Who is antonio villaraigosa

His grades improved and he was able to transfer to UCLA. By the age of 25, Villaraigosa was elected president of a local union representing civil rights lawyers in six states. Villaraigosa was appointed to the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Board in and served until , when he was elected to the California State Assembly. Using his expertise in the political sphere, in June of Villaraigosa launched Building Bridges, Not Walls, a new voter activation committee designed to empower Californians to engage in the national political process in advance of the November General Election.

In he declared that he was a candidate for Governor of California. With the encouragement of teacher Herman Katz, Villaraigosa went on to pursue college and earned a bachelor's degree in history from UCLA and, in , a law degree from People's College of Law he never passed the bar. Villaraigosa worked his way up through Los Angeles labor circles to become a prominent organizer for United Teachers of Los Angeles. After marrying Montebello school teacher Corina Raigosa in , he and his new wife adopted their present last name Villaraigosa by combining his last name Villar with hers.

In , just four years after entering the Assembly, Villaraigosa was chosen by his colleagues to be the first Speaker of the Assembly from Los Angeles in 25 years. Villaraigosa left the Assembly in due to term limits and, in , entered the fray to replace outgoing Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan.

Villaraigosa was narrowly defeated in a run-off election by first-time opponent James Hahn. It was believed that Hahn's biting television commercials pointing out that Villaraigosa had written a letter to President Clinton along with Cardinal Mahony and Sheriff Baca asking for clemency for a convicted drug dealer contributed to the defeat.

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