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.
Whenever I read about homestate this song comes to mind. Sigh.
The Last Resort
(The Eagles)
She came from Providence,
the one in Rhode Island
Where the old world shadows hand
heavy in the air
She packed her hopes and dreams
like a refugee
Just as her father came across the sea
She heard about a place people were simlin'
They spoke about the red man's way,
and how they loved the land
And they came from everywhere
to the Great Divide
Seeking a place to stand
or a place to hide
Down in the crowded bars,
out for a good time,
Can't wait to tell you all,
what it's like up there
And they called it paradise
I don't know why
Somebody laid the mountains low
while the town got high
Then the chilly winds blew down
Across the desert
through the canyons of the coast, to
the Malibu
Where the pretty people play,
hungry for power
to light their neon way
and give them things to do
Some rich men came and raped the land,
Nobody caught 'em
Put up a bunch of ugly boxes, and Jesus,
people bought 'em
And they called it paradise
The place to be
They watched the hazy sun, sinking in the sea
You can leave it all behind
and sail to Lahaina
just like the missionaries did, so many years ago
They even brought a neon sign:"Jesus is coming"
Brought the white man's burden down
Brought the white man's reign
Who will provide the grand design?
What is yours and what is mine?
'Cause there is no more new frontier
We have got to make it here
We satifsy our endless needs and
justify our bloody deeds,
in the name of destiny and the name
of God
And you can see them there,
On Sunday morning
They call it paradise
I don't know why
You call someplace paradise,
kiss it goodbye
Anyone who doesn't understand the depth and breadth of this illegal immigration problem is really nothing more than a useful idiot that resorts to the white supremacy guilt trip when he/she is absolutely devoid of ideas or facts.
Read 60 to 68, and then the recent replies, to see how charging one with being a Nazi racist, directly and in the open, is now tolerated on this forum.
And maybe we're just tired of the constant flamewars. How about taking your wars elsewhere?
jv is a racist as he believes whites whould leave the uS as it is OK by him for Mexicans to invade and take over.
I wouldn't suggest calling a Spaniard an Hispanic.
My brother, who lives and works in Madrid, says that would be a very bad idea, comparable to calling a Persian an Arab.
I consider that a quote from the article.
was the article, in your estimate, racist?
Oooh! That smarts... I'll remember that.
No, it's for real, courtesy of La Raza, or "The Race".
Travis,
In all of our private emails over the last few years; in all of our FR messaging for longer than that; from reading the excerpts from your book and what I read after buying the book (no, I still haven't finished it); I have NEVER seen a single word, idea, notion, sentiment, or statement that showed any thought towards race, let alone racism.
I have known racists (of varying colors) and they can't keep race from being the subject of every conversation.
If anyone is a racist -- and I am not saying that he is -- it is your accuser. He may just be short of vision, insight, and enough brains to see that ILLEGAL immigration is a problem -- and as the grandson of LEGAL, white, Eastern European immigrants I don't care if the illegals are genetic twins to me.
If you try to enter my house without permission, I'll shoot to kill. I don't see why the borders -- the door to our country -- should be treated any different. Respect them or die without regard to race, color, creed, or national origin.
"We"??
Serious question, JR:
Do you believe Travis McGee is a "racist" and "involved with the white supremacist movement" as has been publically charged by jveritas?
Clearly.
cool head de main t'ing, Mon.
those of us who favor closing and controlling the border know the truth about you and ourselves: Considering the ethnic diversity on our side, these accusations we suffer (of being a white supremacist front) are the mere barkings of raving decerebrates... things to be scorned and laughed at.
This started out this AM with my getting a freepmail calling me a Nazi racist.
I had not even made a reply to jveritas in any thread in weeks or months that I am aware of.
Jveritas has since then repeated that I am a Nazi racist over and over on this thread.
Is that okay with you?
If the private freepmails are as shown on this thread, they, along with the posts on the thread, seem to show jveritas engaging in straight up unacceptable racist accusations and race-baiting. Given that, I don't understand the "just tired" comment.
What am I missing?
I consider that a quote from the article. - I do not think it said Read this and weep - THAT i do believe is racist.
I think you are right about the Vietnamese. I'm not sure abour Laotians. Around here, they seem to be liberal oriented and to have acquired negative urban cultural attitudes.
The Vietnamese were genuine political refugees. The kind of immigration I am all for.
then I would posit that whatever hue your demis bears, it is a might thin and easily pricked.
It is unfortunate that the issue of differing race gives folks the impulse to capitulate in the face of a serious problem defeined by legality, magnitude, culture and many other parameters.
The folks afraid to call it like it is are so afraid of being labeled racist that they have lost their will....their cajones.
Are Rush, Hannity, Elder, Liddy, and nearly all of conservative talk radio racist too.
The mere fact that there is arguably "some" racial aspect to all this is not a good enough excuse not to act.
Does anyone know of another example in history where the predominate culture in a society capitulated without firing a shot because of guilt for things they didn't even do?
It's the theatre of the absurd to even have to defend such to these weak kneed softies.
BUT...some of the open borders advocates here are actually anti-anglo because of their own issues. I suppose that is not racist though.
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