Antonio Villaraigosa

From Freepedia

Antonio R. Villaraigosa (born January 23, 1953) is the current mayor of Los Angeles, California. He is the first Latino mayor of Los Angeles since 1872. [1] Villaraigosa was elected mayor of Los Angeles in a run-off election on May 17, 2005, in which he defeated incumbent mayor James Hahn.

Contents 1 Biography 2 See also 3 Notes 4 References 5 External links

Biography

Born Antonio Villar in Boyle Heights neighborhood of East Los Angeles of Mexican-American parentage, Villaraigosa had an unstable childhood. Although he never finished high school he received an honorary degree from Theodore Roosevelt High School. He fell in with gangs but shook off that lifestyle and went on to attend UCLA. While there, he was active in MEChA, a radical civil rights organization. He obtained his degree in history, and attended the People's College of Law, an unaccredited law school. After failing the bar four times he moved on to labor. He became a field representative/organizer with the United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA), where he made inroads with individuals that would help him make his move into politics, such as the James M. Wood and Miguel Contreras, both deceased Executive Treasurers of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO. Villaraigosa was also President of the Los Angeles chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union for a period.

In 1994, Antonio was elected to the California State Assembly, and just four years later, his colleagues in the legislature voted to make him the first Assembly Speaker from Los Angeles in 25 years. He eventually became one of the leading progressive voices in the state. In 1987, he married Corina Raigosa (his second wife) and combining their names, changed his name from Villar to Villaraigosa. He ran for mayor of Los Angeles in the 2001 citywide contest but was defeated by eight percent by fellow Democrat James Hahn in a run-off election. In 2003, Villaraigosa defeated incumbent Councilman Lauro "Nick" Pacheco to win a seat on the Los Angeles City Council representing the 14th District.

In the Los Angeles mayoral election that took place on March 8, 2005, Villaraigosa placed first and continued on to the run-off election held on May 17, in which he won 58.7% of the vote to Hahn's 41.3%. He is the first Latino mayor of Los Angeles since 1872, when Mayor Cristóbal Aguilar (mayor from 1866 to 1868 and again from 1870 until 1872) governed over Los Angeles at a time when its population was barely 6,000.

The Nation attributes his success in 2005, as against his failure in 2001, to his adding significant number of African Americans to his earlier coalition of "Latinos, labor and white lefties", noting 2005 endorsements by Representative Maxine Waters (a Hahn supporter in 2001) and City Council member (and former police chief) Bernard Parks. ^[2] He also won handily amongst the West L.A.'s liberal jewish population, and to a lesser degree, the west Valley's more conservative jewish community. Indeed, there where only two demographics groups he did not win: white conservatives in the north west Valley, and Asian-Americans, although the latter only by the narrowest of margins.

On July 1st of 2005, he was sworn in as the 41st mayor of Los Angeles in an enormous ceremony, which involved an interfaith service at the Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral, followed by a large procession to nearby City Hall. On the South Lawn of the facility, he was administered the oath of office by Stephen Reinhardt, judge of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court, in a ceremony attended by dignitaries such as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, former Vice-President Al Gore, New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, current and former state and local elected officials, candidates, as well as large numbers of the L.A. area counsular corps, including a large contingent of elected officials from Mexico.

See also

• Los Angeles mayoral election, 2005
• Los Angeles mayoral election, 2001

Notes

• ^  (unsigned article), "Progressive City Leaders", The Nation, June 18, 2005, p.18-19.

References

• Reaching across LA's ethnic divide, David Willis, BBC News Los Angeles (May 17, 2005)

External links

• Biography from the Office of the Mayor of the City of Los Angeles
• Biographical profile of Antonio Villaraigosa in the Los Angeles Times (May 8, 2005)
• La Prensa: A political analysis of the 2001 election
• Photos on campaign website for Antonio Villaraigosa
• Antonio Villaraigosa Educational Campaign, conducted by Andrew Jones.
• CityMayors article

Preceded by: James Hahn	Mayor of Los Angeles, California July 1, 2005–	Succeeded by: Incumbent
Preceded by: Lauro "Nick" Pacheco	Member of the Los Angeles City Council, 14th District 2003–2005	Succeeded by: Vacant
Preceded by: Cruz Bustamante	Speaker of the California State Assembly February 1998–2000	Succeeded by: Bob Hertzberg
Preceded by: Richard Polanco	California State Assemblyman, 45th District 1994–2000	Succeeded by: Jackie Goldberg