Hahn Elected L.A. Mayor

June 6 -- City Attorney James Hahn was elected mayor ofLos Angeles over former state Assembly Speaker AntonioVillaraigosa, who had sought to become the city's first Hispanicmayor in more than a century.

"To all of you people who honored me, elected me as your citycontroller, elected me four times as your city attorney, thank youfor that vote of confidence over and over again," Hahn toldsupporters at a victory party early this morning. With 81 percent of precincts reporting early today, Hahn had250,523 votes, or 54 percent, to Villaraigosa's 212,212 votes, or46 percent.

A Fierce & Expensive Battle

The two Democrats had waged one of the fiercest mayoralcampaigns in Los Angeles history, spending $13 million for arace that became increasingly nasty toward the end. Villaraigosa, 48, the son of a Mexican immigrant, grew up on therough streets of East Los Angeles. He had sought to become thecity's first Hispanic mayor since 1872 by building a coalition thatranged from labor unions to millionaires, but the Hahn family'spolitical capital ultimately proved too much. Hahn, 50, the city attorney since 1985 and a former citycontroller, is the son of a famous Los Angeles political figurewith an ardent following in the city's black community. His late father, Kenneth, was a four-decade county supervisorrepresenting the largely black neighborhoods of South Los Angelesthat now constitute his son's base. His sister, Janice, also won aCity Council seat Tuesday.

Hahn Credits Diverse Coalition

Hahn attributed his victory to the same sort ofcoalition-building that characterized Villaraigosa's campaign. "Our campaign put together a coalition as diverse as this greatcity," Hahn said. "We had Democrats, Republicans andindependents, too, and I've always been committed to bringing thepeople of this great city of Los Angeles together." Mayor Richard Riordan, a wealthy Republican businessman who hasbeen in office since 1993, could not run again because of termlimits and had endorsed Villaraigosa.