Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia, who became the first openly LGBTQ immigrant in U.S. House of Reprentatives last year, will begin his bid to retain California’s 42nd Congressional District seat by coming out on top — or at least the top two — in the March 5 primary election against three other candidates.
Garcia rose to the national spotlight in 2022 after serving as the first Latino and first openly gay mayor in Long Beach’s history, will face two Democrats, Joaquin Beltran and Nicole Lopez, and Republican John Briscoe — who will likely be his main adversary.
The top two vote-getters, regardless of party affiliation, will advance to the Nov. 5 general election.
Garcia is an overwhelming favorite in the primary race, with Briscoe likely to come second, based on results from the 2022 primary and general election. Briscoe surprised political observers with 26% of the vote in that primary.
Beltran and Lopez, the latter of whom did not respond to requests for comment, also competed in the 2022 primary — though they finished with single-digit percentages.
Garcia also has more campaign cash on hand than his opponents. He had about $541,109 at the end of 2023, according to the Federal Elections Commission. Briscoe had nearly $250,000 in cash, but that sum was a personal loan from him to his campaign.
Lopez had 1,231 in cash on hand at the end of the year, according to the FEC, while Beltran did not have any campaign finance documents available.
The 42nd Congressional District includes Downey, Long Beach, Lakewood, Commerce, Bell Gardens, Bell, Huntington Park, Florence, Cudahy, Maywood, Bellflower, Lakewood, Walnut Park, Signal Hill and Avalon.
The district had 399,277 registered voters as of Jan. 5, according to the California Secretary of State’s office. Of those, about 54% were registered Democrats, compared to about 17% Republicans. About 21.5% had no party preference. The rest were registered with smaller political parties.
Rep. Robert…
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