Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has launched another bid for California governor, pitching himself as a “problem solver” in an announcement video.
“When I became mayor, L.A. was one of the most dangerous cities in America, so I hired a thousand police officers, took illegal guns off the street and violent crime dropped,” he said.
In the video, he noted that Barack Obama had called him “one of America’s finest leaders.”
He said later, “We have serious problems, and money alone won’t fix them. We need to focus on what works.”
The next gubernatorial election is not until 2026, but potential successors to Governor Gavin Newsom are lining up. Newsom cannot run again because of term limits.
Villaraigosa joins a field that includes Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, State Sen. Toni Atkins, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond and former State Controller Betty Yee.
Villaraigosa was mayor of Los Angeles from 2005 to 2013. He considered running for governor in the 2010 cycle, but he decided against it. He ran in the 2018 cycle, but placed third in the state’s open primary, falling short of securing one of two spots to advance in the general election. Newsom went on to handily win the race over Republican John Cox.
