Mayor-Elect of Los Angeles Pledges Focus on Education

Antonio Villaraigosa was elected mayor of Los Angeles on May 17, besting incumbent James K. Hahn in a race that often saw the two men competing over who could better lead the city's schools.

Mr. Villaraigosa, a City Council member, took 59 percent of the vote in the runoff election, which saw him matched once again with Mr. Hahn, who beat him to the mayor's office in 2001. This time around, Mr. Hahn lost big, garnering 41 percent of the vote. Both men are Democrats.

The two men began devoting more attention to education in mid-March, shortly after a March 8 election gave no candidate the majority, and set Mr. Hahn and Mr. Villaraigosa up for a runoff. The city charter gives the mayor no direct control over the 720,000-student Los Angeles Unified School District, but the The Los Angeles Times had urged the next city leader to "be a visionary advocate, willing to press for radical change and engage a cynical populace on behalf of...