Speaker Villaraigosa Enters Race for Mayor...

Antonio Villaraigosa, the powerful and personable speaker of the state Assembly, announced Saturday that he is launching his campaign for mayor of Los Angeles, a move that brings new dynamism to an already large and growing field of candidates.

“I’m running,” he said simply in an interview Saturday afternoon. “I’ve decided that after a year of speculation and, more importantly, introspection on my part, I should run for mayor.”

Villaraigosa said he believes his track record as a coalition builder combined with his passionate idealism make him the right candidate to guide Los Angeles into the new century. If successful, he would be the first Latino mayor in the modern history of America’s most ethnically diverse big city. Even if he loses, his campaign may energize the city’s largest ethnic group, a population whose numbers dwarf its political power--at least for now.

Intense, energetic, handsome and plain-spoken, Villaraigosa is admired even by some who wish he weren’t running for mayor. And his job in Sacramento makes him one of the state’s most powerful public officials, with proven skills at fund-raising and with potential access to donors far beyond Los Angeles.

In addition, Villaraigosa, although a Democrat and longtime supporter of the American Civil Liberties Union with strong ties to the civil rights and labor movements, is far from doctrinaire. For example, while some Latino leaders in Los Angeles have rallied to the defense of embattled schools Supt. Ruben Zacarias--who is fighting the school board’s appointment of a powerful second-in-command--Villaraigosa on Saturday struck a more moderate tone.

“Clearly, there’s a crisis in our schools, and I don’t believe Ruben’s the only person responsible,” the speaker said. But, he added, “I think the board has every right to hold Ruben Zacarias or any other superintendent accountable. . . . They should hold him accountable, reaffirm support for him or replace him.”

Indeed, Villaraigosa’s message, though carried by one of the state’s most visible Latino officials, is decidedly non-ethnic. He champions school reform, health care and open space--all issues he has advanced in Sacramento and all of which he contends are meaningful not just to Latinos or to liberals but to the entire electorate.

“I think these are mainstream issues that are going to resonate with people,” he said.

At the same time, the speaker confronts obvious liabilities in the campaign. Unabashedly liberal, Villaraigosa may alienate some of the city’s moderate and conservative voters. Blunt, sometimes even brash, he may stumble along the 18-month course between now and election day in April 2001.

His name recognition is low, hampered by the fact that he spends most of his time in Sacramento--though he does make it a point to spend several days a week in Los Angeles--and due in part to his unwieldy last name, an amalgamation of his surname and his wife’s.

Moreover, despite the inevitable appearance of a strong Latino voting base in Los Angeles, some observers believe the day for a successful Latino candidate still may be a few years off. Some of Villaraigosa’s backers, including leaders of the city’s labor movement, had urged him to sit out this race and run when the job next came open.

“If he’s patient and plays his cards right, Antonio will have his day,” one political observer, a supporter of City Atty. James K. Hahn, said Saturday. “I just don’t think that day has come quite yet.”

Villaraigosa thinks otherwise. And he predicted that as voters get to know him, they will come his way.

“You know, you can tell people until the cows come home that you’re Picasso, but if you can’t paint, they’re not going to believe you,” he said. “On the other hand, if you’re Picasso and you can paint like that, you don’t have to talk a lot about it.”

His decision to run pits him against a broad field of competitors.

Among them: commercial real estate broker Steve Soboroff, who is running with the endorsement of outgoing Mayor Richard Riordan, forced out of the job by term limits. Just last week, Soboroff hosted the first major fund-raiser of his campaign, a buffet dinner and cocktail party at Riordan’s Brentwood home. More than 500 people attended, contributing roughly $500,000 to Soboroff’s campaign.

City Councilman Joel Wachs also is in the race, bringing his solid base of supporters from the San Fernando Valley. Kathleen Connell, the state treasurer, is seriously considering a bid, as is Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Los Angeles), a leader in the Latino community.

And then there is Hahn. He is the only candidate in the field to have held citywide office--and he’s done that time and again, winning five such campaigns. A second-generation officeholder whose father was revered in South-Central Los Angeles, Hahn brings strong support from many African American officials and residents, as well as a much-admired team of top aides.

Moreover, the city’s political establishment is eagerly awaiting word on at least one more potential candidate, county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky. For months, insiders believed Yaroslavsky was leaning toward sitting out this mayor’s race, but in recent weeks, those same observers have said they believe the supervisor now is inclined to get in, bolstered in part by poll numbers that show he would fare well. Yaroslavsky himself has said nothing publicly about his intentions.

Villaraigosa conceded Saturday that the conventional political wisdom does not rate his chances very high. He says he is unconcerned.

“The conventional wisdom [when I first ran] was that I wasn’t going to get elected,” he said. “The conventional wisdom was that I would never be speaker of the state Assembly, that I wouldn’t have a successful speakership. . . . I’m not one to put a whole lot of confidence in the conventional wisdom.”