Tuesday’s scheduled swearing in of House members for the 118th Congress, including two first-term members from Los Angeles County, was delayed because of the inability to elect a new speaker.
When former Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia is sworn in, he will become the first openly LGBTQ immigrant to serve in Congress.
Garcia said he ran to represent the 42nd District “because I want every single kid in our country to have the same opportunity that this country gave me.”
Garcia, who was Long Beach’s mayor from 2014 through Dec. 20, defeated Republican John Briscoe, then a member of the Ocean View School District Board of Trustees, 68.4%-31.6%, in the race to succeed Alan Lowenthal, who retired after representing the district since 2013. The district also includes areas that had been represented by Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard, who retired after serving in Congress since 1993.
The district runs north from Long Beach through Lakewood, Bellflower and Downey to Huntington Park.
When Garcia was 5 years old, he moved to the U.S. with his parents and other relatives from Lima, Peru.
In a biography supplied by his campaign, Garcia said, “My mom brought me to America not knowing English, without an education, and without the right immigration status. We came here on a temporary visa and stayed past its expiration date.
“But thanks to a progressive change in immigration law passed by Congress in the 1980s, we were able to apply for permanent legal residency. I became a U.S. citizen at 21. It was the happiest day of my life.”
Garcia has pledged as a House member to support legislation to:
- Make the United States “the world’s leader in pandemic prevention and biosafety and biosecurity planning.”
- Increase the federal minimum wage from $7.25, where it has been since 2009, to $15
- Expand paid family leave
- Change overtime rules
- Create public banks
- Provide universal child care
- Guarantee pre-K education
- Expand pathways to citizenship for immigrants in the nation without legal permission
- Expand affordable and accessible housing.
Garcia describes himself as a comic book nerd, educator and “progressive and proud American.” Garcia was chosen as president of the freshman class of the House Democrats.
Garcia’s mother, Gaby O’Donnell died in late July 2020 due to complications from the coronavirus at the age of 61. His stepfather, Greg O’Donnell, died from complications from COVID-19 Aug. 9, 2020, at age 58, one day after the family had a memorial service for Garcia’s mother.
The second new House member representing Los Angeles County scheduled to be sworn in Tuesday was former state Sen. Sydney Kamlager, who will succeed Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass in representing the 37th District.
Kamlager defeated former Los Angeles City Councilwoman Jan Perry, a fellow Democrat, 64%-36%, in the district that mainly includes portions of South Los Angeles, along with the Crenshaw and Pico-Robertson districts, Culver City, Palms and West Los Angeles.
Republican leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, was unable to get the necessary 218 votes needed to be elected speaker Tuesday, delaying the swearing-in ceremony.
