Michael D. Antonovich
American politician
title: "Michael D. Antonovich" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["los-angeles-county-board-of-supervisors", "republican-party-members-of-the-california-state-assembly", "california-republican-party-chairs", "california-state-university,-los-angeles-alumni", "american-people-of-croatian-descent", "politicians-from-los-angeles", "antelope-valley", "san-fernando-valley", "1939-births", "living-people", "20th-century-members-of-the-california-state-legislature"] description: "American politician" topic_path: "society/education" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_D._Antonovich" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary American politician ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| office | Member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors from District 5 |
| name | Michael Antonovich |
| image | Supervisor Antonovich.jpg |
| predecessor | Baxter Ward |
| successor | Kathryn Barger |
| last | yes |
| titlestyle | border:1px dashed lightgrey;}} |
| embed | yes |
| office1 | Mayor of Los Angeles County |
| term_start1 | December 2, 2014 |
| term_end1 | December 8, 2015 |
| predecessor1 | Don Knabe (Chair) |
| successor1 | Hilda Solis (Chair) |
| term_start2 | December 7, 2010 |
| term_end2 | December 6, 2011 |
| predecessor2 | Gloria Molina (Chair) |
| successor2 | Zev Yaroslavsky (Chair) |
| term_start3 | December 6, 2005 |
| term_end3 | December 5, 2006 |
| predecessor3 | Gloria Molina (Chair) |
| successor3 | Zev Yaroslavsky (Chair) |
| term_start4 | December 5, 2000 |
| term_end4 | December 4, 2001 |
| predecessor4 | Gloria Molina (Chair) |
| successor4 | Zev Yaroslavsky (Chair) |
| term_start5 | December 5, 1995 |
| term_end5 | December 3, 1996 |
| predecessor5 | Gloria Molina (Chair) |
| successor5 | Zev Yaroslavsky (Chair) |
| term_start6 | December 4, 1990 |
| term_end6 | December 3, 1991 |
| predecessor6 | Peter F. Schabarum (Chair) |
| successor6 | Deane Dana (Chair) |
| term_start7 | December 2, 1986 |
| term_end7 | December 8, 1987 |
| predecessor7 | Peter F. Schabarum (Chair) |
| successor7 | Deane Dana (Chair) |
| term_start8 | December 6, 1983 |
| term_end8 | December 4, 1984 |
| predecessor8 | Peter F. Schabarum (Chair) |
| successor8 | Edmund D. Edelman (Chair) |
| office9 | Mayor Pro Tem of Los Angeles County |
| term_start9 | December 3, 2013 |
| term_end9 | December 2, 2014 |
| predecessor9 | Don Knabe (Chair Pro Tem) |
| successor9 | Hilda Solis (Chair Pro Tem) |
| term_start10 | December 8, 2009 |
| term_end10 | December 7, 2010 |
| predecessor10 | Gloria Molina (Chair Pro Tem) |
| successor10 | Zev Yaroslavsky (Chair Pro Tem) |
| term_start11 | December 7, 2004 |
| term_end11 | December 6, 2005 |
| predecessor11 | Gloria Molina (Chair Pro Tem) |
| successor11 | Zev Yaroslavsky (Chair Pro Tem) |
| term_start12 | December 7, 1999 |
| term_end12 | December 5, 2000 |
| predecessor12 | Gloria Molina (Chair Pro Tem) |
| successor12 | Zev Yaroslavsky (Chair Pro Tem) |
| term_start13 | December 6, 1994 |
| term_end13 | December 5, 1995 |
| predecessor13 | Gloria Molina (Chair Pro Tem) |
| successor13 | Zev Yaroslavsky (Chair Pro Tem) |
| term_start14 | December 21, 1989 |
| term_end14 | December 4, 1990 |
| predecessor14 | Peter F. Schabarum (Chair Pro Tem) |
| successor14 | Deane Dana (Chair Pro Tem) |
| term_start15 | December 3, 1985 |
| term_end15 | December 2, 1986 |
| predecessor15 | Peter F. Schabarum (Chair Pro Tem) |
| successor15 | Deane Dana (Chair Pro Tem) |
| party | Republican |
| birth_name | Michael Daniel Antonovich |
| birth_date | |
| birth_place | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| spouse | Christine Hu Huiling |
| children | Michael Jr. |
| Mary Christine | |
| Dwight Manley | |
| residence | Glendale, California |
| alma_mater | California State University, Los Angeles |
| allegiance | United States of America |
| branch | California State Military Reserve |
| serviceyears | 1 January 2003 – 1 July 2008 |
| rank | [[File:US-O5 insignia.svg |
| unit | Joint Forces Training Base - Los Alamitos |
| awards | California Legion of Merit |
| term_start | December 1, 1980 |
| term_end | November 30, 2016 |
