Jimmy Gomez (born November 25, 1974) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for California's 34th congressional district since 2017. His district includes the Los Angeles neighborhoods of Eagle Rock, Boyle Heights, Downtown Los Angeles, Koreatown, and other communities. A member of the Democratic Party, Gomez served in the California State Assembly from 2012 to 2017.
Jimmy Gomez | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2017 | |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 34th district | |
| Assumed office July 11, 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Xavier Becerra |
| Member of the California State Assembly from the 51st district | |
| In office December 3, 2012 – July 11, 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Steven Bradford |
| Succeeded by | Wendy Carrillo |
| Personal details | |
| Born | November 25, 1974 Orange County, California, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse |
Mary Hodge (m. 2011) |
| Residence(s) | Eagle Rock, Los Angeles |
| Education | University of California, Los Angeles (BA) Harvard University (MPP) |
| Website | House website |
Before entering electoral politics, Gomez was a labor organizer, serving as the legislative and political director for the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health-Care Professionals (UNAC/UHCP) and the political representative for the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME).[1][2]
Gomez serves on the House Ways and Means Committee, and is vice chair of the Committee on Oversight and Reform.[3][4] He is a founding member of the Medicare for All Caucus.[5] He is also a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, the Congressional Progressive Caucus, the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, and the Congressional LGBTQ Equality Caucus.[6]
Early life and education
editBorn and raised in Southern California, Gomez is the son of working-class immigrant parents.[7] His mother was a domestic worker and a nursing home laundry attendant.[8] His father was a bracero (farm worker).[9]
After graduating from high school, without any plans to attend college, Gomez worked at Subway and Target.[10] He eventually attended Riverside Community College and earned his B.A. in political science with a minor in urban planning from the University of California, Los Angeles and his M.A. in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School.
A former labor organizer, Gomez worked for the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals (UNAC/UHCP) in 2009. He also served as the Political Representative for the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME).
Gomez was a staffer for former U.S. Representative Hilda Solis.[11] He was elected to the California State Assembly in 2012, and served there until his election to Congress.
"To see her son not only go to college, graduate, but then to run for public office and get elected ... it means a lot. It means that there's still a lot of opportunities for immigrants ... It means we're part of this larger American story", said Gomez.[12]
California State Assembly
editGomez was a member of the California State Assembly, representing the 51st district. He was first elected in 2012, and reelected in 2014 with over 83% of the vote. California's 51st Assembly district includes Northeast Los Angeles and unincorporated East Los Angeles. He served as State Assembly Majority Whip from 2013 to 2014.
Gomez was a member of the California Latino Legislative Caucus. Before being elected to the Assembly in 2012, he was the political director for the United Nurses Association of California, an affiliate of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees.
U.S. House of Representatives
editElections
edit2017
editOn December 5, 2016, Gomez announced his candidacy for the special election to succeed Xavier Becerra in the United States House of Representatives for California's 34th congressional district.[13] Gomez received endorsements from Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon and Senate leader Kevin de León, among others.[14]
On April 4, 2017, Gomez came in first during the special election. Since he did not receive a majority of the vote, he faced a fellow Democrat, Los Angeles City Planning Commissioner Robert Lee Ahn, the runner-up, in a special runoff election on June 6. Gomez won with 60% of the vote. He is only the third person to represent this district since its creation in 1963 (it was numbered as the 30th from 1963 to 1975, the 25th from 1975 to 1993, the 30th from 1993 to 2003, the 31st from 2003 to 2013, and has been the 34th since 2017). Ed Roybal won this district in 1963 and handed it to Becerra in 1993.
2018
editGomez faced Green Party candidate Kenneth Mejia in the general election and won with 72.5% of the vote.
