Antonio Villaraigosa won't run for US Senate

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Wednesday, February 25, 2015
In this April 16, 2013 file photo, then-Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa speaks before the Sacramento Press Club in Sacramento.
In this April 16, 2013 file photo, then-Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa speaks before the Sacramento Press Club in Sacramento.
AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli-AP

LOS ANGELES -- Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa says he won't run for Barbara Boxer's Senate seat.

"As I think about how best to serve the people of this great state, I know that my heart and my family are here in California, not Washington, D.C.," Villaraigosa said in a statement posted on Facebook.

Billionaire climate activist Tom Steyer has also opted not to run for Senate, which leaves state Attorney General Kamala Harris as the only major candidate in the contest after Boxer announced in January that she would not seek re-election in 2016.

Harris has rolled out hard-to-miss endorsements from Los Angeles municipal unions.

Villaraigosa, 62, did not say whether he plans to run for governor.

Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom also weighed a run for Boxer's seat but then announced plans to run for governor.

The Associated Press and City News Service contributed to this report.

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