The 2005 election for

Mayor of Los Angeles The mayor of the City of Los Angeles is the official head and chief executive officer of Los Angeles. The officeholder is elected for a four-year term and is term limit, limited to serving no more than two terms. (Under the Constitution of Califo ...

took place on March 8, 2005, with a run-off election on May 17, 2005. In a rematch of the 2001 election,

Councilman A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

Antonio Villaraigosa Antonio Ramón Villaraigosa (; né Villar Jr.; born January 23, 1953) is an American politician who served as the 41st Mayor of Los Angeles from 2005 to 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Villaraigosa was a national co-chairman of Hillary ...

defeated the sitting mayor,

James Hahn James Kenneth Hahn (born July 3, 1950) is an American lawyer and politician. A Democrat, Hahn was elected the 40th mayor of Los Angeles in 2001. He served until 2005, at which time he was defeated in his bid for re-election. Prior to his term a ...

, becoming the city's first

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

mayor since the 19th century.

Background

Philanthropist

Eli Broad Eli Broad ( ; June 6, 1933April 30, 2021) was an American businessman and philanthropist. In June 2019, ''Forbes'' ranked him as the 233rd-wealthiest person in the world and the 78th-wealthiest in the United States, with an estimated net worth of ...

endorsed Hahn. State Senator

Gil Cedillo Gilbert Anthony Cedillo (born March 25, 1954) is an American politician, who served as a member of the Los Angeles City Council for the 1st district from 2013 to 2022. A member of the Democratic Party, Cedillo was previously a member of both the ...

, Councilman

Eric Garcetti Eric Michael Garcetti (born February 4, 1971) is an American politician who served as the 42nd mayor of Los Angeles from 2013 until 2022. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he was first elected in the 2013 Los An ...

, and Councilman

Cindy Miscikowski Cindy Miscikowski represented the 11th District on the Los Angeles City Council for two full terms from 1997 through 2005. Previously, she was an aide to Councilman Marvin Braude and the Executive Director of the Skirball Cultural Center in its b ...

, who all endorsed Villaraigosa in 2001, switched sides and endorsed Hahn. Governor

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...

promised Hahn that he would not participate in the election. As such, Schwarzenegger did not endorse any candidates, however he has expressed broad support for Hertzberg's plan to break up the

Los Angeles Unified School District Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is a public school district in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is the largest public school system in California in terms of number of students and the 2nd largest public school district in ...

. His Education Secretary, and former mayor of Los Angeles,

Richard Riordan Richard Joseph Riordan (born May 1, 1930) is an American investment banker, businessman, lawyer, and former Republican politician who was the 39th Mayor of Los Angeles, from 1993 to 2001. Born in New York City and raised in New Rochelle, New Y ...

campaigned heavily for Hertzberg.Gold, Matea; McGreevy, Patrick (February 26, 2005)
"Hertzberg Gets a Lift From Gov"
''Los Angeles Times''. Retrieved May 22, 2010.

Polling

Results

Although Villaraigosa garnered the plurality of votes in the general election, his lack of an outright majority forced a special election between him and the incumbent Hahn. With less than 34% of registered voters participating, Villaraigosa won the runoff. With his election, Villaraigosa became the first Latino mayor of Los Angeles since 1872. Hahn became the first incumbent to lose re-election in 32 years since

Sam Yorty Samuel William Yorty (October 1, 1909 – June 5, 1998) was an American radio host, attorney, and politician from Los Angeles, California. He served as a member of the United States House of Representatives and the California State Assembly, ...

lost to Tom Bradley in the

1973 Los Angeles mayoral election The 1973 election for Mayor of Los Angeles took place on April 3, 1973, with a run-off election on May 29, 1973. Incumbent Sam Yorty was defeated by councilman Tom Bradley in a rematch of the 1969 mayoral election. Yorty's growing apathy towa ...

Primary election

General election

Notes

References

External links

Office of the City Clerk, City of Los Angeles
{{United States elections, 2005 Mayoral election, 2005 2005 California elections

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...