2020
editGomez was challenged in the 2020 election by MacArthur Park Neighborhood Council board member and fellow Democrat David Kim. On November 3, Gomez defeated Kim in a closer than expected race, with 53% of the vote to Kim's 47%.[15]
2022
editDavid Kim challenged Gomez again in 2022. Gomez won, but by a smaller margin than in 2020.[16]
On October 22, 2022, Los Angeles City Councilmember-elect Eunisses Hernandez alleged that a female canvasser for Gomez and Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo made anti-Asian comments about their challengers, David Kim, who is Korean-American, and Mia Livas Porter, who is Filipina-American, respectively, while visiting Hernandez's home. In late October 2022, a Highland Park voter made similar allegations except this time it involved two female canvassers. In response, both Gomez's and Carrillo's campaigns offered an apology to their challengers and reached out to Hernandez via Twitter and separate phone conversations assuring that they had taken action to ensure the canvasser(s)-in-question were no longer part of the campaign.[17]
Tenure
editGomez's term began on June 6, 2017. He was sworn into office on July 11, 2017.[18][19]
On October 1, 2020, Gomez co-signed a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that condemned Azerbaijan’s offensive operations against the Armenian-populated enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, denounced Turkey’s role in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and called for an immediate ceasefire.[20]
In November 2020, Gomez was named a candidate for United States Trade Representative in the Biden administration.[21]
In January 2021, Gomez introduced legislation to expel Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene from the House for some of her social media postings from before her 2020 election to Congress.[22]
After Greene heckled President Biden at his State of the Union address on March 2, 2022, Gomez once again introduced a resolution of expulsion, but added Representative Lauren Boebert, who had joined her in the heckling. Gomez also spoke about the "triggering" feeling he experienced after he returned to the Congressional Gallery for the first time since right-wing insurrectionists had attacked those chambers in an attempt to halt the counting of electoral votes on January 6, 2021.[23]
Leadership posts
edit- Assistant whip, Democratic Caucus of the House of Representatives
- Vice chair, Committee on Oversight and Reform
- Racial Equity Initiative, Committee on Ways and Means
- House Trade Working Group
Committee assignments
editFor the 118th Congress:[24]
- Committee on Oversight and Accountability
- Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
- Subcommittee on National Security Agency and Cyber
- Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations (Ranking Member)
Caucuses
editGomez is a member of several dozen caucuses. A full list is available at his website.
- Congressional Dads Caucus (Chair)
- Congressional Medicare for all Caucus
- Congressional Progressive Caucus[25]
- Congressional Hispanic Caucus[26]
- Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus[27]
- Congressional LGBTQ Equality Caucus
- Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus
- Future Forum
Political positions
editAbortion
editGomez has a 100% rating from NARAL Pro-Choice America and an F rating from the Susan B. Anthony List for his abortion-related voting record.[28] Gomez opposed the overturning of Roe v. Wade.[29]
Climate and environment
editGomez received a lifetime score of 98% from the League of Conservation Voters based on 2017-2021 annual scores.[30] He has expressed support for a Green New Deal.[31][32]
Human and civil rights
editGomez received a score of 100 from the Human Rights Campaign for both the 115th and 116th Congresses.[33] The American Civil Liberties Union gave him scores of 95% and 83% for the 115th and 116th Congresses, respectively.[34]
Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023
editGomez was among the 46 Democrats who voted against final passage of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 in the House.[35]
Israel
editGomez voted to support Israel following the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.[36][37] Following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address to Congress in the Summer of 2024, Gomez called for Netanyahu to resign. Gomez's top donor in his 2024 campaign for California's 34th congressional district is the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, who has spent millions of dollars targeting candidates that have been critical of Israel's military campaign in Gaza.[38][39] Gomez has not signed H. Res. 786, the proposed resolution in the House of Representatives which calls for an immediate ceasefire in the war in Gaza and the administration of humanitarian aid.[40]
Electoral history
edit2014 California State Assembly election
edit| Primary election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
| Democratic | Jimmy Gomez (incumbent) | 20,621 | 99.7 | |
| Republican | Stephen C. Smith (write-in) | 54 | 0.3 | |
| Total votes | 20,675 | 100.0 | ||
| General election | ||||
| Democratic | Jimmy Gomez (incumbent) | 42,261 | 83.6 | |
| Republican | Stephen C. Smith | 8,277 | 16.4 | |
| Total votes | 50,538 | 100.0 | ||
| Democratic hold | ||||
2016 California State Assembly election
edit| Primary election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
| Democratic | Jimmy Gomez (incumbent) | 62,366 | 100.0 | |
