Mayor Endorses Assembly Candidate

For months, the leading candidates to succeed Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg (D-Los Angeles) in the race for the 45th Assembly District have touted their respective endorsements. On Friday, candidate Kevin de Leon landed perhaps the biggest catch of them all: the endorsement of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

De Leon, a top official in the California Teachers Assn., has raised significantly more money than his opponents and was already considered the front-runner by many analysts. The support of Villaraigosa, who previously represented the 45th District, will probably cement that status.

The mayor is at odds with many teachers over his school takeover proposal. De Leon aides said the candidate would seize upon the endorsements of teachers and the mayor to show that he is a consensus-builder.

“This is key,” said De Leon spokeswoman Hilda Delgado.

Villaraigosa announced his endorsement at a Hollywood elementary school. Because he has close ties to four candidates in a crowded Democratic field, it had been unclear whether he would endorse anyone. “These decisions are never easy,” the mayor said in an interview.

In the end, Villaraigosa said, he was drawn to De Leon’s experience in public education. “He’s in a great position to hit the ground running,” the mayor said.

De Leon’s opponents include Elena Popp, an attorney and activist who has been endorsed by Goldberg, and Christine Chavez, a labor leader and the granddaughter of Cesar E. Chavez.

The 45th District stretches across Los Angeles north of downtown, from Hollywood east through the southern pocket of Silver Lake, Echo Park, Chinatown and Lincoln Heights to City Terrace and north to Atwater Village and Mount Washington.