Free Republic

[SNIP] ....Based on my limited interactions and after reading more about [San Antonio Mayor Julian] Castro, it is clear that he is superficially very different from the older Latino leaders but very similar in other ways. The most prominent Hispanic mayor in America is Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Before Castro was born, Villaraigosa was at UCLA leading the openly racist, secessionist, and anti-American group MEChA. After engaging in protests to try to get the ChicanoStudies Department to give money to an openly communist group, he dropped out of UCLA and attended the unaccredited People's School of Law. He took...

It’s clear that Barack Obama and his Democrats are out of ideas; they are using their party’s ancient and antiquated technique of painting the Republican Party as reactionary. The latest example came today courtesy of fly-by-night Los Angeles mayor and Democratic National Convention chairman Antonio Villaraigosa. Appearing on Fox News Sunday, he said that the Republican platform “looks like the platform of 1812”, adding “Reagan would be turning in his grave" to hear some of the proposals coming from the GOP.

Ace wrote about this yesterday but I didn’t have time to look at the list until now. Go see for yourself. I went through it being as objective as I could about who might be interesting to watch as a young, impressive, highly touted leader of the future in the Rubio, Ryan, Christie, Jindal, Susana Martinez, Rand Paul, Brian Sandoval, Mia Love mold. Out of a list of 75 or so names, here’s what I’ve got — and I’m stretching even on some of these, just so that I’ve got something. – Cory Booker, who hasn’t held statewide office; –...

As Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa prepares to take the gavel for the Democratic National Committee’s national convention in Charlotte this summer, Yahoo! News asked whether the termed-out mayor could be the nation’s first Latino president. Villaraigosa assured his interviewer that he has no interest in national office, but he does have another job in mind after 2013, when he will be forced from Getty House. "The job I've said to people I would like is I would like to be governor of the state of California," he said.

LOS ANGELES — When Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa gavels the 2012 Democratic National Convention into session in Charlotte this September, his role as prominent cheerleader for President Obama will be clear. It is less clear, for now, if Villaraigosa has designs on the ultimate convention role in 2016--taking center stage to accept his party's nomination on the final night. Despite running the country's second largest city and coming from the fastest growing voting demographic in America, the mayor himself is quick to wave off talk of a presidential run. "The answer is no," Villaraigosa replied when asked by Yahoo...

[Try not to Laugh] LOS ANGELES—When Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa gavels the 2012 Democratic National Convention into session in Charlotte, N.C., this September, his role as prominent cheerleader for President Barack Obama will be clear. It is less clear, for now, if Villaraigosa has designs on the ultimate convention role in 2016—taking center stage to accept his party's nomination on the final night. Despite running the country's second largest city and coming from the fastest growing voting demographic in America, the mayor himself is quick to wave off talk of a presidential run...

Mayor Villaraigosa, KTLA's Lu Parker end relationship TV reporter's publicist confirms that the couple have broken up after three years. Villaraigosa declines to answer questions about Parker, who had been living at mayor's mansion. By Kate Linthicum and David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times July 2, 2012, 10:26 p.m. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and television news reporter Lu Parker, arm-in-arm regulars on the red carpet and at glitzy charity events in recent years, have broken up, a publicist for Parker said Monday. "I can confirm that Lu Parker ended her three-year committed relationship with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa as of May...

In what could be an initial foray into statewide politics, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa called Tuesday for a renewal of progressive politics in California in the nation, including an overhaul of the state's iconic limit on property taxes, Proposition 13. "Progressives have to start thinking - and acting - big again," Villaraigosa declared in prepared remarks for the Sacramento Press Club, to counteract anti-tax and anti-government drives by the Tea Party and other conservative blocs. "If the Tea Party in Washington and their counterparts here in Sacramento are intent on pitching jobs overboard in the mindless pursuit of ideology...

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — Despite the objections of his neighbors, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has ordered city officials to proceed with a plan to erect a six-foot wall around the mayor’s mansion. The wall — which would flank the sides of Getty House in Hancock Park — recently drew the ire of local residents in February when Villaraigosa filed a request for a local variance that prohibits any fencing that exceeds 42 inches in height. A proposed design for the wall includes “embedded” security features...

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has agreed to pay nearly $42,000 in fines to resolve state and city investigations into his practice of accepting tickets to sports events, concerts and pricey entertainment activities without reporting them as gifts, officials said Friday. In a pact drafted by officials with the state Fair Political Practices Commission and the city Ethics Commission, Villaraigosa admitted that he failed to report free tickets to 34 events during his first five years in office, including Los Angeles Lakers games and concerts at such venues as Gibson Amphitheater. Villaraigosa faced a maximum fine of more than $167,000...

