Villaraigosa Will Not Run in California's Governor Race

Los Angeles City Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa appeared on CNN’s “The Situation Room” to announce that he would not be running as a gubernatorial candidate for the state of California. The mayor stated his dedication to the city of Los Angeles as the reason for not running and that much work is yet to be done. He also cited family reasons for not running as governor. Villaraigosa could have been possibly the first Hispanic governor of California. He issued the following statement:

“I was honored and humbled that the people of the City of Los Angeles elected me to second term, and I want to use that second term to lead this city out of the worst economic recession we have faced since the Great Depression.

The people of Los Angeles need a leader who is 100% focused on the tremendous challenges we face — and this is what I intend to do.

I am going to remain here in Los Angeles , this beautiful city where I was born and raised, to focus on keeping our neighborhoods safe, fighting gang violence, fighting to make sure our public schools give our children the tools to compete and excel in a global economy, and getting Angelenos back to work.

We’ve taken on the toughest challenges in LA, and we have made great progress in growing our police department, reducing gang violence, cleaning and greening our port, and reforming our schools — but there is so much more work to be done.

In the next four years, I will focus on our public schools and won’t settle for anything less than real change, real reform, real progress.  I’ve fought for the build-up of the Los Angeles Police Department, and now the force is at an all-time high and crime is at historic lows.  I will focus on continuing to build our police force, keeping crime down and making LA’s neighborhoods safer.  We’ll continue the comprehensive approach to reducing gang violence begun over the last few years….with suppression, prevention, and intervention services.  We are beginning to see real results here.  I will focus on expanding our anti-gang programs and giving our communities a chance.

The national recession has hit Los Angeles hard with home foreclosures, growing unemployment, and our own city budget under tremendous challenge.  I will continue to focus on balancing the city budget, asking everyone in government to share in the sacrifice to protect the core city services on which our community relies.   And I will focus on investing in the green economy and creating green jobs right here in Los Angeles, with our Clean Tech Corridor and turning the DWP, our own power company into a green, renewable machine.

I am excited about my second term, working for the city I love, and bringing together our community to address the tough challenges we face.”

Los Angeles Times