Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa established a solid lead over his nine challengers Tuesday, securing a second four-year term. But one of his closest allies, Councilman Jack Weiss, appeared headed for a May 19 runoff in the contest for city attorney.
With about half of the votes counted, Villaraigosa avoided a runoff against the second-place candidate, attorney Walter Moore.The mayor had been expected to secure the needed majority, given that he had appeared in television commercials for himself and two other campaigns -- and had outspent Moore by a ratio of 15 to 1.
Taking the stage shortly before 11 p.m. at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel downtown, Villaraigosa was greeted with a short burst of applause.
"I stand before you all humbled tonight, humbled by your support and by your confidence. I'm humbled by your continued trust and your continuing forgiveness," he said.
In other contests, Councilwoman Wendy Greuel was drawing enough votes to avoid a runoff in her bid for city controller, holding a commanding lead on businesswoman Kathleen "Suzy" Evans and engineer Nick Patsaouras, according to early results. City attorney candidate Jack Weiss, a Westside councilman, appeared headed for a May 19 runoff against Carmen "Nuch" Trutanich, although early returns showed Deputy City Atty. Michael Amerian narrowly in third place.
Villaraigosa had been hoping to use Tuesday's election to expand his political reach at City Hall, ushering Weiss and Greuel into citywide office. Having those two in such powerful posts would represent a dramatic break for the mayor, who frequently disagreed with City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo and had an increasingly distant relationship with City Controller Laura Chick. Both Chick and Delgadillo are being forced out by term limits.
Los Angeles voters also were approving a major component of Villaraigosa's renewable energy platform: Measure B, the solar energy plan. The measure, heavily backed by the union that represents workers at the Department of Water and Power, would require the city to add 400 megawatts of solar panels by 2014.
Only two years ago, Villaraigosa's political standing had been damaged by an extramarital affair and by a judge's decision to invalidate his plan for gaining more control of the Los Angeles Unified School District.
A solid victory by Villaraigosa would show that he has bounced back, keeping him in play as one of the Democrats who could mount a statewide bid for governor in 2010. Moore voiced satisfaction that Villaraigosa experienced such a weak showing in the early returns.