With Tuesday's record-setting turnout, California Hispanics for the first time performed as well as any other racial group in a statewide election. The outpouring was especially strong on the Democratic side, with Hispanics accounting for 30 percent of Tuesday's presidential primary vote. Hispanic Democrats nearly doubled their percentage from the 2000 and 2004 primaries. And they matched their percentage among California adults, suggesting the state's fast-growing Hispanic population is finally being reflected at the polls. Analysts cited a variety of possible reasons for the uptick in Hispanic voting, from the voter registration drives that developed from the 2006 immigration protests...

A few months ago, the smart money was that Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa would be the likely Democratic candidate for governor in 2010 and probably would become the first Latino governor in more than a century. That, however, was before he admitted to having an affair with a local television anchorwoman -- an admission that may lead to a very messy divorce case. Infidelity per se may no longer be a barrier to higher office, but the situation has generated some sharp criticism of Villaraigosa's judgment -- enough that his gubernatorial ascension is no longer the semi-sure thing it...

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton Wednesday named California Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez -- one of the state's leading Hispanic politicians -- a national co-chair of her presidential campaign. "I'm going to be relying on him very heavily," Clinton said... ...Nunez is a close friend of popular Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, whose endorsement is being eagerly sought by presidential candidates. It's unclear what, if any, influence Nunez's decision will have on the mayor's thinking. Nunez said he would encourage Clinton to spend as much time as possible in California, which holds its primary on Feb. 5...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, in a nationally televised Spanish-language speech, faulted the White House Tuesday for policies he said pushed more Americans into poverty and failed to address a crisis in education. "America can do better," the mayor said in response to President Bush's State of the Union address. "Under this administration, 4 million people have fallen from the working class into the ranks of the poor," the mayor said. "Six million children are on the verge of failing out of school and 11 million Americans can't read a bus schedule or fill out a job application....

Calling on Los Angeles to renew its dreams and work with him to meet the challenges of making the streets safer, the schools better and the air cleaner, Antonio Ramo Villaraigosa was sworn in Friday as the city's 41st mayor and the first Latino mayor since 1872. With more than 5,000 officials and residents packed onto the South Lawn of City Hall, Villaraigosa promised to work to bring the city together and urged the public to think big about how the city can become a world leader. "Let's swear a common oath today. Let's make Los Angeles a city of...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Newly elected Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Wednesday plunged into the kind of controversy that could underlie his role as the first Latino leader of the multicultural city in over a century. Villaraigosa, 52, the high school dropout son of Mexican immigrants, scored a resounding election victory over incumbent James Hahn in Tuesday's mayoral elections, making him one of the nation's highest profile Latino leaders. Despite a campaign that underplayed race and a result that reflected cross-cultural support, Villaraigosa's historic win also underscored the growing influence of Latino voters in California and across the United...

LOS ANGELES (May 18) - Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa trounced Mayor James Hahn to become the city's first Hispanic mayor in more than a century as voters turned to the promise of change in a metropolis troubled by gridlock, gangs and failing schools. Tuesday's election confirms the rising political power of Latinos in the nation's second-largest city. In a victory speech before thousands of supporters in downtown Los Angeles, Villaraigosa, 52, paid tribute to his heritage while promising to bring the city's diverse racial and ethnic groups together. ''I stand here today because people believed in me. I want you to...

MSNBC host Chuck Todd asked the co-chair of the Democratic party's convention, L.A. mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, why there are more Republican women and Hispanic governors: "Let me ask you though, this one question, why is it that the Republicans have elected more women governors and have two Hispanic governors and the Democrats don’t?," asked Todd. "Don’t have as many women governors and don’t have Hispanic governors, why do you think that is?"

Above: Sanctuary City Clowns Villaraigosa and Beck - putting the needs of illegals aliens above public safety. by John HillStand With Arizona Finally, a voice of sanity has emerged to stand against the madness that is America's Sanctuary City - Los Angeles. The Police Protective League (PPL) - the union that represents Los Angeles police officers - has sued the city and Police Chief Charlie Beck this week over his disgraceful new policy that allows illegal alien unlicensed drivers to keep their cars instead of having them impounded for 30 days - as California state law mandates.We profiled Beck's announcement...

Like a beautiful butterfly emerging from his cocoon, a remarkable political metamorphosis is taking place right before our eyes. You won't see this on the Nature Channel; instead you have to watch the savants on CNN and MSNBC to witness Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa transform from a "Failure," as Los Angeles Magazine called him in 2009, into a statesman. From their offices high above New York's Sixth Avenue the editors of Time Magazine have also discovered mayoral virtues invisible from Ventura Boulevard. Adam Nagourney of The New York Times gave "Tony the Butterfly" two thumbs up, claiming, "His record is substantial...