The center's staff analyzed geographic, ethnic and class dimensions in the voting patterns of the recent election involving incumbent Mayor James Hahn and challenger Antonio Villaraigosa. The study revealed that Villaraigosa prevailed by assembling a broad electoral coalition of nearly all the city's geographic regions and ethnic groups.

"Many observers have noted that Villaraigosa's election marks the arrival of Latino power in Los Angeles. The data say something more," said political science professor Matthew Cahn, director of the center. "Villaraigosa's widespread support in almost every corner of the city, and among every ethnic and income group, suggests that the mayor-elect is not simply a Latino leader, he is a mainstream leader--to be liked or disliked based on his ability to deliver services rather than on ethnicity."

Last month, voters in the city of Los Angeles elected Villaraigosa, a city councilman and former speaker of the California Assembly, with a 59 percent majority. Many observers attributed the landslide victory to a general sense among voters that more active and dynamic leadership from the mayor's office was needed. Hahn's loss was the first time an incumbent mayor has failed to win reelection since 1973.

The center developed three maps analyzing the results of the election. One illustrates the city voting precincts won by each candidate. A second examines how majority ethnic precincts voted in the election. The third looks at voting patterns among property owners and non-property owners in Los Angeles.

"Villaraigosa's victory revealed broad, indeed historic support among the city's diverse ethnic communities," said political science professor Tom Hogen-Esch, director of policy studies for the center and chief researcher on the mapping project. "In addition to anticipated strong support among Latinos in northeast Los Angeles and the northeast San Fernando Valley, Villaraigosa claimed widespread support among whites on the westside of Los Angeles, traditionally a stronghold for liberals. Perhaps more significantly, Villaraigosa also won decisively among whites in the San Fernando Valley, historically a stronghold for conservatives."

Hogen-Esch noted that the election's outcome also marks an important symbolic step in the incorporation of Latinos into city politics. Villaraigosa will become the city's first Latino mayor in modern history. Despite broad electoral consensus in favor of Villaraigosa, Hogen-Esch noted that the mapping study also highlights a potentially important split in the voting preferences of property owners and renters in Los Angeles.

"As housing prices continue to escalate, an emerging political gap between property owners and renters may play an increasingly important role in defining the future direction of city politics in Los Angeles," he said. For more information about the maps, call CSUN's Center for Southern California Studies at (818) 677-6518 or go to www.csun.edu/~cscs.