| state_assembly17 | California |
| district17 | 41st |
| term17 | December 2, 1974 - November 30, 1978 |
| preceded17 | Jim Keysor |
| succeeded17 | Pat Nolan |
| state_assembly18 | California |
| district18 | 43rd |
| term18 | January 8, 1973 - November 30, 1974 |
| preceded18 | Carlos Moorhead |
| succeeded18 | Howard Berman |
| :: |
| office = Member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors from District 5 | name = Michael Antonovich | image = Supervisor Antonovich.jpg | predecessor = Baxter Ward | successor = Kathryn Barger | last = yes | Supervisory positions | titlestyle = border:1px dashed lightgrey;}} | embed = yes | office1 = Mayor of Los Angeles County | term_start1 = December 2, 2014 | term_end1 = December 8, 2015 | predecessor1 = Don Knabe (Chair) | successor1 = Hilda Solis (Chair) | term_start2 = December 7, 2010 | term_end2 = December 6, 2011 | predecessor2 = Gloria Molina (Chair) | successor2 = Zev Yaroslavsky (Chair) | term_start3 = December 6, 2005 | term_end3 = December 5, 2006 | predecessor3 = Gloria Molina (Chair) | successor3 = Zev Yaroslavsky (Chair) | term_start4 = December 5, 2000 | term_end4 = December 4, 2001 | predecessor4 = Gloria Molina (Chair) | successor4 = Zev Yaroslavsky (Chair) | term_start5 = December 5, 1995 | term_end5 = December 3, 1996 | predecessor5 = Gloria Molina (Chair) | successor5 = Zev Yaroslavsky (Chair) | term_start6 = December 4, 1990 | term_end6 = December 3, 1991 | predecessor6 = Peter F. Schabarum (Chair) | successor6 = Deane Dana (Chair) | term_start7 = December 2, 1986 | term_end7 = December 8, 1987 | predecessor7 = Peter F. Schabarum (Chair) | successor7 = Deane Dana (Chair) | term_start8 = December 6, 1983 | term_end8 = December 4, 1984 | predecessor8 = Peter F. Schabarum (Chair) | successor8 = Edmund D. Edelman (Chair) | office9 = Mayor Pro Tem of Los Angeles County | term_start9 = December 3, 2013 | term_end9 = December 2, 2014 | predecessor9 = Don Knabe (Chair Pro Tem) | successor9 = Hilda Solis (Chair Pro Tem) | term_start10 = December 8, 2009 | term_end10 = December 7, 2010 | predecessor10 = Gloria Molina (Chair Pro Tem) | successor10 = Zev Yaroslavsky (Chair Pro Tem) | term_start11 = December 7, 2004 | term_end11 = December 6, 2005 | predecessor11 = Gloria Molina (Chair Pro Tem) | successor11 = Zev Yaroslavsky (Chair Pro Tem) | term_start12 = December 7, 1999 | term_end12 = December 5, 2000 | predecessor12 = Gloria Molina (Chair Pro Tem) | successor12 = Zev Yaroslavsky (Chair Pro Tem) | term_start13 = December 6, 1994 | term_end13 = December 5, 1995 | predecessor13 = Gloria Molina (Chair Pro Tem) | successor13 = Zev Yaroslavsky (Chair Pro Tem) | term_start14 = December 21, 1989 | term_end14 = December 4, 1990 | predecessor14 = Peter F. Schabarum (Chair Pro Tem) | successor14 = Deane Dana (Chair Pro Tem) | term_start15 = December 3, 1985 | term_end15 = December 2, 1986 | predecessor15 = Peter F. Schabarum (Chair Pro Tem) | successor15 = Deane Dana (Chair Pro Tem) | party = Republican | birth_name = Michael Daniel Antonovich | birth_date = | birth_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | spouse = Christine Hu Huiling | children = Michael Jr. Mary Christine Dwight Manley | residence = Glendale, California | alma_mater = California State University, Los Angeles | allegiance = United States of America ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Flag_of_California.svg" caption="State of California"] ::
| branch = California State Military Reserve | serviceyears = 1 January 2003 – 1 July 2008 | rank = [[File:US-O5 insignia.svg|13px]] Lieutenant colonel (CA) | unit = Joint Forces Training Base - Los Alamitos | awards = California Legion of Merit | term_start = December 1, 1980 | term_end = November 30, 2016 | state_assembly17 = California | district17 = 41st | term17 = December 2, 1974 - November 30, 1978 | preceded17 = Jim Keysor | succeeded17 = Pat Nolan | state_assembly18 = California | district18 = 43rd | term18 = January 8, 1973 - November 30, 1974 | preceded18 = Carlos Moorhead | succeeded18 = Howard Berman Michael Dennis Antonovich (born August 12, 1939) is an American politician who was Mayor of Los Angeles County and a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. He represented the Fifth District, which covers northern Los Angeles County, including the Antelope Valley, Santa Clarita, Pasadena, and parts of the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys.{{cite web |url=http://antonovich.co.la.ca.us/districtinfo/districtinfo.html |title=District Information |accessdate=2008-01-14 |publisher=Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080103214856/http://antonovich.co.la.ca.us/districtinfo/districtinfo.html |archive-date=2008-01-03 |url-status=dead
