LA Mayor Villaraigosa scores 2nd term in office

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa established a solid lead over his nine challengers Tuesday, securing a second four-year term.

With about half of the votes counted, Villaraigosa avoided a runoff against the second-place candidate, attorney Walter Moore.The mayor had been expected to secure the needed majority, given that he had appeared in television commercials for himself and two other campaigns -- and had outspent Moore by a ratio of 15 to 1.

Villaraigosa has some major changes that he wants to bring to Los Angeles and is well on his way to doing so. He is more than two-thirds of the way toward his goal of hiring 1,000 additional police officers. The mayor also is attempting to replace as many as 17,000 older diesel trucks at the Port of Los Angeles and reach his goal of ensuring that 20% of the power at the DWP comes from renewable sources, such as wind and solar energy.