Los Angeles – Antonio Villaraigosa vowed Wednesday to be “a mayor for all Los Angeles” after his election as the city’s first Latino mayor since 1872, a milestone that marks a changing of the guard in a city where Latinos now have political clout to match their burgeoning numbers.
The milestone was evident as Villaraigosa walked up to the podium at his victory party amid chants of “Si, se puede,” Spanish for “Yes, we can.”
He then promised to “bring this great city together” and thanked the people who inspired him during his rise from the barrio.
Villaraigosa, 52, defeated Mayor James Hahn by an unexpectedly wide margin Tuesday, 59 percent to 41 percent, in the nation’s second-largest city.
“I’ve said to people, ‘I’m an American of Mexican descent and I intend to be a mayor for all Los Angeles,”‘ he said Wednesday while visiting a vocational school. “In this diverse city, that’s the only way it can work.”
The victory by one Democrat over another came about a decade after Latinos became the biggest ethnic group in the city. Los Angeles is now 48 percent Latino, 31 percent white, 11 percent Asian and 10 percent black.
“Clearly this is an opportunity at the very least for a new kind of multiracial coalition. This is different – Latinos in the lead with African-Americans playing a key role with white liberals and Jews,” said Franklin Gilliam, a political scientist at the University of California at Los Angeles. “It’s a different kind of pecking order.”
When he is sworn in July 1, Villaraigosa will become the first Latino mayor of Los Angeles in 133 years. Back then, the city was a town of only 5,000 people.
Raised in Los Angeles by a single mother, Villaraigosa (pronounced VEE-uh-rah-go-sa) grew up on the edge of poverty, dropped out of high school and once had a tattoo that read “Born to Raise Hell.” He had the tattoo removed after he became a father.
Inspired by a teacher to resume his education, he eventually earned a law degree and was elected to the state Assembly in 1994, where he quickly became speaker. Forced out by term limits in 2000, he ran unsuccessfully against Hahn for mayor in 2001. He was elected to the City Council in 2003.
“I stand here today because people believed in me,” he said in his victory speech.
