Update: Link to L.A. Weekly exclusive on who the experts say will be the next mayor.

Believe it or not, someone wants to be the next mayor of Los Angeles in 2013, when Antonio Villaraigosa will be termed out of office after eight, turbulent years at the helm.

With that in mind, L.A. Weekly recently talked with a panel of political pros about who has the best chances of winning and why. Our findings will be published in a major feature story April 28, and will appear on our web site the afternoon of April 27.

Who is leading the pack for Los Angeles Mayor 2013, and who, surprisingly, is badly trailing, according to the experts? Let's just say the candidates have quite the political battle ahead.

Not only will the field probably be jammed with candidates, who will be vying for much-needed campaign contributions from many of the same donors, but the unusual political realities of 2012 are going to play a role in the 2013 L.A. mayor's race.

The field of known and unknown candidates include wealthy investment banker Austin Beutner, billionaire real estate developer Rick Caruso, L.A. City Council President Eric Garcetti, L.A. City Controller Wendy Greuel, gay Republican and radio show host Kevin James, California State Senator Alex Padilla, L.A. City Councilwoman Jan Perry, and L.A. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky.

Our top-notch experts rate each candidate's chances and why they think the politicos are strong or abysmally weak, sharing their insightful thoughts with candor.

Who do you think will win and why?

Check back for an update with a link to the feature story.

Update: Experts tell L.A. Weekly that L.A. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky is the front runner in 2013 L.A. mayoral race. Click here to read that article.

Contact Patrick Range McDonald at pmcdonald@laweekly.com.

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