Villaraigosa's dreams for a political comeback meet reality again

This is read by an automated voice.Please report any issues or inconsistencies here.

Former L.A.mayor and current candidate for governor Antonio Villaraigosa wants voters to know that he navigated billion-dollar budgets, cracked down on violent crime and championed the expansion of bus and rail lines.

The onetime state Assembly speaker argues he’s the only Democratic candidate with the experience to do the complicated job of running California.But Villaraigosa left City Hall in 2013 — eons ago in the world of politics.

President Obama was still in office, singer Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” was atop the charts and Apple Watches weren’t yet a thing.Because of his distance from elected office, combined with a decent but overshadowed fundraising effort, Villaraigosa lacks a high-profile platform to attract attention in today’s fractured media universe, an essential ingredient he needs to remind voters about his experience and accomplishments as mayor and a state lawmaker.Recent polls show Villaraigosa, 73, wallowing at the bottom of the field, though none of the major Democratic candidates have an overwhelming edge.

Villaraigosa also ran for governor in 2018, coming in third in the primary election behind Democratic rival Gavin Newsom, who went on to win and is now serving his second term, and little-known Republican businessman John Cox.Political strategist Mike Madrid, who worked for Villaraigosa on that campaign, said the former mayor’s absence from politics in recent years is a major liability in this race.

“He’s a dogged, determined candidate,” Madrid said.“But there are pretty stiff headwinds.” California Anxious about a Republican winning the governor’s race, the California Democratic Party plans to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars polling voters in an effort to shrink the sprawling field of candidates running to replace termed-out Gov.

Gavin Newsom.Villaraigosa got a boost last week when the State Building and Construc...