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.
That's great if you can spend your life learning 5 different languages, but most folks are too busy. And I supposed 40% of drivers being unlicensed and uninsured is a good thing too.
Great blend. Kind of like peanut butter and mayonaise.
And the commie ba$tards won't let us in the valley secede.
"Of the 48% Latino population how many are US citizens and thus were eligible to vote?"
40% of all Hispanics in the US are here illegally, an 31.25% of the future projected increase in the Hispanic population will come from Illegal Aliens.
The Census Bureau has been using the "10 - 12 million Illegal Aliens in the US" since 1993.
I agree with your question; my larger question is why are there so very many racist, prejudice remarks on this website and specifically on this thread. There are a lot of freedom loving people here that sure do not appear to appreciate the fact that US citizens vote for whom they want to represent them. Those few of you that are posting these comments (and that lovely drivers lic.) had better take a look at the talk you talk and the walk you walk.
According to you.
I prefer to judge people by their loyalty to their nation. Mine is America, and I am loyal to it. I don't care if someone who came here legally is from Viet Nam or Russia or Mexico, as long as they are loyal to America now. And if someone's family has been in this nation for 25 or 250 or 25,000 years, as long as they are loyal to America they are my brother or sister.
OTOH, if someone is covertly dedicated to erasing our borders, and melding America into a world government, or retaking the Southwest to create "Aztlan," they are my enemy. And in that case, I don't care how long they have been in this great nation.
What you refuse to admit is a key difference: that 48% Hispanics of Los Angeles do not see themselves as Americans.
I don't think that is unreasonable.
BTW, Antonio is a pretty "racist" guy. If you hate "racism" then this is probably not the fight you should be having.
"What you refuse to admit is a key difference: that 48% Hispanics of Los Angeles do not see themselves as Americans."
40% of all Hispanics in the US are here illegally - see my post at 83.
It's still four times as white as Detroit.
Did they?
It depends on whether you think a "citizen" of LA must also be a "citizen" of the US. I'm sure everyone will have differing opinions on whether "citizens of LA" voted for their mayor. Remember, the estimates are that approximately 40% of people who LIVE in LA are not in the country legally.
And it's extremely easy for these folks to vote. My neigbors (I live in LA) who are not here legally informed me of how easy it is. They even participated in the presidential election *shrug*
And what is up with 5 languages? I know one (and it is a Texan version at that) and I can communicate just fine with the Chinese, french, and Latinos that live in my neighborhood.
About 80% of the Mexicans in my neighborhood cannot speak English. Maybe Texas has more educated aliens.
Where do you get the data that 40% of the people driving have no license?
Estimates from Hispanic groups themselves when they were trying to shove the "licenses for illegals" initiave through.
Oh, and the 40% was quoted by the LAPD, CHP, DMV, Inusrance Companies, and City Council. So while nobody knows the true amount for sure, most people feel comfortable with the 40% figure.
In Cali, anybody can vote. You just fill out the form, and you are registered. There is no mechanism for checking if you are a citizen or not. You just say you are, and you vote. It is illegal to even ask if someone is a citizen at the polling booth, or to ask for ID. In fact, you can vote as many times as you want, by filling out multiple registration forms in different precincts.
It seems rather pointless anymore.
Ah, you answered my question.
Voting for the mayor in LA is like voting for American Idol.
Your homepage stress decorum yet you come on here and race bait and get all sanctimonious from the start.
It's easy and fits the race baiting agenda to discuss the immigration issue strictly on the basis of race but it is admittedly more than that.
If the indian and meztizo Mexican and Central Maericans streaming across the border illegally were Caucasian, it would still be an issue would it not?
Actually I see they are catching Braislian illegals now regularly who chances are by demographics down there....are Caucasian.
But admittedly...most but not all of the third world trying to get in here are non-white or mixed. That is a fact which can't be denied.
I would ask you as a conservative?
1) Can you name one non-Caucasian ethnic group in the US that votes majority Conservative?
Don't say Cubans. The Cuban expats (particularly pre-Mariel) are overwhelming Caucasian. Cuba was the second most European of all Western Latin nations prior to their diaspora. Argentina remains first followed by Chile.
I bet the Japanese tend to vote conservative here. I could be wrong.
In any event, the facts are that whites voting conservative is about all that keeps us from a permanant socialist abyss. And now you advocate turning the Southwest into a padrino-peon system by default as well.
We only won by 51% last go around and we were damned motivated.
And contrary to Rove's claims later refuted by National Review. the Mexican-American vote did not budge even after all of W's pandering.
If you still think all of what most of us (over 90% according to JR's last poll)here feel is racism then so be it.
I think living in SF you must be suffering from Stockholm's Syndrome and can no longer recognize your own political demise. You've gotten used to it.
Btw...the 9-11 terrorists were Caucasian by racial classification and I believe several were illegal. Can't blame that one on race can we? But you'll tell me I'm a religious bigot on that one right?
and Jackson Miss.
That's not fair.
...There are actually some talented contestants on American Idol.
I have seen some (especially from the southeastern part) that are darker than any Mexican I have ever seen, and their skin color can look almost black.
If the whole thing is about skin color, I would think the Asians are being held back more than the Mexicans. No?
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