"Villaraigosa's second term ends in 2012, which could put him in prime position to run for the U.S. Senate if Democrat Dianne Feinstein, 76, decides to retire when her third term ends that year, said Dan Schnur, a former Republican political strategist who is now director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at USC.......Villaraigosa's absence from the governor's race should benefit both Brown and Newsom, but Brown more, Schnur said. Among Democratic voters in Los Angeles who took part in the Times Poll, Brown was the most popular candidate among older voters and whites and, after Villaraigosa, the second most popular among Latinos and African Americans."