Los Angeles mayor steps into gubernatorial race

Mayor Tom Bradley announced his candidacy Wednesday to become the first black governor since Reconstruction. Mr. Bradley was elected in a landslide in April to a third four-year term as mayor of Los Angeles.

If successful, Bradley would be the first black governor in the United States since 1872, when Pinckney B. S. Pinchback was appointed governor of Louisiana after the impeachment of Gov. Henry Warmoth.

A Los Angeles Times poll in November put Bradley's favorability rating at 81 percent - by far the highest among all the state political figures, including President Reagan.