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LA mayor would like to be governor someday
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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said Wednesday that he will join a think tank after leaving office this summer — and he'd also like to be California's governor someday.

Villaraigosa didn't specify which of the many policy research and advocacy groups he would join.

"I think California has lost its luster and we've got to work to regain that luster," Villaraigosa told KTTV-TV's "Good Day LA" program. "So I'm going to affiliate with a think tank to kind of rethink what I think is the right road ahead."

The former California Assembly speaker also indicated that he's not done with politics.

"One day I'd like to run for governor but there's not a vacancy last time I looked," he quipped.

Villaraigosa, 60, became the city's first Hispanic mayor in more than a century when he was elected in 2005. His latest term ends on June 30, just before the start of the fiscal year.

His announcement last month that he would fill out the term quashed speculation that he would become President Barack Obama's secretary of transportation.

Villaraigosa didn't endorse a mayoral candidate in Tuesday's election. Councilman Eric Garcetti and Controller Wendy Greuel failed to win outright majorities and will face each other in a May 21 runoff. Villaraigosa did not say who he voted for.

Villaraigosa recently said his accomplishments included a reduction in a gaping budget shortfall at City Hall after the recession.

Yet his successor still must deal with a projected gap of more than $200 million and the frustrations of working under a government system that gives more power to the City Council.