VILLARAIGOSA ENDORSED BY CALIFORNIA’S LARGEST PUBLIC SAFETY ORGANIZATION, PORAC

Biggest Public Safety Union Endorsement in the Governor’s Race is the Latest Major Momentum Building Shift for Villaraigosa Since the Lt. Gov Dropped Out

LOS ANGELES – Antonio Villaraigosa, Former Speaker of the California Assembly and 41st Mayor of Los Angeles, announced that he has received the biggest public safety endorsement in the Governor’s race, another major, statewide labor endorsement, from the Peace Officers Research Association of California (PORAC) representing over 86,000 public safety members and more than 960 local associations.

In announcing this major endorsement, PORAC cited Villaraigosa’s “commitment to delivering real results on public safety and tackling the challenges facing law enforcement across the state” as well as Villaraigosa’s “long track record of engaging with law enforcement and community leaders to implement policies that strengthen public safety and improve quality of life” and that “during his tenure as mayor, Los Angeles experienced historic reductions in crime.”  

“Antonio Villaraigosa knows that strong public safety builds safer communities. As mayor, he slashed violent crime through smart policing and community collaboration,” said PORAC President Brian R. Marvel. “His proven leadership united people to solve tough public safety challenges, exactly what California needs to thrive.”

"I am honored and humbled to have earned PORAC’s endorsement, the largest public safety organization in the state,” said Antonio Villaraigosa. “As Mayor of Los Angeles we reduced violent crime by 48%, took illegal guns off the streets, created innovative gang intervention programs, and hired nearly a thousand police officers, increasing the Police Department to 10,000 officers for the first time in the city’s history. I’m proud of that record and will continue to make public safety a top priority as Governor." 

This endorsement follows two other statewide endorsements from the CA-NV Conference of Operating Engineers and the District Council of Iron Workers (DCIW) of California and the Vicinity. These statewide endorsements demonstrate Villaraigosa’s growing momentum in the race for governor, and that working families in California are looking for a proven problem solver to lead our state.

###