Education and early career
Antonovich was born in Los Angeles, California, and attended Thomas Alva Edison Junior High, where one of his classmates was Henry Waxman. He graduated from John Marshall High School and enlisted in the United States Army Reserve in 1957. A member of Sigma Nu fraternity, Antonovich graduated from California State University, Los Angeles in 1963 with a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in 1966.{{cite web |url=http://antonovich.co.la.ca.us/bio/MDAbiography.pdf |title=Michael D. Antonovich Biographical Information |accessdate=2008-01-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071201142916/http://antonovich.co.la.ca.us/bio/MDAbiography.pdf |archive-date=2007-12-01 |url-status=dead |url=http://www.pacificcouncil.org/interior.aspx?pageID=About&subID=31&itemID=1124 |title=Mr. Michael D. Antonovich |accessdate=2008-01-14 |publisher=Pacific Council on International Policy |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070923052726/http://www.pacificcouncil.org/interior.aspx?pageID=About&subID=31&itemID=1124 |archive-date=2007-09-23 |url-status=dead
Political career
In 1969, Antonovich was elected to the newly formed Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees.
In 1972, he was elected to the California State Assembly and for three terms represented Glendale, Burbank, Sunland, Tujunga, Atwater, Griffith Park, Lakeview Terrace and Sun Valley. He served as a Republican whip in the Assembly from 1976 to 1978. |url=http://www.aqmd.gov/bios/bm_antonovich_michael.html |title=Michael Antonovich Biography |accessdate=2008-01-15 |publisher=South Coast Air Quality Management District |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080202042549/http://aqmd.gov/bios/bm_antonovich_michael.html |archive-date=2008-02-02
Antonovich ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for Lieutenant Governor of California in 1978 against Mike Curb. After Curb defeated him in the primary, Antonovich declined to specifically endorse Curb in the general election, but instead endorsed the entire Republican ticket. Curb defeated incumbent Mervyn Dymally in the general election.
In 1984 Antonovich was elected chairman of the California Republican Party
He was Chairman of the Board of Supervisors (to which he was first elected in 1980) in 1983, 1987 and 1991 and as the so-called "Mayor of Los Angeles County" in 1983, 1987, 1991, 2001 and 2006.
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d7/Michael_D._Antonovich_filming_Senatorial_campaign_ad_at_the_California-Mexican_border,_1986.jpg" caption="Antonovich filming a Senatorial ad in 1986"] ::
He ran for the U.S. Senate in 1986 in the 13 candidate Republican primary. Antonovich received the endorsement of television evangelist Pat Robertson. He finished in third place with 9% of the vote. Congressman Ed Zschau went on to lose to the incumbent, Alan Cranston, in the general election. Antonovich lost the San Fernando Valley to Herschensohn. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020115503/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/58614265.html?dids=58614265:58614265&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Jun+05,+1986&author=RICHARD+SIMON&pub=Los+Angeles+Times+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&desc=Valley+Candidates+Took+a+Drubbing+at+Home+in+GOP+Senate+Voting&pqatl=google |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 20, 2012 |format=Fee |work=Los Angeles Times Archives -Metro; 2; Zones Desk (Valley Edition) |page=8 |date=June 5, 1986 |accessdate=2008-12-11
From 2007 to 2013, Antonovich received $1,862,796.59 in campaign contributions, reported by Los Angeles Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk records.
