Jimmy Gomez
Jimmy Gomez is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for 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.
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 and the political representative for the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees.
Gomez serves on the House Ways and Means Committee and the Committee on Oversight and Reform. He is a founding member of the Medicare for All Caucus. 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.
Early life and education
Born and raised in Southern California, Gomez is the son of working-class immigrant parents. His mother was a domestic worker and a nursing home laundry attendant. His father was a bracero.After graduating from high school, without any plans to attend college, Gomez worked at Subway and Target. He eventually attended Riverside Community College and earned his Bachelor of Arts in political science with a minor in urban planning from the University of California, Los Angeles. He received his Master of Arts 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 in 2009. He also served as the Political Representative for the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees.
Gomez was a staffer for former U.S. Representative Hilda Solis. 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.
California State Assembly
Gomez 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
Elections
2017
On December 5, 2016, Gomez announced his candidacy for the special election to succeed Xavier Becerra in the United States House of Representatives for. Gomez received endorsements from Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon and Senate leader Kevin de León, among others.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. Ed Roybal won this district in 1963 and handed it to Becerra in 1993.
2018
Gomez faced Green Party candidate Kenneth Mejia in the general election and won with 72.5% of the vote.2020
Gomez 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%.2022
David Kim challenged Gomez again in 2022. Gomez won, but by a smaller margin than in 2020.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-in-question were no longer part of the campaign.
Tenure
Gomez's term began on June 6, 2017. He was sworn into office on July 11, 2017.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.
In November 2020, Gomez was named a candidate for United States Trade Representative in the Biden administration.
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.
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.
Leadership posts
- Assistant whip, Democratic Caucus of the House of Representatives
- Vice chair, Committee on Oversight and Reform
- House Trade Working Group
Committee assignments
- Committee on Oversight and Accountability
- * Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation
- * Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services
- Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
- * Subcommittee on National Security Agency and Cyber
- * Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
Caucus memberships
- Black Maternal Health Caucus
- Congressional Dads Caucus
- Congressional Medicare for all Caucus
- Congressional Progressive Caucus
- Congressional Hispanic Caucus
- Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus
- Congressional Taiwan Caucus
- Congressional LGBTQ Equality Caucus
- Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus
- Future Forum
Political positions