LOS ANGELES, May 18 (UPI) -- Los Angeles has elected City Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa its first Latino mayor in 133 years, ousting incumbent James Hahn.
On a wave of voter discontent, the challenger avenged his 2001 loss to Hahn, in which Villaraigosa finished first in a race with six major candidates, only to lose the runoff to Hahn.
Even before the polls closed at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Hahn voiced regrets about his campaign.
"I should have spent more time bragging about what I was doing," he said, citing a drop in violent crime and a housing boom. "That stuff didn't just magically happen."
At his victory party, Villaraigosa restated his campaign theme of unity.
"It doesn't matter whether you go to work in a fancy car or on a bus, or whether you worship in a cathedral or a synagogue or a mosque. We are all Angelenos, and we all have a difference to make," he said.
Los Angeles' last Latino mayor was Cristobal Aguilar, who left office in 1872.
