Antonio Villaraigosa

J. EMILIO FLORIS / CORBIS

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Two weeks after Antonio Villaraigosa was elected mayor of Los Angeles in May, he traveled to Washington, where people lined up to acclaim him as the new standard bearer of Latino political power in the Democratic Party. Expectations were high that as L.A.'s first Latino mayor in more than 130 years, he would usher in a new era for Latinos, who historically have been underrepresented in politics. But Villaraigosa was quick to show that his agenda extends beyond the interests of a single ethnic group. At a lunch for 200 Latino leaders, among them U.S. Treasurer Anna Escobedo Cabral and Deputy Assistant to the President Ruben Barrales, he said, "It's not about Latino power. It's about building a coalition." Two hours later, he popped another bubble when he told a convention of more than 1,000 Democratic Party activists that when he looked around the room, there were too many whites and if they wanted to take back America, they would have to be more ethnically inclusive. Coming from one of the nation's most ethnically diverse cities, Villaraigosa, 52, stands for a bridge-building, post-ethnic style of politics. "My message is one of bringing people together," he says. "I am proud of who I am, but I don't wear it on my sleeve."