Posted on 05/18/2005 1:04:53 AM PDT by RWR8189
LOS ANGELES - Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa unseated Mayor James Hahn on Tuesday to become the city's first Hispanic mayor in more than a century, confirming the rising political power of Latinos in the nation's second-largest city.
After a lackluster term tainted by corruption allegations at City Hall, Hahn was turned out of office in favor of a high school dropout and son of the barrio who turned his life around to become speaker of the California Assembly and then a member of the Los Angeles City Council.
With 70 percent of precincts reporting, Villaraigosa had 202,861 votes, or 59 percent, to 140,416 votes for Hahn, or 41 percent.
"You all know I love L.A., but tonight I really love L.A.," an exuberant Villaraigosa told supporters.
Villaraigosa will become the first Hispanic mayor of Los Angeles since 1872, back when the city was merely a dusty outpost of only about 5,000 residents on the edge of the Western frontier. Hahn, the scion of a prominent political family, becomes the first Los Angeles mayor in 32 years to be bounced from office.
Villaraigosa, 52, positioned himself as a unity candidate who would bridge racial and ethnic groups in a city that is 48 percent Hispanic, 31 percent white, 11 percent Asian and 10 percent black. The Democrat lined up marquee endorsements from John Kerry to basketball legend Magic Johnson.
The bruising runoff between the two Democrats was a rematch of the 2001 election, in which Hahn rallied to defeat Villaraigosa and win his first term. But Villaraigosa came back strong this year, nearly ousting Hahn in the March primary.
Elsewhere, Pittsburgh held a primary for mayor with the city mired in worst financial crisis since the collapse of the steel industry during the 1980s. And voters in Dover, Pa., picked their candidates for the school board in a community that has been roiled by a new and apparently first-in-the-nation policy requiring that students learn about the "intelligent design" theory of creation.
Hahn's family has been active in Los Angeles politics for decades; his father, Kenneth, was a beloved county supervisor. He touted Los Angeles' dropping crime and argued that he is the man to cure such urban ills such as failing schools and gridlock.
But the coalition of blacks and moderate-to-conservative San Fernando Valley voters that put him in office four years ago broke apart this time. He lost black support because he backed the ouster of Police Chief Bernard Parks, who is black, and suffered fallout from allegations that his administration exchanged city contracts for campaign donations.
And Hahn's lawyerly — some say drab — image left him open to criticism that he isn't up to being the public face of star-studded L.A.
"People want substance rather than style. I think they want results rather than rhetoric," Hahn, 54, said after voting early Tuesday. "You know, maybe I have a charisma deficit disorder, but I've done the job people have elected me to do."
Villaraigosa, who once wore a "Born to Raise Hell" tattoo before turning his life around, promised to bring a fresh start to the city.
"I will never forget where I came from. And I will always believe in the people of Los Angeles," he said Tuesday night.
In other races Tuesday:
_ Former City Councilman Bob O'Connor beat a crowded field of Democrats in the Pittsburgh mayoral primary. O'Connor will be heavily favored to win in November because Pittsburgh is predominantly Democratic. Mayor Tom Murphy is not seeking a fourth term.
_ In Dover, Pa., a party-line split emerged in a school board primary that has made national headlines because of the board's October decision to require that ninth-grade students be told about "intelligent design" when they learn about evolution in biology class. Republicans picked seven incumbent school board members who support the policy, while Democrats favored a slate of seven challengers who say intelligent design doesn't belong in science class. Intelligent design holds that the universe is so complex, it must have been created by some kind of guiding force.
_ Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne Abraham, once called "America's Deadliest D.A." for her pursuit of the death penalty, took a big step toward winning a full fourth term by cruising to victory in the Democratic primary. The 64-year-old prosecutor defeated a 38-year-old lawyer who accused Abraham of being soft on City Hall corruption.
_ In Erie, Pa., Mayor Rick Filippi, who is under indictment on charges of using insider information to try to profit from real estate deals, lost his re-election bid in the Democratic primary. The primary came a day before he faced a preliminary hearing in the corruption case.
One day you and Travis and your gang will be exposed for your White Supremacist roots.
