Villaraigosa says he’d like to be governor of California

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As Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa prepares to take the gavel for the Democratic National Committee’s national convention in Charlotte this summer, Yahoo! News asked whether the termed-out mayor could be the nation’s first Latino president.

Villaraigosa assured his interviewer that he has no interest in national office, but he does have another job in mind after 2013, when he will be forced from Getty House.

‘The job I’ve said to people I would like is I would like to be governor of the state of California,’ he said.

Villaraigosa spokesman Teddy Davis was not immediately available to comment on the mayor’s statement.

Villaraigosa opted not to run for the job when it was last open in 2010. Gavin Newsom briefly challenged Jerry Brown in the Democratic primary before dropping out of the race, eventually running for lieutenant governor.

Last year, Villaraigosa gave a speech to the Sacramento Press Club urging state lawmakers to consider changes to Proposition 13, the 1978 law that placed limits on residential and commercial property taxes. Brown said he does not believe voters are interested in changing the law.

Brown is eligible to run for another term in 2014. New state election rules will allow voters of any party to vote in the 2014 primary election, with the top two vote-getters, regardless of party, advancing to a November 2014 runoff.

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— Anthony York in Sacramento

An earlier version of this post said Villaraigosa made his comments to ABC News. The comments were made to Yahoo! News, which has a content-sharing arrangement with ABC.