Caruso and Bass advance to runoff in Los Angeles mayoral race

Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.) and billionaire Rick Caruso — a longtime Republican who switched parties earlier this year — will face off in a November runoff to replace term-limited Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, the Los Angeles Times reports.

As of Wednesday morning, Caruso led Bass 42-37 with 35 percent of precincts reporting.

Caruso, who spent $37.5 million of his own money on his campaign, says he would expand the police force and tackle the city's homelessness problem. Bass, a six-term congresswoman, has called Caruso "divisive" and compared him to another famous party-switching billionaire developer-turned-politician — former President Donald Trump.

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Although Caruso appears to be on track to finish first in the primary, his failure to capture the 50 percent of the vote needed to win outright could come back to haunt him. Politico noted that Caruso might face "stiffer competition" in November "without other progressive candidates to siphon votes away from Bass."