How long will these trolls continue to be allowed to embarrass Free Republic and slander American patriots and Vets?
re: Hugh Hewitt is "moderate at best."
I think Hugh is a conservative, but like some other conservative celebrities, is too concerned about being nice to liberals whom he knows. I do like the fact that he wrote a book attacking the Democratic party. That says a lot to me. Some of his stuff is great. But he needs to have a "full set" all the time, not just some of the time.
You're a fraud, and NO friend of America.
Why do you say we are the ones race bating, the original post I was responding to was:
Read this and weep...
"a city that is 48 percent Hispanic, 31 percent white, 11 percent Asian and 10 percent black"
Do you not consider that to be racist? Do you feel I am the one that started the race bating?
How long will these trolls continue to be allowed to embarrass Free Republic and slander American patriots and Vets? - I am a vet. Just because someone does not agree with you (and I certainly do not) does not make me a troll. Can you please stop calling people names or is that the best you got?
If you want to see who started out on this thread with calling me a racist nazi, go back to 60 and read the next few between myself and jveritas.
By the way, a FROBL is a "free republic open borders lobbyist." (From your freepmail.)
What does somebody have to do around here to get the attention of the moderators? This troll started directly calling me a racist Nazi back at 60, I pinged all of the moderators, and I have had no response.
Actually you are the one that posted 60. What is it you can call people names but have to run to the mods for help when the table is turned?
You are proud of your book but yet this book is nothing but an cheap imitation of the Turner Diaries. I read the review on your books, and yes it is another holy book for the White Supremacists crowd.
Umm, I think Villaraigosa and the Reconquista Front has something a lot more deliberate in mind: renegotiation of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, and the return of Spanish land grants. This little notion was pioneered by Reyes Lopez Tijerina in New Mexico in the 1960's, and you need to know that they are serious about it.
We did it to them, they plan to do it right back.
My point is that being white does not by a long shot make one a friend of Western civilization. Rejection of crude tribalism is one the reasons the West has thrived. Japan is a case study of an advanced society in a downward spiral (and with much bigger problems than the US) despite its homogenous population.
Not whine to them every minute? Sheesh.
Thanks for the tip, I hope you're up and around soon ;)
Maybe that explains all the puckered posts on this thread.
LOL
To: jveritas (Freepmail to me from jveritias) "Travis you are the leader of the RACIST guys here on FR. You will be exposed one day right here on FR and everyone will know how deep you are involved with the white supremacist movement."
You have something to say to me, say it right here, in the open. I prefer not to have private discussions with false flag freepers, who are secretly loyal to other nations.
60 posted on 05/18/2005 8:03:08 AM PDT by Travis McGee
To: Travis McGee Well you want it in the open so be it. I am not loyal to any other nation but to the great USA. For you the USA should be a white supremacist nation and to your great chagrin this will never happen. You will not be allowed to hijack FR and turn it into a National Alliance or Storm Front forum. 62 posted on 05/18/2005 8:15:25 AM PDT by jveritas
To: Jim Robinson; Lead Moderator; Sidebar Moderator; Admin Moderator; jveritas Freepmail sent to me by jveritas. I have never freepmailed this guy, and I can't remember ever even replying to him on a thread, although I may have.
"Travis you are the leader of the RACIST guys here on FR. You will be exposed one day right here on FR and everyone will know how deep you are involved with the white supremacist movement."
Then his open reply to me, after I said I would not exchange freepmails with him and posted his slanders in the open. Here, he is again calling me a Nazi and a racist:
For you the USA should be a white supremacist nation and to your great chagrin this will never happen. You will not be allowed to hijack FR and turn it into a National Alliance or Storm Front forum.
Is it permissible on Free Republic to make these kind of slanderous charges? 68 posted on 05/18/2005 8:40:57 AM PDT by Travis McGee (----- www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com -----)
Something to keep in mind, when you send freepmails full of racist slander. They may come back to bite you. They are saved for all to see.
Re: Antonio Villaraigosa Elected L.A. Mayor From jveritas | 05/18/2005 7:25:58 AM PDT read
I think they can't hear you, maybe you should whine in a larger font.
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