Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will give the Spanish-language response to President Bush's State of the Union address on Tuesday, Democratic congressional leaders announced. The former union member has been seen as a rising Democratic star since his election in May as the first Hispanic in 133 years to lead Los Angeles. Hispanics are the nation's largest minority group and a critical voting bloc that typically leans Democratic.
See "L.A. Mayor to Give Democrats' Response to State of the Union Address", Associated Press, The New York Times, January 24, 2006