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.
Asians are losing preferential status because they are too damned smart.
Travis chose to make it public. Posting private freepmail is also not welcome on FR. He posted it to escalate the war. Whatever.
Cubans vote overwhlemingly Conservative. They are a culture quite distinct from most Mexican-Americans and illegals.
Those are Rove's lies.
Completely discredited now.
The hispanic vote for W in 2004 was in the margin of error the same as 2000.
I guess all those Conservative Mexicans explains Kali real well right canal?
That is quite true. It's a shame the media and libs have been fairly successful dumping all hispanics into "people of color".
actually I have no proof of that and retract it. those are Rove's "wishful thinkings".
I see. So if some jerk sends objectionable material through Freepmail, that is clearly related to a thread, I must bear the spam, and the obnoxiousness, that's acceptable. Got it.
Ignore the idiot. Name calling is a tool of the desperate.
I wouldn't bet on it.
They didn't do it without help of many hispanics themselves as it is quite a profitable venture in the inner circles of liberaldom.
I've met Asians darker than my mother who don't hesitate to tell my sister and I that they're white and we aren't. Hispanics too. I don't see what the big deal is.
Just trying to understand the bounds, here.
From where I sit, jveritas' freepmail is pretty unacceptable, and "outing" it publically no sin.
You clearly see it differently. While I don't agree, that's that, and I'll shut up now.
well some hispanics seem to go for the graavy train predominately.
Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Urban Mexicans and the newer the more likely.
Brasilians (latinos), Central Americans....I'm not sure about.
I believe Cubans and professional class South Americans are naturally more likely to vote R.
I have not seen stats on Colombians and am just going on the ones I know who are admittedly well off.
This new mayor is going to piss the state off when he gets comfortable and goes back to being himself.
That is not as bad as it looks. Whites have been moving out for decades. Since the Watts Riots in 1965, I think. Also many "Hispanics" are actually "whites", who have some Hispanic in their family tree, somewhere, and have decided to join the "In Crowd".
to a certain extent: Rome, in the Late Empire (@300AD onward).
look up "laeti settlements" and "defense in depth"
I've not seen where Travis made any racist comment about not wanting to see a loyal American citizen of Hispanic ancestry be involved in the political process. If (veritas)truth is indeed part of your moniker and part of you, then you realize the truth and reality of what is happening in this country. Non citizens are voting in our elections, that have no right to do so. I would not presume to vote in a Mexican election, a Canadian election, a British, French, Honduran, Chilean, or a Zimbabwean election. Why? I am not a citizen of any of those countries. If American citizens tried to vote in a Mexican election, there would be Hell to Pay. Travis McGee has never, in my memory, posted any racist material on any Free Republic forum. I find it difficult to see a good man slandered by someone with, what appears to be, an agenda. The people on Free Republic don't enjoy race baiting, but it seems when someone expresses concern at uncontrolled immigration all of a sudden they are racists. My wife is an immigrant, had to fill out paperwork, wait, go to interviews, etc. before she was allowed into the country. She is now a Texan and an American citizen and gets to cancel my vote if she wants to. She followed the rules, followed the law, but it took a much longer period of time for her paperwork to process for citizenship than it did for the illegals that got amnesty and applied later. I don't care what color they are, what country they come from, or what kind of sex they like. Follow the rules of entry, show respect for this country, and defend the USA with your life. Villaraigosa according to public record has some radical skeletons in his closet. I do not live in LA, but I hope that LA does not turn into Mexico City. The corruption in LA was bad enough, it doesn't need to go to the biblical proportions suffered by Ciudad de Mexico. P.S. When I refer to Mexican I am not referring to race, I am referring to nationality. I have seen and heard how Columbian and Cuban legal immigrants were insulted when they were referred to as Mexicanos. I got a bunch of amigos that feel the same and they are Tejano.
When you log in, to be greeted by this, from someone you have not even replied to, it's just no big deal, ignore it? Move along?
Jim, I want to be clear: this freepmail, out of the blue and not part of any "flamewar" is okay by you?
This meets your standards?
From jveritas | 05/18/2005 7:25:58 AM PDT read
Posting a private freepmail does not meet my standards. The message doesn't either.
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