Richard Riordan (Los Angeles) 1993-2001 2

Riordan turned out to be a sheep in wolf's clothing. He got elected in post race riots Los Angeles by running a commercial, ad infinitum, on TV wherein he stood in front of a police car with the lights flashing while giving a solemn look into the camera while talking about plans to expand the force. When he got into office, however, he turned out to be the most PC guy to have occupied the position in decades. He nominated for any number of positions all manner of La La Land leftist miscreants, some of whom were confirmed, others who weren't. To his credit (as he obviously thought it would be of benefit) he attempted to create the "multi-ethnic, multicultural coalition" that Southern California politicians commonly speak of at campaign time. Like most L.A. mayors, however, he was largely ineffectual because the real power in the city resides with the City Council.