[img]1909|right|Antonio Villaraigosa||no_popup[/img]Dateline Sacramento — Antonio Villaraigosa sat this month in the lobby of Sacramento’s Sheraton Grand Hotel, hoping he wasn’t losing his voice, waiting for a break in the rain to cross the street for an espresso.
Since leaving office in 2013, the former mayor of Los Angeles had been dividing time between Los Angeles and the East Coast, where he was on a self-imposed “timeout, a time to reflect.”
Mr. Villaraigosa recently gave up his apartment in New York, which he described as “a good place to be invisible,” and is now back in California fulltime.
He is widely expected to run for governor in 2018.
“Now is a good time to come back,” he said.
Mr. Villaraigosa is one of several potential top-tier Democratic candidates for statewide office. Unlike other contenders – including Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, and Secretary of State-elect Alex Padilla – he does not currently hold elected office. By 2018, he will have been out of public life for five years.
This absence can limit a politician’s opportunities for exposure. It also reduces liability.
Some Advantages
“If you’re not holding elective office, you can pick and choose the fights you want to take on,” said Dan Schnur, who ran unsuccessfully for secretary of state this year. He is director of the Jesse Unruh Institute of Politics at USC.
“(Mr. Villaraigosa) doesn’t have to worry about making unpopular decisions. He can weigh in on those issues that he thinks will do him some good.”
The distance may benefit Mr. Villaraigosa. In his first term as L.A.’s mayor, he was bruised by an extramarital affair and hampered by a weak economy. He rebounded following his re-election, becoming president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and chairman of the Democratic National Convention in 2012.
Still, “people are tired of two-term anything,” said Jaime Regalado, retired executive director of the Pat Brown Institute of Public Affairs at Cal State Los Angeles. “L.A. was tired of Antonio. There is no question about that.”
Mr. Villaraigosa, 61, had flown to Sacramento from Los Angeles for a panel on state politics. Nearly four years before the 2018 election, he sounds at times as if he already is running. He called at the forum for increased spending on schools and public infrastructure.
“We’re going to have to restore the luster to the California dream,” he said.
Mr. Siders may be contacted at dsiders@sacbee.com
