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LOS ANGELES - Days after prosecutors began a preliminary inquiry into his fund-raising, mayoral candidate Antonio Villaraigosa began airing a TV ad Monday that seeks to put Mayor James Hahn on the defensive over an ongoing corruption probe at City Hall. The 30-second spot covers familiar ground: Villaraigosa has been attacking Hahn for months over the ongoing investigation, in which prosecutors are looking into allegations that City Hall officials traded contracts for campaign donations. No administration officials have been charged. "Where will the investigation end?" a narrator in the ad asks. "Isn't it time for a change?" The ad appeared...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - District Attorney Steve Cooley said Friday his office was looking into questionable out-of-state donations to Antonio Villaraigosa, one day after the mayoral candidate announced he was returning $47,000 from workers of two Florida-based companies. "In response to extensive media coverage, I believe an inquiry is warranted and have instructed our Public Integrity Division to take the necessary first steps," Cooley said in a statement. There was no political motivation to the move, said Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the district attorney's office. "His job is to enforce the law," she said, referring to Cooley. "He's here...

Los Angeles -- Mayor James Hahn and challenger Antonio Villaraigosa shifted between verbal punches and promises Saturday in their final debate, an edgy exchange in which both said they could best lead the city to a prosperous future. In broad terms, there was much agreement between the two Democrats. They each boasted of plans to revitalize schools, subdue violent gangs and untangle traffic. But as in their previous encounters, much of the time was devoted to sharp and at times personal jabs over integrity and suitability for running the nation's second-largest city. Struggling in the polls, the incumbent assumed the...

LOS ANGELES - Sen. John Kerry hasn't been on the campaign trail this spring with his friend Antonio Villaraigosa, but their relationship is paying off for the city's front-running mayoral candidate. Activists and major donors with ties to the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee have been making calls around the country to raise money for Villaraigosa, tapping into the senator's extensive national fundraising network. Their involvement is another sign that the Massachusetts senator could soon get personally involved in the race. He is expected to endorse Villaraigosa, one of his national campaign co-chairs in last year's presidential campaign, possibly as soon...

Poll: Villaraigosa Leads L.A. Mayor Race By Associated Press April 13, 2005, 5:06 AM EDT LOS ANGELES -- Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa has pulled ahead of Mayor James Hahn in the race to lead the nation's second-largest city, according to a Los Angeles Times poll. Voters would oust Hahn for Villaraigosa by a margin of 53 percent to 35 percent if the election were held today, according to a survey the newspaper published in Wednesday's editions. Twelve percent were undecided. The poll held few positive signs for Hahn, with nearly two-thirds of likely voters saying they believed his policies have left...

Analysis: 5 weeks to the 5/17/05 L.A. Mayor runoff election, (4/9/05 - 4/11/05) a rematch of the runoff election from 4 years ago, Antonio Villaraigosa leads incumbent James Hahn 2:1. Hahn leads only among Republicans and Conservatives.

Los Angeles -- THE LOS Angeles mayor's race has a haggard, been-there-done-that feel -- as if the City of Angels were approaching the end of politics. The March 8 primary pitted Mayor Jimmy Hahn against two former Assembly speakers -- Antonio Villaraigosa and Bob Hertzberg -- as well as the police chief Hahn fired, Bernie Parks, a prominent African American who was replaced by the popular Bill Bratton. The top candidates were all Democrats, with some lesser-known hopefuls added in. All that talent and yet the turnout was a measly 26 percent of registered voters. The end of politics? It's...

LOS ANGELES - Democrat Antonio Villaraigosa's mayoral campaign was endorsed Friday by former Mayor Richard Riordan, a Republican with close ties to the governor who could help Villaraigosa make inroads with the moderates and conservatives he needs to win. Riordan endorsed former Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg less than two months ago, but Hertzberg was ousted in the primary last month. Villaraigosa was not his first choice, but Riordan, now the state education secretary, said the councilman was the clear pick over incumbent James Hahn. "What we need is somebody who is electric, somebody who is a leader, somebody who will...

Los Angeles Mayoral Election Results - Live Thread

I'm outta here!Mayor James Hahn melts down in the waning hours of his 2nd election bid. I feel for ya Mayor Hahn, the Mexican Flag will be flying over Los Angeles City Hall once again by morning!

