Bass closing in on Caruso in LA mayor's race

LOS ANGELES — Billionaire developer Rick Caruso’s lead over Rep. Karen Bass in LA’s mayoral race shrank to less than 3,000 votes Thursday, after county election officials released a small batch of results in a contest that was still too early to call.

With around 900,000 mailed ballots still uncounted, the outcome of the most expensive mayor's race in the city's history is still likely days, if not weeks, away.

The Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters said Thursday that it had counted a little more than 134,000 ballots since its last update on Election Day. Thursday's release included just over 52,000 votes in the mayor's race, as election staff scramble to confirm signatures on mail ballots.

The department also noted Wednesday that the total number of ballots will continue to increase, as ballots postmarked on Election Day can be accepted through next Tuesday.

Both campaigns have sent messages to supporters expressing optimism about their chances of winning after early returns on election night showed Caruso leading by less than three points. A little more than 545,000 votes have been counted so far, in a city with around 2 million registered voters. Turnout rate was around 30 percent among city of LA voters in the primary, a number that's expected to be higher in the general.

Caruso also saw an early 5-point lead slip away in the June primary after Bass bumped him into second place a week later. The congresswoman was up by 7 points after every vote was tallied.