Posted on 05/17/2005 9:36:13 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
LOS ANGELES - Mayor James Hahn and Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa were nearly deadlocked in early returns Tuesday as the incumbent struggled to hold his job despite a City Hall fundraising scandal and Villaraigosa sought to become the city's first Hispanic mayor since the 19th century.
Unofficial tally of mail-in ballots showed Villaraigosa with 61,435 votes, or 51 percent, to 58,045, or 49 percent, for Hahn. Returns from polling places had yet to be counted.
Hahn beat Villaraigosa in a runoff four years ago, then delivered on his promise to cut crime. But the incumbent was damaged by allegations that his administration traded city contracts for campaign donations.
Villaraigosa, slowed by scrutiny of his own fundraising, could become the first Hispanic mayor since 1872.
The nation's second-largest city faces a knot of urban problems as tangled as its rush-hour traffic - gang crime, smog, soaring housing prices, failing schools. But the mayor's race centered on questions of ethics and judgment that neither candidate was able to put to rest.
The choice faced by voters "is about who is the least dirty of the candidates," said political strategist Darry Sragow, who is not connected to either campaign.
In the crucial battleground of South Los Angeles, Jesse Sanders, a retired probation officer and language teacher, said he voted for Hahn because he considered him "the lesser of two evils.
"It was a negative campaign as far as I'm concerned. The issues weren't dealt with," said Sanders, 75, who voted at First AME Church, the city's pre-eminent black church.
A Villaraigosa victory would signal a shift in the city's political alignment. Hahn won four years ago with a coalition of blacks from the city's south side and white voters from the San Fernando Valley, groups that largely deserted him in the primary.
If Villaraigosa succeeds at stitching together the support of Hispanics, blacks, Jews and moderate whites, as pre-election polls suggested he might, that "could be the harbinger of the new face of urban politics," said Franklin D. Gilliam Jr., a political scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Hahn, 54, is trying to extend a string of six consecutive victories in citywide races that date to his election as city controller in 1981. If he loses, he would become the city's first mayor ousted by voters since 1973, when Sam Yorty was defeated by Tom Bradley, who became the city's first black mayor.
An expected low turnout makes the outcome unpredictable despite recent polls showing Villaraigosa in the lead. An anemic showing by voters could challenge conclusions about support for sweeping change within the city's diverse, and often competing, ethnic groups.
"Whoever is elected mayor will have almost no mandate whatsoever for any kind of meaningful policy action of reform," said media strategist Dan Schnur.
Both candidates have promised to improve traffic flow, push for better schools and reduce gang violence.
As two liberal Democrats, their policy differences are often subtle; it is their styles that set them apart.
Hahn, the mild-mannered scion of a prominent political family, asked voters to re-elect him after a bumpy first term sullied by the corruption allegations. No one in the administration has been charged with a crime.
Villaraigosa, a charismatic former state Assembly speaker known for his ready smile, derided Hahn during the campaign as a failure with no ethical compass.
After facing questions of his own about fundraising, Villaraigosa returned nearly $50,000 in donations to employees of two companies with possible interests in airport concession contracts. The district attorney is looking into the contributions.
In a political environment that often prizes personality, Hahn's lawyerly, low-key image has left him open to criticism that he isn't dynamic enough to continue as the city's public face.
"People want substance rather than style. I think they want results rather than rhetoric," Hahn said after voting early Tuesday. "You know, maybe I have a charisma deficit disorder, but I've done the job people have elected me to do."
In a race with racial undertones, Villaraigosa accused Hahn, who is white, of trying to "create a climate of fear" around his candidacy. He positioned himself as a unity candidate who would bring together different racial and ethnic groups, lining up marquee endorsements from Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and basketball great Earvin "Magic" Johnson, among others.
Villaraigosa, a product of the barrio who once wore a "Born to Raise Hell" tattoo before turning his life around, promised to bring a fresh start to the city.
"He comes from a background that is a lot like where most of us have come from," said Nohemi Gonzalez, a 25-year-old medical student at the University of Southern California, who voted with her mother, a Guatemalan immigrant.
It is over. Hahn needed a big lead in the early absentees to win.
I hearing on another site Norm that tied right now between Hahn and Villogersia
If Villaraigosa succeeds at stitching together the support of Hispanics, blacks, Jews and moderate whites, as pre-election polls suggested he might, that "could be the harbinger of the new face of urban politics,"
Ouch
I wouldn't read anything in these results beyond the fact that Hahn has been a miserable failure both as a politician and as a mayor who killed two key components to his 2001 winning coalition... blacks and valley "conservatives" (they're only conservative in comparison to the rest of the city).
KTLA 10 PM news update
11 % of the precincts in
56% Villaraigosa
44% Hahn
We're doomed.
It's not over yet....................BUT.........
Hey, Antonio Villaraigosa ran a consistent campaign, and Hahn has always been a stiff with all the personality of an ironing board. Gray Davis and he should start an ironing board club.
I wish Antonio well.
Let's all hope for the best.
Personally, I really really miss Richard Riordan.
Maybe we can all meet down at the Pantry and discuss this.
PS..........I moved out of LA County though.
Couldn't vote.
Hopefully L.A. voted rightfully.
Ohhh-ohh, Hahn is speaking.
Hooofa.
Will his dream come true?
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