Opinion: Many cheer Bass’ mayoral win. Some wonder why L.A. elects only Democrats
Opinion: Many cheer Bass’ mayoral win. Some wonder why L.A. elects only Democrats
In this March 28, 2012 photo, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa answers the crowd during a news conference at City Hall in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
In this March 27, 2012 photo, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa answers the crowd during a news conference at City Hall in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Nick Ut) (The Associated Press)
If the first-term mayor could have gotten the attention of voters from a remote locale, it’s likely he would have drawn a packed house along with fellow first-time and third-time mayors.
“It’s about making a difference,” Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa quipped at his victory party a few hours after his win Wednesday night, standing in the same spot where he was sworn in by Gov. Edmund G. Brown in 1963.
Villaraigosa won by 2.6 percentage points, with his closest political competition coming from the left — a race that had the potential to be a proxy war for who gets to be the liberal Democratic nominee in the 2013 election.
Villaraigosa’s win puts him in line for a second stint in the mayor’s chair next year, when challenger Eric Garcetti is considered likely to leave and Democrats will be back at the top of the Ticket in city politics.
But in his victory party, Villaraigosa said he was happy with the outcome.
“The work is not over,” he said. “We’re here for the long haul.”
What happened with Tuesday’s election was a remarkable display of political calculation. The Democratic Party of the early 20th century was seen as an endangered species; just about since then, it’s gained a foothold in the nation’s biggest city and in many other cities where cities tend to be Democrats.
So, when Democrats swept into the mayor’s office in 2003, they never spent much time thinking about what would happen next.
After all, Republicans were in
