Mayor's choices win on school board

The two school board candidates backed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa for the Los Angeles Board of Education won election on Tuesday, giving him the majority of school board members overseeing the nation's second largest school system.
Deputy City Attorney Tamar Galatzan and educator Richard Vladovic won i n their respective districts in the San Fernando Valley and the Harbor Area in what turned out to be a more than $3.3 million campaign between the mayor and the United Teachers of Los Angeles.
The two are scheduled to take office on July 1.
In other elections, City Council Deputy Felipe Fuentes narrowly avoided a runoff to take the seat in the 39th Assembly District that had been held by Councilman Richard Alarcon. Incumbent Community College Trustee Georgia Mercer was in a tight race for re-election.