Bass grabs lead in LA mayoral race: poll

Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.) has a commanding lead in Los Angeles’s mayoral race, according to a new poll, but a sizable chunk of the electorate still remains undecided.

The survey, conducted by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies and the Los Angeles Times, found that 32 percent of likely voters would support Bass as their first choice if the city’s election was held today.

None of the other seven candidates listed received double digit support. Businessman Rick Caruso and City Councilman Kevin de León, both Democrats, polled the highest among the others, pulling in 8 percent support each.

Forty percent of the likely voters polled, however, said they remain undecided.

The results were similar when examining registered voters. Twenty-five percent of registered voters polled said they would support Bass if the election was held today. No other candidate listed received double-digit support.

León led the remaining candidates with 8 percent support. Forty-seven percent of registered voters, however, said they do not know who they will support in the race.

Among the candidates listed in the poll were Bass, Caruso, León, City Councilman Joe Buscaino (D), City Attorney Mike Feuer (D), businesswoman Jessica Lall, real estate broker Mel Wilson and businessman Ramit Varma.

The Bass campaign announced last month that it had raised nearly $2 million since announcing her bid for mayor in September. She is looking to replace Mayor Eric Garcetti (D), who is facing term limits and whom President Biden nominated to serve as ambassador to India in July.

The poll also found that Bass has a 42 percent favorability rating among likely voters, and 32 percent approval among registered voters. Those were the highest marks any of the candidates polled received.

The poll surveyed 2,136 registered voters and 1,446 likely voters in February. The margin of sampling error is approximately plus or minus 3 percentage points.