Los Angeles mayoral election, 2001
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In 2001, Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan was prevented from running for a third term because of term limits. In the election to replace him, Riordan endorsed his Senior Advisor and Parks Commissioner, the Republican businessman Steve Soboroff.
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[edit] Primary Election
The primary election for Mayor was held on April 10, 2001. Soboroff finished third with approximately 21 percent of the vote, behind the Democrats' Antonio Villaraigosa, the former speaker of the California State Assembly, and then-City Attorney James K. Hahn. Villaraigosa finished with 30 percent and Hahn with 25. Elections in Los Angeles are nonpartisan; the top two vote-getters advance to the runoff if no contender reaches 50 percent. Thus, Soboroff finished out of contention.
Also competing in the primary election were longtime Los Angeles City Council member Joel Wachs, United States Representative Xavier Becerra, and then-California State Controller Kathleen Connell. They finished with 11, 6 and 5 percent of the vote, respectively.
The Los Angeles Times made a dual endorsement of Hahn and Villaraigosa in the primary election, while the City's other daily newspapers, The Los Angeles Daily News and The Daily Breeze endorsed Soboroff.
[edit] General Election
Riordan switched his endorsement to Villaraigosa in the general election. Despite the popular Republican Mayor's endorsement, as well as the endorsement of the Los Angeles Times, Villaraigosa was unable to capture a majority of the voters that supported the candidacies of Soboroff and Wachs. Hahn won the general election on June 5, 2001 with 53.53 percent, to Villaraigosa's 46.47 percent, of the vote.
Soboroff and Becerra remained neutral in the general election. Wachs endorsed Villaraigosa.
[edit] Further information
Hahn was sworn in as Los Angeles' 40th mayor in the summer of 2001.
Hahn would face Villaraigosa in a runoff rematch in the 2005 Los Angeles Mayoral election. Villaraigosa would defeat Hahn to become the 41st mayor of Los Angeles.
Soboroff would go on to become a Senior Fellow at UCLA and to the head of the controversial Playa Vista development on Los Angeles' Westside, while Wachs became president of the Andy Warhol Foundation in New York City and Connell was termed out of her post as State Controller. Becerra remains a member of the United States Congress.