| Libertarian | Mike Everling (write-in) | 7 | 0.0 | |
| Total votes | 62,373 | 100.0 | ||
| General election | ||||
| Democratic | Jimmy Gomez (incumbent) | 110,036 | 86.1 | |
| Libertarian | Mike Everling | 17,724 | 13.9 | |
| Total votes | 127,760 | 100.0 | ||
| Democratic hold | ||||
2017 congressional special election
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Jimmy Gomez | 25,569 | 59.2% | ||
| Democratic | Robert Lee Ahn | 17,610 | 40.8% | ||
| Total votes | 43,179 | 100.00 | |||
| Democratic hold | |||||
2018 congressional election
edit| Primary election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
| Democratic | Jimmy Gomez (incumbent) | 54,661 | 78.7 | |
| Green | Kenneth Mejia | 8,987 | 12.9 | |
| Libertarian | Angela Elise McArdle | 5,804 | 8.4 | |
| Total votes | 69,452 | 100.0 | ||
| General election | ||||
| Democratic | Jimmy Gomez (incumbent) | 110,195 | 72.5 | |
| Green | Kenneth Mejia | 41,711 | 27.5 | |
| Total votes | 151,906 | 100.0 | ||
| Democratic hold | ||||
2020 congressional election
edit| Primary election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
| Democratic | Jimmy Gomez (incumbent) | 57,066 | 52.0 | |
| Democratic | David Kim | 23,055 | 21.0 | |
| Democratic | Frances Yasmeen Motiwalla | 14,961 | 13.6 | |
| Republican | Joanne L. Wright | 8,482 | 7.7 | |
| Democratic | Keanakay Scott | 6,089 | 5.6 | |
| Total votes | 109,653 | 100.0 | ||
| General election | ||||
| Democratic | Jimmy Gomez (incumbent) | 108,792 | 53.0 | |
| Democratic | David Kim | 96,554 | 47.0 | |
| Total votes | 205,346 | 100.0 | ||
| Democratic hold | ||||
2022 congressional election
edit| Primary election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
| Democratic | Jimmy Gomez (incumbent) | 45,376 | 50.7 | |
| Democratic | David Kim | 34,921 | 39.0 | |
| Republican | Clifton VonBuck | 9,150 | 10.2 | |
| Total votes | 89,447 | 100.0 | ||
| General election | ||||
| Democratic | Jimmy Gomez (incumbent) | 62,244 | 51.2 | |
| Democratic | David Kim | 59,223 | 48.8 | |
| Total votes | 121,467 | 100.0 | ||
| Democratic hold | ||||
Personal life
editGomez is married to Mary Hodge, an aide to former Los Angeles mayor and current United States Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti.[43] They live in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles.[44]
Awards
edit- 2022 NHMC Impact Awards: Washington D.C. (Impact Award Public Service[45])
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "UNAC/UHCP's Jimmy Gomez Headed to Congress". UNAC/UHCP. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
- ^ "Nurses Union Hires New Political Director". UNAC/UHCP. February 26, 2009. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
- ^ Jagoda, Naomi (January 14, 2019). "Dem added to Ways and Means Committee amid desire for more Hispanic members". The Hill. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
- ^ "Congressman Jimmy Gomez Takes On Corruption". LATV. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
- ^ Twitter https://twitter.com/repjimmygomez/status/1019948704340508683. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ "Committees, Leadership, and Caucuses | U.S. Representative Jimmy Gomez". gomez.house.gov. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
- ^ Mai-Duc, Christine (February 21, 2017). "Half the candidates in L.A.'s latest congressional race have their own immigrant story. With Trump, this contest is personal". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
- ^ District, Rep Jimmy GomezRep Jimmy Gomez represents California's 34th Congressional; Diverse, Among the Most; Caucus, culturally rich districts in the country He is a member of the Congressional Hispanic; Ways, serves on the; Means; committees, Government Reform (November 26, 2019). "Opinion | Trump's immigration policies dishonor the refugees we now call Pilgrims". NBC News. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Los Ángeles inaugura monumento a los braceros mexicanos". Conexión Migrante (in Mexican Spanish). October 1, 2019. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
- ^ Dyke, Jonathan Van (December 13, 2017). "UCLA Advocate In Action: U.S. Rep. Jimmy Gomez Embodies the Transformative Properties of Higher Education". Government & Community Relations. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
- ^ "Gomez on What He Learned From Being a Staffer for a Latina Member". Roll Call. May 18, 2018. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
- ^ "Jimmy Gomez on winning the 34th District: 'Was that a dream?'". Los Angeles Times. June 8, 2017. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
- ^ Melanie Mason (December 5, 2016). "Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez joins race to succeed Rep. Xavier Becerra in Congress". Los Angeles Times.(subscription required)
- ^ Christine Mai-Duc (January 17, 2016). "Who's in and who's out in the race to replace Rep. Xavier Becerra in Congress". Los Angeles Times.(subscription required)
- ^ "California Election Results: 34th Congressional District". The New York Times. November 3, 2020. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
- ^ "US Representative In Southern California: Who's Running and Why It Matters". LAist. May 11, 2022. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
- ^ Huang, Josie (November 4, 2022). "Canvasser Controversy Erupts In LA Congressional Race For District 34". LAist. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
- ^ Kyle Cheney (June 28, 2017). "Gomez to be sworn in to House on July 11". Politico.
