Miles 22,256 (48.4%).
The closest statewide race is for state superintendent of public instruction, with Lance Ray Christensen leading George Yang by 17,303 votes in the race for the second spot in the November ballot, according to figures released Tuesday by the Secretary of State's Office.
Christensen, an education policy executive, has 539,611 votes (11.7%) to 522,308 for Yang (11.3%). Incumbent Tony K. Thurmond leads the nonpartisan race with 2,126,478 votes (46%).
Christensen began Monday's vote count with a 582-vote lead over Yang, a software architect. Christensen led by 1,899 votes when Saturday's vote count concluded. Christensen was in third when Friday's vote count concluded, 2,124 votes behind Yang.
Republican Robert Howell's lead over Democratic Assemblyman Marc Levine increased to 28,436 votes in the race for second for insurance commissioner.
Howell, a cybersecurity equipment manufacturer, had been leading by 18,689 votes heading into Tuesday.
Howell has 898,181 votes (18.1%) to 869,745 (17.6%) for Levine, D-San Rafael. Incumbent Democrat Ricardo Lara leads with 1,805,029 votes (36.5%).
In the attorney general's race, former Assistant U.S. Attorney General Nathan Hochman extended his lead over fellow Republican Eric Early, an attorney and business owner, to 101,090 votes after leading by 76,067 at the start of Monday's vote count, 75,878 at the conclusion of Saturday's vote count and 70,295 at the end of Friday's.
Hochman has 942,562 votes (18.6%) to 841,472 (16.6%) for Early. Appointed Democratic incumbent Rob Bonta leads with 2,769,684 (54.5%).
An estimated 1,949,705 ballots remain unprocessed statewide, according to the Secretary of State's Office.