Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a 60-year-old Democrat and one of the most prominent Latino politicians, gets asked a lot about his future these days. After eight years of leading the second-largest city, Villaraigosa must leave office at the end of June due to term limits.

So what’s next for Villaraigosa, who was the chairman of the Democratic National Convention last year?

In an interview on Bloomberg Television, Villaraigosa offered no hint of his political ambitions, saying instead that he’s interested in joining a university or a think tank or taking an (unspecified) job in the private sector. He didn’t mention the possibility of running for California governor or U.S. senator.

In any case, Villaraigosa’s options would be limited if Gov. Jerry Brown, a 74-year-old Democrat, opts to run for another term next year, and Sen. Barbara Boxer, a 72-year-old Democrat, runs again in 2016.

After President Barack Obama’s reelection last year, Villaraigosa’s name emerged in news reports as a contender for a Cabinet seat. He quashed the speculation with a Feb. 1 statement saying he was “firmly committed” to staying in Los Angeles and finishing his term.

Original post is Villaraigosa Mum as L.A. Term Closes by Political Capital.

New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez, whose help for a political donor is under review by the Senate Select Committe on Ethics, ended up next to the panel’s chairman, California Senator Barbara Boxer, as President Barack Obama was about to begin delivering his speech. The two Democrats looked uncomfortable, and before they sat down Boxer moved one seat away. She beckoned Senator Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat, to take the vacant spot between her and Menendez.

Before Boxer arrived in the chamber, Menendez — the new chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee — had found himself standing alone in front of the row of empty seats. He passed the time by frequently checking his watch.

UPDATE: The two didn’t totally avoid each other. When Obama in his speech touted their bill that, in his words, “would give every responsible homeowner in America”  the chance to refinance their home mortgages, Boxer and Menendez gave each other a high-five.

“What we we waiting for? Take a vote and send me that bill,” Obama said.

Original post is Boxer Makes Move, Avoids Listening to Obama Next to Menendez by Political Capital.

Photograph by Alex Wong/Getty Images

A Washington, D.C. ‘TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION’ license plate on Vice President Joseph Biden’s limousine.

Taxation without representation.

It’s a storied complaint in American history.

In Washington, D.C., it’s a license plate.

For all the failures of Washingtonians to gain recognition from the Congress that operates in their own home town, a long-denied bid for statehood for the District of Columbia or even some measure of independence more stately than the landlord relationship they have with the congressional committees that approve their civic budgets has yielded little more than the license plates complaining about all the taxes people pay in the district with the nation’s highest wages and the lack of representation they have in the House and Senate.

They did convince President Barack Obama to slap the “Taxation Without Representation” D.C. plates on his armored limousines for his inauguration.

“Attaching these plates to the presidential vehicles demonstrates the president’s commitment to the principle of full representation for the people of the District of Columbia and his willingness to fight for voting rights, home rule, and budget autonomy for the district,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said on Jan. 17,

And now, once again, senators are introducing a statehood bill. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin of  Illinois has joined Sens. Tom Carper of Delaware, Barbara Boxer of California and Patty Murray of Washington in introducing the perennial D.C. statehood bill.

Call it New Columbia.

The 51st state would have full voting rights in Congress, and a federal district called Washington, D.C., encompassing the White House,  Capitol, Supreme Court and National Mall would still remain under the control of Congress, as the Constitution mandates, under the bill. Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton , the non-voting delegate from D.C., introduced companion legislation in the House earlier this month.

“”Washington, D.C. is not just a collection of government offices, monuments and museums; it is home to more than 600,000 people who work, study, raise families, and start businesses,” Carper says. “These citizens serve in our military, fight in our wars, die for our country, and pay federal taxes. But when it comes to having a voice in Congress, suddenly these men and women do not count.”

“With the 57th presidential inauguration just days behind us, it might surprise some students of American history to know that it wasn’t until the 1964 election that residents of the District of Columbia were finally able to cast a ballot for President and Vice President of the United States,” says Durbin. “”Unfortunately, the disenfranchisement of these citizens is not yet a relic of history.”

“We live in the only democracy in the world that denies voting representation to residents of its capital city,” adds Murray. “Residents of the District of Columbia have been denied their right to fully participate in our democracy for far too long, and this legislation would finally give them a voice.”

Original post is Washington Statehood: ‘New Columbia’ by Political Capital.

Photo by Martin H. Simon/ABC via Getty Images

When the 113th Congress is sworn in on January 3, it will have a record-breaking number of female senators, the most in history. "ABC World News" anchor Diane Sawyer gathered nearly all the women for an exclusive conversation in the historic Kennedy Caucus Room.

Today, 20 women make history.

When they are sworn in to the 113th Congress at noon, America’s female senators will comprise the largest-ever class of women in the upper chamber.

The 20 senators (three more than in the 112th Congress) are determined to make the change apparent. Their camaraderie and collaborative approach to legislating position them to get things done in the new Congress, they say in a joint interview with ABC’s Diane Sawyer, which airs tonight.

“We’re in force and we’re in leadership positions, but it’s not just the position that we hold,” Democratic Sen. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland says, according to ABC News. “I can tell you this is a can-do crowd. We are today ready to be a force in American politics.”

The 20 women — four Republicans and 16 Democrats — agree that having more women in Congress will help with legislative compromise, because women are naturally ”problem solvers,” Sen.-elect Mazie Hirono, a Hawaii Democrat, says.

“When I saw President Obama a few weeks ago, I told him about our quarterly dinners and I said, ‘Mr. President, if you want to see bipartisanship in Washington, invite the women senators to help you get it done,’” says Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a New York Democrat, referring to bipartisan dinners for Senate women. “He loved the idea and he plans to invite us to the White House.”

While the senators celebrate today’s milestone in the interview, they also say they don’t want to be defined by their gender and that their sights are set on two larger goals: A 50-50 gender split in Congress, and a woman in the White House.

“I think that until we get to 50, we still have to fight because it’s still a problem,” says Sen. Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat.

Original post is Twenty Female Senators Break Congressional Gender Gap Record by Political Capital.