Antonio Villaraigosa

About Antonio Villaraigosa

Antonio Ramon Villaraigosa (born Antonio Ramon Villar, Jr. on January 23, 1953), or Tony Villar, is the mayor of Los Angeles, California. He is the first Latino mayor of Los Angeles since Cristobal Aguilar in 1872. Villaraigosa was elected mayor of Los Angeles in a run-off election on May 17, 2005, in which he defeated incumbent mayor James Hahn. Prior to his service as mayor, Villaraigosa was the California State Assemblyman for the 45th District, the Speaker of the California State Assembly, and the Los Angeles City Councilman representing the 14th District. Before being elected to public office, Villaraigosa had a long career as a labor organizer. In 2007, Villaraigosa's marital troubles and affair with a television reporter covering City Hall made national headlines. Villaraigosa also served as one of four national co-chairmen of Hillary Rodham Clinton's 2008 Presidential campaign.

Born Antonio Ramon Villar in the City Terrace neighborhood of Los Angeles County's eastside, Villaraigosa had a difficult childhood. He attended both Catholic and public schools. He went to Harrison Street School for third and fourth grade during 1961 and 1962. When Villaraigosa was in the 10th grade, he became paralyzed from the waist down due to a spinal tumor. After it was removed, he was able to regain mobility. He attended Cathedral High School but was expelled from the Roman Catholic institution after getting into a fight after a rivalry football game. He graduated from Roosevelt High School, and with the help of his English teacher Herman Katz, went on to attend East Los Angeles College. Villaraigosa eventually transferred to University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) where he completed a bachelor's degree in history. Villaraigosa was a leader of MEChA at UCLA. At this time, he went by the name "Tony Villar", but began using his birth name "Antonio" in the 1980s.

After UCLA, Villaraigosa attended the People's College of Law (PCL), a "community-run law school" in Los Angeles, which is unaccredited through the State Bar. Villaraigosa failed the California Bar Exam in each of four attempts, and thus remains unlicensed to practice law.