Villaraigosa Out? Not so fast…

Compared to the large field of the Attorney General race, the Democratic gubernatorial race is about as lively as a coma patient.  Only one candidate – San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom – has entered the ring, with two others seriously considering running…or is it only one?  Will it be just Gavin and Jerry Brown?

No go Antonio: Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa isn’t going to run for governor – at least not in 2010.

Our sources in L.A. say Villaraigosa has come to the conclusion that the time is just not right for him to make a state run – given that he hasn’t even been sworn in yet to a second term, and that he’s facing bloody political fights at home.  (Matier & Ross)

Between the cads at Los Angeles Magazine, the Solar 8, and Carmen Trutanich it seems everyone is taking a grinder to my Mayor’s sheen.  That is, if you believe everything you read in the paper – always a dicey proposition.  Now the Chronicle’s Matier & Ross are doing their bit, too.

But as I noted on Twitter from the launch of the Parent Revolution, there are many places where Villaraigosa is welcomed as a hero.  So it seems a little early to be writing him off as a contender.  And his folks are certainly not letting a couple of columnists in an opponenet’s hometown paper run him out of the race:

Is Villaraigosa in or out?

People close to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa this morning dismissed a report in the San Francisco Chronicle that he had decided not to run for governor in 2010.

Villaraigosa insiders said the mayor has still not made a decision.  (LA Times)

I’ve talked about this with higher-ups in the camps of Villaraigosa’s potential opponents.  Some anticipate his not entering the race.  Others only allow for it, but are looking at how it reshapes the field.

I for one am dubious about these rumors, as I’ve heard of (and actually witnessed) folks close to the Mayor propositioning operatives key to President Obama’s campaign in California (and nationally).  Maybe a surprising decision is on the way, but if it is someone better tell Antonio’s folks soon – so they’re not left hanging as late-comers, when everyone else has chosen sides!