Jimmy Gomez | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Official portrait, 2017 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromCalifornia's34th district | |
| Assumed office July 11, 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Xavier Becerra |
| Member of theCalifornia State Assembly from the51st district | |
| In office December 3, 2012 – July 11, 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Steven Bradford |
| Succeeded by | Wendy Carrillo |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1974-11-25)November 25, 1974 (age 51) |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | |
| Education | University of California, Los Angeles (BA) Harvard University (MPP) |
| Signature |  |
| Website | House website Campaign website |
Jimmy Gomez (born November 25, 1974) is an American politician serving as theU.S. representative forCalifornia's 34th congressional district since 2017. His district includes theLos Angeles neighborhoods ofEagle Rock,Boyle Heights,Downtown Los Angeles,Koreatown, and other communities. A member of theDemocratic Party, Gomez served in theCalifornia State Assembly from 2012 to 2017.
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 theHouse Ways and Means Committee and theCommittee 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]
Born and raised inSouthern 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 abracero (farm worker).[9]
After graduating from high school, without any plans to attend college, Gomez worked atSubway andTarget.[10] He eventually attendedRiverside Community College and earned hisBachelor of Arts inpolitical science with a minor in urban planning from theUniversity of California, Los Angeles. He received hisMaster of Arts inpublic policy from theHarvard 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. RepresentativeHilda 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]
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Gomez was a member of theCalifornia State Assembly, representing the51st district. He was first elected in 2012, and reelected in 2014 with over 83% of the vote. California's 51st Assembly district includesNortheast Los Angeles and unincorporatedEast 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 theAmerican Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees.
On December 5, 2016, Gomez announced his candidacy for thespecial election to succeedXavier Becerra in theUnited States House of Representatives forCalifornia's 34th congressional district.[13] Gomez received endorsements from Los Angeles MayorEric Garcetti, Assembly SpeakerAnthony Rendon and Senate leaderKevin 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 aspecial 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.
Gomez faced Green Party candidateKenneth Mejia in the general election and won with 72.5% of the vote.
Gomez was challenged in the 2020 election byMacArthur ParkNeighborhood 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]
David 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-electEunisses Hernandez alleged that a female canvasser for Gomez and AssemblymemberWendy Carrillo made anti-Asian comments about their challengers, David Kim, who isKorean-American, and Mia Livas Porter, who isFilipina-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 viaTwitter 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]
Gomez'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 StateMike Pompeo that condemnedAzerbaijan’s offensive operations against theArmenian-populated enclave ofNagorno-Karabakh, denouncedTurkey’s role in theNagorno-Karabakh conflict, and called for an immediate ceasefire.[20]
In November 2020, Gomez was named a candidate forUnited States Trade Representative in theBiden administration.[21]
In January 2021, Gomez introduced legislation to expel RepresentativeMarjorie 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 RepresentativeLauren 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 sinceright-wing insurrectionists had attacked those chambers in an attempt to halt the counting of electoral votes on January 6, 2021.[23]
For the118th Congress:[24]
Gomez is a member of several dozen caucuses. A full list is available at his website.
Gomez has a 100% rating fromNARAL Pro-Choice America and an F grade from theSusan B. Anthony List for hisabortion-related voting record.[31] Gomez opposed theoverturning ofRoe v. Wade.[32]
Gomez received a lifetime score of 98% from theLeague of Conservation Voters based on 2017–2021 annual scores.[33] He has expressed support for aGreen New Deal.[34]
Gomez received a score of 100 from theHuman Rights Campaign for both the115th and116th Congresses.[35] TheAmerican Civil Liberties Union gave him scores of 95% and 83% for the 115th and 116th Congresses, respectively.[36]
Gomez was among 46 Democrats who voted against final passage of theFiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 in the House.[37]
Gomez voted to supportIsrael following theOctober 7 attacks but called for a permanent ceasefire by November 2023.[38][39][40] FollowingIsraeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu's address to Congress in July 2024, Gomez called for Netanyahu to resign, saying Netanyahu's "approach to this war and his rejection of a two-state solution has led to unimaginable pain in the region, failed to keep his own people secure and made us all less safe."[41][42]
| 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 | ||
| Democratichold | ||||
| 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 | ||
| Democratichold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Jimmy Gomez | 25,569 | 59.2% | ||
| Democratic | Robert Lee Ahn | 17,610 | 40.8% | ||
| Total votes | 43,179 | 100.00 | |||
| Democratichold | |||||
| 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 | ||
| Democratichold | ||||
| 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 | ||
| Democratichold | ||||
| 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 | ||
| Democratichold | ||||
| Primary election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
| Democratic | Jimmy Gomez (incumbent) | 41,611 | 51.2 | |
| Democratic | David Kim | 22,703 | 27.9 | |
| Republican | Calvin Lee | 11,495 | 14.1 | |
| Peace and Freedom | Aaron Reveles | 3,223 | 4.0 | |
| Democratic | David Ferrell | 2,312 | 2.8 | |
| Total votes | 81,344 | 100.0 | ||
| General election | ||||
| Democratic | Jimmy Gomez (incumbent) | 105,394 | 55.6 | |
| Democratic | David Kim | 84,020 | 44.4 | |
| Total votes | 189,414 | 100.0 | ||
| Democratichold | ||||
Gomez is married to Mary Hodge, an aide to former Los Angeles mayor and formerUnited States Ambassador to IndiaEric Garcetti.[47] They live in theEagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles.[48]
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromCalifornia's 34th congressional district 2017–present | Incumbent |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded by | United States representatives by seniority 183rd | Succeeded by |
| People | |
|---|---|
| Other | |
