LA Elects Latino Labor Leader as Mayor

Los Angeles has elected its first Latino mayor in more than a century: Antonio Villaraigosa defeated incumbent Jim Hahn in a landslide, 59 to 41 percent. As mayor of the country's second-biggest city, Villaraigosa immediately becomes a national political figure in the Democratic Party. But he's not just a Latino; he's also a longtime labor activist who started out as a union organizer and then headed the ACLU of Southern California.

This was Villaraigosa's second try--he was defeated four years ago when Hahn ran a vicious campaign that successfully exploited black fears about electing a Latino mayor. Hahn lost his African-American support when he fired the black police chief, Bernard Parks, who then ran against him in this year's primary. Villaraigosa knows his key political task is cementing a progressive alliance between Latinos and blacks. If he can do that, he will point the way to a new liberal-left coalition and make political history not just for LA but for the country.
(The Nation)