Huizar was elected on November 8, 2005, in a special election to fill the seat vacated by the then-mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa. He was re-elected to a full four-year term in 2007 and again in 2011. In 2015, he was re-elected but to a term of 5 1/2 years, due to the passage of Charter Amendments 1 and 2. The amendments will change elections in the city of L.A. and LAUSD to even-number years beginning in 2020, thereby extending his new term by one and a half years.