2001 Los Angeles mayoral election

The 2001 election for Mayor of Los Angeles took place on April 10, 2001, with a run-off election on June 5, 2001. Incumbent mayor Richard Riordan was prevented from running for a third term because of term limits. In the election to replace him, then-City Attorney James Hahn defeated Antonio Villaraigosa, the former speaker of the California State Assembly.

2001 Los Angeles mayoral election

April 10, 2001 and June 5, 2001
Turnout	37.67%
Candidate James Hahn Antonio Villaraigosa Steve Soboroff Party Democratic Democratic Republican First round vote 125,139 136,242 152,031 First round percentage 25.05% 33.10% 30.43% Runoff vote 304,791 264,611 Runoff percentage 53.53% 46.47%   Candidate Joel Wachs Party Democratic First round vote 55,016 First round percentage 11.01%
Mayor before election Richard Riordan Republican Elected Mayor James Hahn Democratic

Results

Primary election

The primary election for Mayor was held on April 10, 2001. Villaraigosa finished first, with 30 percent of the vote. Hahn was second with 25 percent of the vote. City elections in Los Angeles are nonpartisan; the top two vote-getters advance to the runoff if no contender reaches 50 percent.

Riordan had endorsed his Senior Advisor and Parks Commissioner, businessman Steve Soboroff, to replace him. Soboroff, the only prominent Republican in the race, finished third with 21 percent of the vote. 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.

The mayoral campaign of Xavier Becerra ran a tape of someone impersonating Gloria Molina disparaging the voting record of mayoral candidate Antonio Villaraigosa.[1] The tape was run by campaign staffer Lloyd Monserratt, and though no laws had been broken, this action tarnished the reputations of all involved.[2][3]

Los Angeles mayoral primary election, April 10, 2001[4][5][6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Antonio Villaraigosa	152,031	30.43%
	Democratic	James Hahn	125,139	25.05%
	Republican	Steve Soboroff	106,189	21.25%
	Democratic	Joel Wachs	55,016	11.01%
	Democratic	Xavier Becerra	29,851	5.97%
	Democratic	Kathleen Connell	24,062	4.82%
	Independent	Francis Dellavecchia	1,769	0.35%
	Independent	Martin Luther King Aubrey, Sr.	965	0.19%
	Independent	Melrose Larry Green	860	0.17%
	Socialist Workers	Wendy Lyons	813	0.16%
	Independent	Rob Black	789	0.16%
	Independent	Bob Tur	656	0.13%
	Libertarian	Joe Shea	645	0.13%
	Independent	Addie Mae Miller	540	0.11%
	Independent	Steve Mozena	316	0.06%
Total votes			499,641	100.00
Turnout			511,521	33.53%
Registered electors			1,525,350

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. Hahn won the general election on June 5, 2001 with 53.53 percent of the vote, to Villaraigosa's 46.47 percent.

Soboroff and Becerra remained neutral in the general election. Wachs endorsed Villaraigosa.

Los Angeles mayoral general election, June 5, 2001[6][7][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	James Hahn	304,791	53.53%
	Democratic	Antonio Villaraigosa	264,611	46.47%
Total votes			569,402	100.00
Turnout			579,408	37.67%	+1.82%
Registered electors			1,538,229
	Democratic gain from Republican		Swing

Further information

Hahn was sworn in as Los Angeles' 40th mayor in the summer of 2001.

Hahn faced Villaraigosa in a runoff rematch in the 2005 Los Angeles Mayoral election. In that race, Villaraigosa defeated 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 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 remained a member of the United States Congress until his appointment to succeed Senator Kamala Harris as Attorney General of California in 2017.

References and footnotes

1. Krikorian, Nicholas; Riccardi, Greg (2001-05-23). "D.A. Traces Bogus Calls to Firm Tied to Becerra". Los Angeles Times.
2. Haefele, Mark (2001-05-30). "The New Alignment". LA Weekly.
3. Zahniser, David (2006-03-08). "Pocket of Trouble". LA Weekly. Archived from the original on 2018-01-08.
4. "City of Los Angeles Primary Municipal Elections Official Election Results April 10, 2001" (PDF). Office of the City Clerk, City of Los Angeles. April 20, 2001. p. 2.
5. "Los Angeles Mayor". Our Campaigns.
6. Officially all candidates are non-partisan.
7. "City of Los Angeles General Municipal & Consolidated Elections Official Election Results June 5, 2001" (PDF). Office of the City Clerk, City of Los Angeles. June 16, 2001. p. 2.
8. "Los Angeles Mayor". Our Campaigns.

External links

• Office of the City Clerk, City of Los Angeles