VoterBloc
Photograph of Robert Garcia

Robert Garcia

U.S. House · CA-42 · Democrats · since 2025

also

Candidate for U.S. House · CA-42

Target Robert

Biography

Overview

Robert Garcia is a Democratic U.S. Representative from California's 42nd congressional district, serving since 2023. Previously, he was the 28th mayor of Long Beach from 2014 to 2022, where he was the city's youngest and first openly LGBT mayor, as well as the first Latino to hold the office. Born in Lima, Peru in 1977, Garcia immigrated to the United States as a child and became a U.S. citizen in his early 20s. He holds a doctorate in educational policy and taught communication studies at multiple universities before his political career. Garcia is the first Peruvian American elected to Congress and was instrumental in the expulsion of former congressman George Santos.

Career

As Long Beach mayor, Garcia advanced progressive policies including the city's first Equal Benefits Ordinance, smoking bans, environmental initiatives (including the Clean Air Action Plan), and labor agreements. He proposed 10 ballot measures that all passed, established Mayors 4 Medicare for universal healthcare access, and fostered Project Labor Agreements generating $146 million in local construction projects. In Congress, he has championed ethics reform, international LGBTQ+ rights advocacy, and government accountability measures. He successfully co-led efforts to expel congressman George Santos.

Prior political experience

Garcia was elected to the U.S. House in 2022, representing California's 42nd congressional district. As Long Beach mayor, he won his first election in 2014 with 25.4% of the vote in a 10-candidate field, then defeated Damon Dunn in a June 2014 runoff with 52% of the vote. He was reelected as mayor in 2018 with approximately 80% of the vote. As Long Beach City Councilmember, he defeated six other candidates in 2009 and was reelected in 2010 by more than 40 percentage points.

Biographical material adapted from the Wikipedia article (retrieved April 29, 2026), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Ideology

Liberal–Conservative (DW-NOMINATE dim 1)

Liberal
Conservative
119th Congress-0.373

Secondary axis (DW-NOMINATE dim 2)(?)

−1
+1
-0.601
Source: Voteview DW-NOMINATE · 336 scored votes

Campaigns targeting Robert Garcia

No active campaigns target Robert Garcia right now.

Start a campaign targeting Robert Garcia

Officeholding history

TermSeatTerm datesTerminationPredecessorSuccessor
2ndU.S. House CA-422025–presentIn progressRobert Garcia—
1stU.S. House CA-422023–2025Term endedKen CalvertRobert Garcia

Committee assignments

Current term legislation

Bills sponsored this term10

Bills cosponsored this term10

Elections

YearSeatResultVote shareField
2024U.S. House CA-42Pending68.14%