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Antonio Villaraigosa tells the Times that he has known since losing on election night in 2001 that he would run for mayor again. The only question is when. He says he'll decide by late summer whether to try next year, a risky move that could doom his ambitions for higher office should he lose to Jim Hahn again. Villaraigosa is deeply engaged in the Kerry campaign and co-chairs the platform committee for the Democratic convention, so his plate is pretty full. If he doesn't run, he says, it may also be because he doesn't relish being attacked again for his letter in support of drug dealer Carlos Vignali.
"I saw how easy it was to demonize a guy … to make me look like a gang member," Villaraigosa said. "My kids had to go to school and hear 'Your father sells drugs.' They don't need to hear that again."
Another reason not to run apparently didn't come up in yesterday's interview with Times reporters and editors: he promised he would stay as the 14th district's councilman for a full term. From my Los Angeles magazine story last August:
The council's other obvious mayoral challenger, Villaraigosa, insists that he won't be running in two years. "I want to be a city councilman. I fully expect to fill out my entire term," he told me.