Comedian George Lopez, who's been making the press rounds to promote his latest movie, Spare Parts, says he's “serious” about becoming the mayor of Los Angeles someday.

Before you spit out your coffee, consider that it wouldn't be the first time a Hollywood celebrity crossed over into the more sober world of politics. Consider the names Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger for a moment.

At least Lopez can act. And, hey, compared to Schwarzenegger, he has the added plus of actually having been born here.

Lopez told the Today show this week that “the time has come” for him to think about running for mayor.

“Listen, I can win with just fixing potholes,” he joked. But then he sounded more serious.

“There's a lot going on in politics,” the 53-year-old said. “And I would love to end my career as mayor of Los Angeles. I'm absolutely serious.
“One of the Today show hosts, clearly prepared to talk politics, asked, Six years from now?

“Six years from now, yes,” Lopez said.

If he's successful, Lopez would be L.A.'s second post-1872 mayor of Mexican descent. Being brown certainly doesn't hurt in a metropolis where 50 percent of us are Latino.

But just like former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, he'd have to build a coalition of support from various ethnic enclaves and business barons, including Hollywood moguls. He might be in a good position to do that, even if he doesn't know the first thing about running a major metropolis.

If Mayor Eric Garcetti runs for a second term and wins, he would conceivably be in office until 2021, which is … six years from now. However, there is some speculation that Garcetti could run for governor or U.S. Senate in 2018, which could spark an earlier-than-expected special election for mayor.

Lopez joked that he needs the six years to prepare.

“You have to make churros to get votes,” he said. “It will take me six years to finish all the churros I will need. One churro one vote.”

The Valley-bred actor promised that if he ran for City Hall's top job he would formally announce his candidacy on the Today show. “Absolutely,” he said.

“And I'm still looking for a first lady.”

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