05/18/2005: 
Breaking News
ANTONIO R. VILLARAIGOSA 260,721 (58.66%)
JAMES KENNETH HAHN 183,749 (41.34%)
Villaraigosa Wins Majority of Miniscule Voter Turnout
Antonio Villaraigosa was elected the Mayor of Los Angeles yesterday, defeating incumbent Mayor James Hahn. Villaraigosa won 58.66% to Hahn's 41.34%. According to the LA City Clerk's office, only 30.55% of the city's registered voters cast ballots in this election. According to the United States Census Bureau, the estimated population of Los Angeles in 2000 was 3,694,820. This means that Villaraigosa received a mandate from the 30.55% of registered Angeleno voters who showed up to vote, who comprised 12% of the total population.
I did not support Villaraigosa in the primary because in his campaign website he sounded like he was promising the moon to various underserved constituencies. The goals he wants to accomplish as mayor include fixing the LAPD, the schools, traffic, and to extend the subway line down Wilshire Blvd and further into the San Fernando Valley. I supported former LAPD Chief Bernard Parks in the primary because of his opposition to a tax to put more police on the streets, which was the most rational idea any of the candidates put forward. I leaned towards Hahn until it was stated in a debate that the Los Angeles Unified School District has a 52% dropout rate. Although the Mayor of Los Angeles has no control over the LAUSD, I could not bring myself to vote for someone who had sat by and let something like that happen. To his credit, there are a lot of new schools being built on former vacant lots around the city.
I wish Villaraigosa a lot of luck. Villaraigosa made a campaign appearance in front of where I work on Monday afternoon and shook the hands of the afternoon crowds. I have never crossed paths randomly with a politician campaigning for office on the street, and it was something to remember, watching the entourage, and in the middle, people talking to a man in a yellow tie. I also think he should watch his step, because so many people of Los Angeles are dissatisfied with the way things are going, yet so few people that are even eligible to vote participate in government. How can even the most idealistic new mayor- elect inspire a constituency that either cannot or, even worse, will not participate in making Los Angeles a better place?
