LOS ANGELES — Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced Thursday that he plans to run for governor in 2018.
Villaraigosa has long been considered a likely candidate.
State Treasurer John Chiang and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced plans to run several months ago.
Current Gov. Jerry Brown, who has served four terms including two in the 1970s, will be turned out.
Villaraigosa was Los Angeles mayor from 2005 to 2013. Before that, he served on the City Council and as speaker of the state Assembly in 1994.
Among the accomplishments he listed as speaker was helping to pass a $2 billion park bond and a $9 billion school bond measure. He also cited his efforts to help Los Angeles mass transit by getting a $40 billion bond measure passed.
"I want to be California's next governor because I believe that we need to bring this state together around a shared vision—lifting more families into the middle class and creating high wage jobs by improving our schools and investing in our infrastructure like roads, bridges, transportation, ports and waterways," Villaraigosa said in a release.
For the first 15 years of his career, the former mayor worked as a union organizer. He was once president of the American Federation of Government employees, a local union representing employees that enforced civil rights laws. He also worked for the Service Employees International Union, United Teachers Los Angeles and as president of the Southern California chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.
