Serving as mayor of Los Angeles has a way of bending the officeholder to the office. Richard Riordan ran for mayor as a tough-on-crime Republican; he governed as a centrist who worked with President Bill Clinton to rebuild the city after the Northridge earthquake. Antonio Villaraigosa was a union organizer in his youth; his time as mayor was marked by his battles with the teachers’ union over school control. James Hahn won office on the strength of his support from African Americans and residents of the San Fernando Valley; he refused a second term to a popular African American police...…Serving as mayor of Los Angeles has a way of bending the officeholder to the office. Richard Riordan ran for mayor as a tough-on-crime Republican; he governed as a centrist who worked with President Bill Clinton to rebuild the city after the Northridge earthquake. Antonio Villaraigosa was a union organizer in his youth; his time as mayor was marked by his battles with the teachers’ union over school control. James Hahn won office on the strength of his support from African Americans and residents of the San Fernando Valley; he refused a second term to a popular African American police...WW…