Antonio Villaraigosa, a former worker for United Teachers Los Angeles, was elected as mayor of L.A. on Tuesday. He is the first Latino mayor of the city in over 100 years. Villaraigosa won in what is considered a landslide victory, beating incumbent James Hahn by almost 20 points. In a move that divided unions throughout the city, the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor had backed Hahn, though it has close ties to Villaraigosa and supported him in his failed 2001 mayoral campaign. Labor will look to continue to gain politically in Los Angeles with Villaraigosa now in office.
See "Big Win, but Little Time to Deliver", Noam N. Levey and Jessica Garrison, Los Angeles Times, May 17, 2005