Antonio Villaraigosa - A Proven Problem Solver For California • www.antonio2026.Com
Mayor Villaraigosa served as the 41st Mayor of Los Angeles in 2005. Prior to that in 1994, Villaraigosa was elected to the California State Assembly and three years later, was elected Assembly Speaker. While serving, he brought together environmental and business groups for a $2 billion park bond, the largest in California’s history, authored the Healthy Families program for nearly three quarters of a million uninsured children and passed a $9 billion school bond measure, the largest to that date. In his mid-twenties, he was elected President of the American Federation of Government Employees, a local union representing employees who enforced civil rights laws in five states. Additionally he is a former President of the Southern California chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.
As Mayor of Los Angeles, Villaraigosa led an effort to make Los Angeles one of the safest big cities in America, while building a 21st century transportation system, achieving fundamental and far-reaching education reform, spurring economic development by eliminating government red tape, streamlining the city bureaucracy and making Los Angeles a national model of sustainability and green growth. Antonio turned around failing schools – increasing graduation rates by 60% and led the city’s economic recovery out of recession. His results led President Obama to say Antonio Villaraigosa was “one of the finest leaders” in America. He served until 2013. Villaraigosa was a candidate for Governor of California in 2018 but lost to Gavin Newsom.
His vigilance for civil liberties is noted by the LA Hawaiian community: In 2005, a group from Honolulu brought “Ka Lei Maile Aliʻi, the Queen’s Women,” a theatrical reenactment of the response of a particular political club to Liliʻuokalani’s illegal overthrow, to San Francisco only to discover that they were banned by civic authorities from presenting the play. When Villaraigoza heard of the censorship he invited the group to bring the production to Los Angeles!
