After his election as Los Angeles Mayor, Villaraigosa was featured on the cover of Newsweek, and in Time 's story on the country's 25 most influential Latinos, but repeated questions concerning his marital infidelity issues appear to have damaged his reputation locally and nationally.
His approval rating when he left office was 47%.

Villaraigosa has also received criticism because of his membership in MEChA while attending UCLA and his alleged support for immigration reform.
He has also been criticized because of the high frequency in which he holds press conferences, attends photo-ops, and travels out of town (including campaigning for Hillary Clinton).
An LA Weekly article by Patrick Range McDonald published on September 11, 2008, presented an analysis of a 10-week period from May 21 to August 1, and determined that "On direct city business—such as signing legislation and meeting with city-department heads—his schedule shows the mayor spent 11 percent of his time...Yet the 11 percent of Villaraigosa's time that the Weekly has identified as being spent in L.A. on actual city work—running, fixing or shaping government policies and actions—reveals that he frequently spends that limited time huddling with special-interest groups who have helped him attain higher office."

A November 4, 2008 election day poll, conducted by the Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University found that Villaraigosa had a job approval rating of 61%.
In 2009, a poll by the Los Angeles times showed his approval rating had slipped to 55%, "relatively low for a sitting Mayor who faced little name opposition in his recent re-election victory."
At the same time, his showing and that of the candidates he supported in the election were lackluster.

Villaraigosa was featured in the editorial cover story of the June, 2009 Los Angeles Magazine, which took him to task for a lack of effectiveness regarding many of his stated policy priorities, and a focus on election to higher office, to the detriment of the needs of the City.
In response, the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles devoted its June 11 cover story to a defense of Villaraigosa's record.

After he left the mayor's office, Villaraigosa was involved in Campaign to Fix the Debt, a movement for entitlement reform to cut Social Security and Medicare, which Democratic strategist Nathan Ballard said is "not just touching the third rail — it's an act of public self-immolation."
After his election as Los Angeles Mayor, Villaraigosa was featured on the cover of Newsweek, and in Time 's story on the country's 25 most influential Latinos, but repeated questions concerning his marital infidelity issues appear to have damaged his reputation locally and nationally. His approval rating when he left office was 47%.
Villaraigosa has also received criticism because of his membership in MEChA while attending UCLA and his alleged support for immigration reform. He has also been criticized because of the high frequency in which he holds press conferences, attends photo-ops, and travels out of town (including campaigning for Hillary Clinton). An LA Weekly article by Patrick Range McDonald published on September 11, 2008, presented an analysis of a 10-week period from May 21 to August 1, and determined that "On direct city business—such as signing legislation and meeting with city-department heads—his schedule shows the mayor spent 11 percent of his time...Yet the 11 percent of Villaraigosa's time that the Weekly has identified as being spent in L.A. on actual city work—running, fixing or shaping government policies and actions—reveals that he frequently spends that limited time huddling with special-interest groups who have helped him attain higher office."
A November 4, 2008 election day poll, conducted by the Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University found that Villaraigosa had a job approval rating of 61%. In 2009, a poll by the Los Angeles times showed his approval rating had slipped to 55%, "relatively low for a sitting Mayor who faced little name opposition in his recent re-election victory." At the same time, his showing and that of the candidates he supported in the election were lackluster.
Villaraigosa was featured in the editorial cover story of the June, 2009 Los Angeles Magazine, which took him to task for a lack of effectiveness regarding many of his stated policy priorities, and a focus on election to higher office, to the detriment of the needs of the City. In response, the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles devoted its June 11 cover story to a defense of Villaraigosa's record.
After he left the mayor's office, Villaraigosa was involved in Campaign to Fix the Debt, a movement for entitlement reform to cut Social Security and Medicare, which Democratic strategist Nathan Ballard said is "not just touching the third rail — it's an act of public self-immolation."
Antonio Villaraigosa