Robert Garcia

Robert Julio Garcia (born December 2, 1977) is an American educator and politician serving as the U.S. representative for California's 42nd congressional district since 2023.

He is the second person of color to be mayor of Long Beach, after Republican Eunice Sato, a Japanese-American who served from 1980 to 1982.

Garcia graduated from Covina High School in 1995, then attended California State University, Long Beach, where he became president of the Associated Students, was an active member of the Delta Chi fraternity, and graduated with a degree in communication studies.

He continued his education at the University of Southern California where he received a Master's Degree, and later became a public information officer at Long Beach City College.

In 2007, Garcia founded the Long Beach Post, a website devoted to local news and sports reporting.

The site soon became popular with local political figures and community leaders and gave him increased local prominence.

He sold the website before being elected mayor.

Before and during his election to the Long Beach City Council, Garcia was a member of the public policy and communications faculty at the University of Southern California, and taught communication studies at California State University, Long Beach and Long Beach City College.

In 2009, Garcia defeated six other candidates, including a former First District Councilmember, to win the seat vacated when Bonnie Lowenthal was elected to the California State Assembly in 2008.

He was featured in CNN's 2009 special "Latino in America," and was named to the "40 under 40 list" by the national gay news magazine The Advocate.

Garcia received his Doctor of Education degree in educational policy from California State University, Long Beach, in 2010.

He has taught courses in communication and public policy at the University of Southern California, California State University, Long Beach, and Long Beach City College.

He was reelected in April 2010 by more than 40 percentage points.

Garcia's support of the 2010 Long Beach Downtown Community Plan was criticized by some affordable housing advocates, who argued that the plan should be delayed to perform an economic study on affordable housing incentives.

In response, Garcia argued that delaying the plan would be costly to the city, and that the economic study could be done separately.

The plan passed the City Council, 7-2.

In 2011, Garcia spearheaded the effort to name a planned park in Long Beach's 1st District after murdered San Francisco Supervisor and LGBT civil rights icon Harvey Milk.

A former member of the Long Beach City Council, he was vice mayor from 2012 to 2014.

Garcia was elected to the United States House of Representatives in the 2022 midterm elections.

He is the first Peruvian-American to be elected to Congress, and was one of the leading figures in the expulsion of George Santos.

Garcia was born in Lima.

He immigrated to the United States with his mother at age 5.

His mother and aunt worked in many jobs, such as housekeepers, to support the family.

In July 2012, he was unanimously elected to a two-year term as Vice Mayor by the City Council, becoming the first Latino Vice Mayor in Long Beach and the youngest in the City's history.

During his time as a councilmember, Garcia authored or cosponsored more than 20 pieces of legislation, including the City's first Equal Benefits Ordinance, a ban on smoking at bus stops and at farmers' markets, a proposal to extend increased preferences to veterans in civil service hiring, and a broad-ranging arts initiative that eliminated restrictions on street performances, and reduced the business license tax for artists and other home-based businesses.

He also showed support for both the business community and labor unions, voting to support Project Labor Agreements at the Long Beach Airport, Port of Long Beach and for the Gerald Desmond Bridge, supporting the expansion of the Middle Harbor Terminal, and working to improve infrastructure in commercial corridors.

He has shown interest in government reform and fiscal accountability, and supported the City Manager's efforts to consolidate departments.

The park, since named Harvey Milk Promenade Park, opened in 2013.

Garcia has received national attention for his socially progressive views and the culturally diverse communities he represents, being young, Latino, and gay.

In January 2013, Garcia was appointed to the California Coastal Commission.

In July 2013, after Bob Foster announced he would not seek reelection, Garcia announced his candidacy and entered the race for Long Beach mayor.

A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 28th mayor of Long Beach, California from 2014 to 2022.

He was both the city's youngest and first elected openly LGBT mayor, as well as the first Latino to hold the office.

He received 25.4% of the vote in the April 8, 2014, election, finishing first in a field of 10 mayoral candidates.

In the runoff election between Garcia and Damon Dunn (22.3% of the vote) on June 3, Garcia won with 52% of the vote, and took office on July 15.

Garcia was reelected on April 11, 2018, with about 80% of the vote.

Garcia's first 100 days as mayor were characterized by a focus on education and seating commissioners to fill vacancies on citizen commissions.

He committed the City of Long Beach to joining local educational institutions as a signatory to the Long Beach College Promise, and announced a goal of universal preschool enrollment and doubling the number of internships in the city for local students.

He appointed more than 60 commissioners, creating the most diverse slate of commissioners in the city's history.

A majority of his appointments were women.