Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass carried far more Latino-majority neighborhoods than her rivals in last week\u2019s primary election, an analysis of precinct data shows, helping her finish first and qualify for the Nov. 3 runoff with City Councilmember Nithya Raman. <\/p>\n
Bass carried 35 Latino-majority neighborhoods, including Boyle Heights, Pacoima and Historic South-Central. That was a 46% increase from 2022, when she won 24 Latino-majority neighborhoods in a primary race against Rick Caruso and Kevin de Le\u00f3n, according to a Times analysis of election data. <\/p>\n
Raman was a distant second, winning seven Latino-majority neighborhoods including Highland Park, El Sereno and Lincoln Heights. <\/p>\n
Pratt won a single Latino-majority neighborhood, Harbor City, which is 51% Latino, the analysis found.<\/p>\n
Bass\u2019 strong showing among Latinos was credited in part to her forceful challenge of the Trump administration\u2019s immigration raids and mass detentions last year. <\/p>\n
\u201cLatinos came out for her because she has done a really, really good job in trying to fight the Trump administration,\u201d said Nilza Serrano, the president of Avance Democratic Club, a Latino Democratic organization, which endorsed Bass. <\/p>\n
Avance endorsed Caruso in the runoff with Bass four years ago, leading Bass to suggest Caruso bought their support. She later apologized to the group<\/a>. This time around, she worked behind the scenes to secure endorsements from Democratic clubs like Avance and from important Latino activists such as Dolores Huerta and politicians like U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.). <\/p>\n \u201cShe had a lot more established politicos and respected figures in the Latino community,\u201d said Matt Barreto, a professor of political science and Chicana\/o studies at UCLA. \u201cIt makes her seem like the more established choice.\u201d<\/p>\n Bass was helped by the fact that Caruso wasn\u2019t in the race this year. Four years ago, Caruso flooded airwaves and televisions with Spanish-language ads as he poured more than $100 million into his mayoral campaign.<\/p>\n Bass carried more Latino-majority neighborhoods than Caruso overall in 2022 \u2014 24 to Caruso\u2019s 16 \u2014 but Caruso actually performed better in the most heavily Latino neighborhoods<\/a>, with 34% of the vote in neighborhoods with populations that are at least 80% Latino. Bass had 27% of that vote in 2022. <\/p>\n This year, Bass took 38% of that vote while Raman had 25%. Pratt had about 17% support in those areas.<\/p>\n Barreto noted that Pratt didn\u2019t take a strong stand against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids, hurting his appeal to Latinos. <\/p>\n