LOS ANGELES — When Antonio Villaraigosa ran for mayor of Los Angeles in the early 2000s, some were not ready for a Latino to lead the city.
Despite facing racism on the campaign trail, the third-generation Mexican American leaned into his identity, learning Spanish and holding bilingual news conferences. He won partly on the strength of the Latino voters he brought to the polls.
Since then, Latinos, who are nearly half the population and a third of the electorate in L.A., have matured as a political force.
