Theirs is a classic Los Angeles political rivalry -- rarely discussed in public but obvious to all who are close, alluded to with raised eyebrows and snickering asides, laced with ethnicity and thick with practical implications, most recently in the spirited debate over a lawsuit that led to the fire chief's resignation.
Rocky Delgadillo has the resume and upbringing -- Harvard undergraduate, Columbia Law School, tutelage at one of Los Angeles' most prestigious law firms -- and in fact was first over the barrier, in 2001, when he became the first Latino of the modern era to win citywide office in Los Angeles.
Antonio Villaraigosa is the scrappier contender -- a far more obscure legal education and an embarrassing record of failing the bar exam -- but he leapfrogged the city attorney to become mayor in 2005 and has since left Delgadillo in his dust.
At one time, it was Delgadillo who was said to harbor state and national ambitions. Today, when commentators speculate on the 2010 gubernatorial campaign, it is Villaraigosa who's cited as a front-runner; Delgadillo is not so much as mentioned.
That's fine by Villaraigosa, because though they make nice in public, Los Angeles' mayor and city attorney in fact do not think much of each other -- Villaraigosa's friends tend to see Delgadillo as a dunderhead with no touch for politics, while Delgadillo's camp views Villaraigosa as an egocentric opportunist.
None of that is obvious from their public remarks. Villaraigosa declines to criticize Delgadillo in front of reporters, and Delgadillo reciprocates. "I have great respect for Antonio and consider him a friend and ally," he said recently.
The records suggest otherwise. During the first 10 months of 2006, Villaraigosa's schedule shows that he had 14 meetings and two dinners with City Council President Eric Garcetti. He met 19 times with Police Chief William J. Bratton and six times with Controller Laura Chick. Those same schedules show not one meeting with Delgadillo through Nov. 1, though the two did meet for dinner at the restaurant A.O.C. on Nov. 12, where they were spotted in serious, even grim, conversation.
Some tension between a mayor and city attorney is natural: Richard Riordan, an accomplished lawyer and venture capitalist when he became mayor in 1993, tended to view then-City Atty. James K. Hahn with something close to contempt.
In the Villaraigosa-Delgadillo relationship, once-competing ambitions and some early elbowing for position helped cement an animus.