- ^ Sarah D. Wire (July 11, 2017). "Jimmy Gomez sworn into Congress". Los Angeles Times.(subscription required)
- ^ "Senate and House Leaders to Secretary of State Pompeo: Cut Military Aid to Azerbaijan; Sanction Turkey for Ongoing Attacks Against Armenia and Artsakh". The Armenian Weekly. October 2, 2020.
- ^ Politico Staff (November 7, 2020). "Meet the contenders for Biden's Cabinet". Politico. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
- ^ Choi, Matthew (January 27, 2021). "Rep. Jimmy Gomez drafts resolution to oust Marjorie Taylor Greene from Congress". Politico. Retrieved January 28, 2021.
- ^ Rep. Gomez: Reps. Greene and Boebert heckling Biden was 'disgusting', MSNBC, March 2, 2022. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
- ^ "Jimmy Gomez". Clerk of the United States House of Representatives. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
- ^ "Caucus Members". Congressional Progressive Caucus. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
- ^ "Members". Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Archived from the original on May 15, 2018. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
- ^ "Members". Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. Retrieved May 17, 2018.
- ^ "Jimmy Gomez". SBA Pro-Life America. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
- ^ Gomez, Jimmy (June 24, 2022). Twitter https://twitter.com/RepJimmyGomez/status/1540339563004051457. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ "Check out Representative Jimmy Gomez's Environmental Voting Record". League of Conservation Voters Scorecard. February 14, 2022. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
- ^ "Congressman Jimmy Gomez Announces Support for Green New Deal at Town Hall". U.S. Representative Jimmy Gomez. February 9, 2019. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
- ^ Gomez, Jimmy. "Jimmy Gomez". www.congress.gov. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
- ^ "Congressional Scorecard". Human Rights Campaign. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
- ^ "Legislative Scorecard for Jimmy Gomez". American Civil Liberties Union. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
- ^ Gans, Jared (May 31, 2023). "Republicans and Democrats who bucked party leaders by voting no". The Hill. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
- ^ Demirjian, Karoun (October 25, 2023). "House Declares Solidarity With Israel in First Legislation Under New Speaker". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
- ^ Washington, U. S. Capitol Room H154; p:225-7000, DC 20515-6601 (October 25, 2023). "Roll Call 528 Roll Call 528, Bill Number: H. Res. 771, 118th Congress, 1st Session". Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Rep. Jimmy Gomez − Campaign Finance Summary". OpenSecrets. Retrieved August 30, 2024.
- ^ Kelly, Kate; Vogel, Kenneth. "Pro-Israel Lobby Faces Challenges Amid Gaza War and Shifting Politics". Retrieved August 30, 2024.
- ^ "H.Res.786 - Calling for an immediate deescalation and cease-fire in Israel and occupied Palestine". Retrieved August 30, 2024.
- ^ a b "STATEMENT OF VOTE PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY ELECTION MARCH 3, 2020" (PDF). California Secretary of State Alex Padilla. Retrieved January 28, 2021.
- ^ "November 3, 2020, General Election - United States Representative" (PDF). California Secretary of State. Retrieved January 28, 2021.
- ^ Mai-Duc, Christine (June 8, 2017). "Jimmy Gomez on winning the 34th District: 'Was that a dream?'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 21, 2020.
- ^ Lundquist, Paulette (October 25, 2017). "Gomez". The Hill. Retrieved November 21, 2020.
- ^ "NHMC Impact: Washington D.C." NHMC.org.
External links
edit- Congressman Gomez official U.S. House website
- Jimmy Gomez for Congress campaign website
- Appearances on C-SPAN