As mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa gets a D. Maybe a C.

Blame constant multimillion-dollar deficits, a do-nothing City Council, the specter of municipal bankruptcy, corruption in Building and Safety, increased taxation through parking and traffic tickets, and the worst roads in America.

But as a politician, Villaraigosa gets an A. He's been a master coalition builder, hard-on-crime leader and camera-ready personality. And failing at his job in L.A. clearly won't stop Mayor V. from moving forward:

Villaraigosa this week admitted to Yahoo! News what many of us already believed: While any presidential aspirations might be premature, he would like to be the first brown in the governor's seat since Mexican rule.

And we're not counting Jerry Brown or his dad, Pat.

The mayor, basking in the light of his role as chair of the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., this September, told Yahoo! this:

The job I've said to people I would like is I would like to be governor of the state of California.

There it is.

And you thought Arnold Schwarzenegger ran a back-slapping boys' club in Sacramento when he befriended the likes of former Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez? Just wait …

[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]

Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting LA Weekly and our advertisers.