In a surprise announcement, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said today he will not seek the governorship of California next year.

Villaraigosa has long been considering the race. With the other two major Democrats, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and state Attorney General/ex-Oakland Mayor/ex-Gov. Jerry Brown hailing from the north, Villaraigosa was thought to have a decent shot at the nomination.

 

But Los Angeles has been struggling with a huge budget deficit and layoffs. The L.A. Times' Willon & Reston report that the mayor has only a "luke-warm approval rating, and a plurality opposed his entrance into the governor's race."

Given the city's precarious financial situation, and with Villaraigosa set to sworn into a new term on July 1, announcing for governor could have created a sticky political situation for the 56-year-old mayor. Plus, winning the California governor's race has proven to be an elusive quest for big-city mayors.

Several Los Angeles mayors including Tom Bradley, Richard Riordan and Sam Yorty all tried, and lost, along with San Francisco's Joseph Alioto. Pete Wilson, the former mayor of San Diego, lost once and became a U.S. senator before trying again and claiming victory over former San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein, who went on to become a U.S. senator.

The latest statewide Field Poll in March found that without Feinstein in the 2010 governor's race, Brown was the top Democratic contender with 25%, followed by Villaraigosa with 22% and Newsom with 16%.

Some less than flattering comments on the L.A. Times' blog:

From "j-Dub": Now he can focus on much more important things...women, photo-ops, out of state trips, etc.

From "k4kafka": The mayor saw the writing on the wall, and did the right thing. Now if we could only convince Gavin Newsom to do the same...

Republicans in the race: former eBay executive Meg Whitman, state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, and ex-Rep. Tom Campbell.

Tags: On The Ballot