Antonio Villaraigosa
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Antonio R. Villaraigosa (born January 23, 1953) is the mayor-elect of Los Angeles, California. When he takes office on July 1, 2005, he will become the first Hispanic mayor of Los Angeles since the early 1870s. Villaraigosa was elected mayor of Los Angeles in a run-off election on May 17, 2005, in which he defeated incumbent mayor James Hahn.
Born Antonio Villar in Boyle Heights neighborhood of East Los Angeles of Mexican-American parentage, Villaraigosa had a poor, unstable childhood and an unsettled young adulthood. After failing the California Bar exam four times, he eventually became a California State Assemblyman and Assembly Speaker, and one of the leading liberal and Hispanic 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 2001 but was defeated by eight percent by fellow Democrat James Hahn in a run-off election. In 2003, Villaraigosa defeated incumbent Councilman Nick Pacheco, a fellow Hispanic, 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 will be the first Hispanic 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.
See also
External links
- Biographical profile of Antonio Villaraigosa in the Los Angeles Times (http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-me-villaprof8may08,1,2638969.story?coll=la-headlines-politics) (May 8, 2005)
- La Prensa: A political analysis of the 2001 election (http://www.laprensa-sandiego.org/archieve/june08/power.htm)
- Photos on campaign website for Antonio Villaraigosa (http://www.antonio2005.com/multimedia?id=0003)
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