Antonovich served nine four-year terms on the Board of Supervisors and served until 2016, when a limit of three consecutive terms imposed by voters in 2002 forced him to leave office. That year, Antonovich ran for California State Senator for the 25th District, which includes the cities of Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena, La Canada Flintridge, South Pasadena, Monrovia, Bradbury, Duarte, Glendora, San Dimas, La Verne, Claremont, Upland, Sierra Madre, the unincorporated communities of Altadena, East Pasadena, and La Crescenta-Montrose, and the Los Angeles neighborhoods of Atwater Village and Sunland-Tujunga. He lost to Democrat Anthony Portantino, 57 percent to 43 percent.
Michael D. Antonovich Trail near San Dimas, California, and Michael D. Antonovich Regional Park at Joughin Ranch in the Santa Susana Mountains are named after him.
California bullet train
Antonovich played an important role in shaping the route that California's proposed bullet train project would take. Engineers had determined in a 1999 report that the preferred route for a bullet train between Los Angeles and San Francisco would be the most direct through the Tejon Pass. However, Antonovich argued that the train should be diverted through the Mojave Desert communities of Lancaster and Palmdale in his district, which was estimated to increase the cost of the project by 16%. Critics described the change as political horse-trading that raised the cost and complexity of the project and sacrificed travel time. In a 2022 report, the New York Times linked the maneuver to a connection between Antonovich and real estate developer Jerry Epstein.
Chemerinsky appointment
Antonovich objected to the appointment of Duke University professor Erwin Chemerinsky to be dean of the new law school at the University of California, Irvine, and lobbied against it. The university rescinded the appointment,{{cite news| first = GILLIAN | last = FLACCUS | title = GOP politician sent email asking how to stop naming of dean | url = http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/09/14/state/n180613D10.DTL | archive-url = https://archive.today/20071220042444/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/09/14/state/n180613D10.DTL | url-status = dead | archive-date = 2007-12-20 | work = San Francisco Chronicle | publisher = Associated Press| location = San Francisco, California | date = 2007-09-14| accessdate = 2008-01-14 | quote = ...like appointing al-Qaida in charge of homeland security... | url = http://www.ocregister.com/news/chemerinsky-drake-uci-1846810-university-campus | work = The Orange County Register| publisher = Freedom Communications, Inc. | location = Santa Ana, California| date = 2007-09-17| accessdate = 2008-01-14 | quote = ...fracas over the hiring, firing and rehiring of law professor Erwin Chemerinsky... | format = fee required | work = Los Angeles Times|location = Los Angeles, California|date = 2007-09-15 | access-date = 2008-01-14 | page=A.1 | url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-sep-15-me-uci15-story.html}}
Personal life
Antonovich is of Croatian descent.{{cite news |first=ROBERT |last=GREENE |title=Mike Antonovich, Metropolitan News-Enterprise Person of the Year 2002; County Supervisor Puts a Priority on Justice |url=http://www.metnews.com/articles/poy2002.htm |work=Metropolitan News-Enterprise Online |publisher=Metropolitan News Company |location=Los Angeles, California |date=2002-12-31 |accessdate=2008-01-14 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040309204147/http://www.metnews.com/articles/poy2002.htm |archive-date=2004-03-09
On February 15, 1998, he married Christine Hu Huiling, a Mandarin-speaking actress from Dalian, China, before 900 guests; Red Buttons and Pat Boone were lay lectors.{{cite web |url= http://antonovich.co.la.ca.us/pressrel/6/wedding.htm |title= SUPERVISOR ANTONOVICH TO WED HU SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1998 |accessdate= 2008-01-14 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060930224915/http://antonovich.co.la.ca.us/pressrel/6/wedding.htm |archive-date= 2006-09-30 |quote= A RECEPTION WILL FOLLOW THE CEREMONY AT THE BURBANK HILTON HOTEL...
References
References
- Gizzi, John. (2003-09-26). "Politics 2003, Week of September 29". Eagle Publishing.
- [https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=4xM0AAAAIBAJ&sjid=NDIHAAAAIBAJ&pg=5279,2500951&dq=mike-antonovich&hl=en TV evangelist endorses Mike Antonovich.] ''Lodi News-Sentinel.'' 20 May 1986.
- (2002-04-20). "Measure B: Term Limits: Board of Supervisors - Los Angeles County, CA". League of Women Voters of California Education Fund.
- (19 November 2016). "Mike Antonovich ready for new chapter after more than three decades as LA County supervisor".
- "Michael D Antonovich Trail - San Dimas, CA".
- "Archived copy".
- Vartabedian, Ralph. (2022-10-09). "How California's Bullet Train Went Off the Rails". The New York Times.
- (21 February 2019). "Using DNA tests, Dwight Manley found his birth father: L.A. Politician Mike Antonovich".
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