Garcetti Wins Record-Breaking Los Angeles Mayoral Election

It has been an election for the record books in Los Angeles' mayoral runoff between Eric Garcetti and Wendy Greuel. When all was said and done, it was Garcetti who won over the majority of votes to succeed Antonio Villaraigosa as L.A.'s next mayor.

It has been a long last couple of months for Garcetti and Greuel, who have squared off against each other ever since taking the top two spots in the primaries earlier this year. The race was close, and the winner of the contest was very much in doubt until the votes were cast.

"Thank you Los Angeles -- the hard work begins but I am honored to lead this city for the next four years," Garcetti tweeted shortly before 3 a.m. PT. "Let's make this a great city again."

This has been an election to remember for the city of Los Angeles. Spending on the campaign trail for all of the candidates eclipsed the $33 million mark, reaching an all-time high.It comes at a time of increasing uncertainty for a city that is facing a deficit that could reach the hundreds of millions of dollars.

"Los Angeles is ready to put the recession in the rearview mirror and become the city of opportunity that I grew up in once again," he said. "It's time for Los Angeles not just to be a big city, but a great city once again. Whether you're down and out, or whether you're at the top, we all believe one thing, that L.A. is worth fighting for."

The election was also memorable because of the participants involved. If elected, Wendy Greuel would have become the first female mayor of Los Angeles. With his appointment, however, Garcetti will become the first Jewish mayor elected to office.

With roughly three quarters of the precincts reporting by early Wednesday morning, Greuel had fallen behind Garcetti by 8 percentage points. Greuel had been hoping that the absentee ballots would help her but it was at that time, says a source that wishes not to be identified, that Greuel decided to concede defeat.

"When there was evidence that the absentees weren't exactly as everyone thought, you begin to think, if that's wrong, what else is wrong? You hold out, you wait for the results to come in and wait for the votes to be counted. That's what Wendy Greuel did."

In total Garcetti and Greuel battled almost two years before a winner was finally declared. Garcetti, a former city councilman, will take over for Mayor Villaraigosa on July 1.