Villaraigosa, << vee yuh ray GOH sah, >> Antonio (1953-…), was the mayor of Los Angeles from 2005 to 2013. He was the first Hispanic American to serve as the city’s mayor in more than 130 years. Villaraigosa, a Democrat, had earlier been a member of the California State Assembly and a Los Angeles city councilman.
Antonio Ramon Villar, Jr., was born in East Los Angeles, California, on Jan 23, 1953. He earned a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1977. He graduated with a law degree from the People’s College of Law in Los Angeles in 1985. Villar began working as a union organizer in the 1970’s. He later would serve as president of the Los Angeles chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. In 1987, he married Corina Raigosa. The couple adopted Villaraigosa––a combination of their last names––as the family’s surname. The couple divorced in 2010.
In 1990, Villaraigosa was appointed to serve on the board of the Southern California Rapid Transit District, which became part of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority in 1993. In 1994, Villaraigosa was elected to the California State Assembly. He became the Assembly’s majority leader in 1997 and served as the Assembly’s speaker from 1998 to 2000. He won election to the Los Angeles City Council in 2003. Two years later, he won election as the city’s mayor. Villaraigosa became the first Latino mayor of Los Angeles since Cristobal Aguilar left office in 1872. Villaraigosa was reelected in 2009 and served through June 2013. As mayor, Villaraigosa became known for his efforts to improve public transit and expand and reform the city’s police force. In 2018, Villaraigosa ran an unsuccessful campaign for California governor.