The race for mayor of America's second-largest city is down to the wire and after months of tough campaigning, the three leading candidates are in a virtual dead heat. So with his career on the line, the incumbent, Mayor James Hahn, put everything into his closing swings at the final debate this week: "If you want leadership in this city, I'm your guy!" In the most recent Los Angeles Times poll, Villaraigosa, 52, a former state Assembly speaker and labor organizer who narrowly lost to Hahn four years ago, was the choice of 24 percent. He was followed by Hertzberg,...

Monday, March 07, 2005 A confident Bernard Parks says he can win L.A. race Some say ex-chief is unlikely to capture mayor's job but can play a big role in determining who will. (Second of five profiles on major L.A. mayoral candidates.) By Alison Shackelford Copley News Service Among the top five candidates in the Los Angeles mayoral race, Councilman Bernard Parks is the closest thing to a Republican, displaying conservative instincts and a contrarian streak so intermingled they are often hard to separate. At a recent debate in front of a mostly black audience, two of his opponents talked...

LOS ANGELES - In a frenetic last day of campaigning before the mayoral primary, candidates plunged into coffee shops, shook hands at senior centers and hit the talk radio airwaves Monday hoping to connect with the city's famously distracted voters. After four years, Mayor James Hahn is trying to parlay a falling crime rate into a second term. But corruption investigations at City Hall and a lackluster image leave him vulnerable, with polls showing a three-way deadlock with fellow Democrats Antonio Villaraigosa, a city councilman, and former Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg. Backed by television attack ads, the main candidates packed...

 Los Angeles Mayoral Primary 3/7/2005   Villaraigosa 41%   Hahn 17%   Parks 15%   Hertzberg 14%   Alarcon 5%   Other/Undecided 8%   Data Collected 3/4/05 - 3/6/05   Geography City of Los Angeles   Sample Population 432 Likely Voters   Margin of Error 4.8%   Client KABC-TV Los Angeles 

Mayor's race gets nasty Attack ads air as campaign hits final weekend By Rick Orlov Staff Writer Thursday, March 03, 2005 - With his political career at stake, Mayor James Hahn launched a barrage of negative television advertisements against his two main rivals Thursday -- and then was hit with retaliatory attack ads from Antonio Villaraigosa and Bob Hertzberg. With the three in an apparent dead heat for the two runoff spots in Tuesday's mayoral primary, Hahn took to the airwaves with a 30-second commercial that sought to link the two former speakers of the state Assembly with the energy...

Public relations bills submitted to the Port of Los Angeles by a Fleishman-Hillard executive who is now Mayor James Hahn's press secretary were marked up by more than $1,700 in 2003 without documentation that extra work was done, according to records and interviews. Shannon Murphy, who left the firm less than two months later to replace Matt Middlebrook, who joined Fleishman-Hillard, declined to be interviewed but said in a statement that the handwritten additions to her billing statements were "outrageous." A company official said the "write-ups" lacked supporting documentation that the extra work was ever performed. The paperwork appears to...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The four major candidates seeking to oust Mayor James Hahn depicted his administration Thursday as paralyzed by ethical conflicts and lapses, and alleged he stood by while campaign contributions and favoritism opened the doors to City Hall. Hahn largely avoided addressing ongoing investigations that have placed a cloud over his administration, but argued in an hour-long debate that he was leading the city toward a brighter, safer future. Voters "know who Jim Hahn is. I've always been about honesty," Hahn responded. In making the case against giving Hahn another four-year term, his rivals argued that new...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Candidates for mayor have raised thousands of dollars from contractors, developers and others doing business with city departments even though Mayor James K. Hahn has proposed banning such political donations. Hahn and former Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg together accepted at least $50,000 from city contractors and their employees, according to a Los Angeles Times review of campaign finance statements from the first half of the year. The two also pulled in more than $250,000 from real estate and development interests, at least $45,000 of which came from donors with business at City Hall. "It's business as...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Mayor James K. Hahn announced the resignations of the three top aides, including a deputy mayor at the center of a so-called pay-to-play controversy. Hahn said Thursday that Deputy Mayors Troy Edwards, Sarah Dusseault and Joy Chen quit their jobs. Edwards, a key fund-raiser for Hahn's 2001 election campaign and his airports and harbor departments liaison, will leave April 9. He was subpoenaed to testify by a county grand jury investigating corruption in city contracting practices, the Daily News reported Friday. "Troy has been a longtime key adviser to me," Hahn said in a statement that...