Bell Gardens Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia will face Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia for Congress

State Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia, D-Bell Gardens, volition tally for Congress, she announced Thursday, Dec. 23, mounting up a conflict with Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia — for a recently created territory that merged areas agelong represented by 2 Democratic powerhouses.

The recently created 42nd District  fundamentally combines the existent 47th — minus the Orange County portions — and 40th districts. That volition make a Latino-majority territory anchored by Long Beach but besides including cardinal cities Cristina Garcia presently represents successful the Assembly, including Bell and Downey.

“It’s clip for our communities –who person truthful often been ignored and neglected — to instrumentality our spot astatine the table,” she said successful a written statement.

Assemblywoman Garcia, who has represented the 58th District since 2012, announced her legislature candidacy 3 days aft Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard announced she wouldn’t run for reelection. Roybal-Allard, the archetypal Mexican American pistillate ever elected to Congress, made her announcement the aforesaid time the last redistricting maps absorbed her 40th District successful the 47th, presently held by Long Beach Democrat Alan Lowenthal.

Assemblywoman Garcia, connected Thursday, seemed to presumption herself arsenic a earthy successor to Roybal-Allard.

“I can’t determination guardant successful this run without archetypal recognizing the unthinkable vocation of Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard,” she said. “A pioneer successful Latino governmental empowerment, she had helped bring captious resources to (Southeast Los Angeles) and she is simply a statement builder who has served with dignity.”

Assemblywoman Garcia, a autochthonal of Bell Gardens and a erstwhile mathematics teacher, has campaigned and legislated for sex equity, bully government, and societal and biology justice, authoring and co-authoring aggregate bills astir those issues.

But she has besides faced scrutiny portion successful Sacramento.

In 2018, for example, she faced aggregate accusations of intersexual harassment, which she repeatedly denied but which besides resulted successful 2 investigations.

Garcia, who volunteered to spell connected unpaid permission during the archetypal investigation, easy won reelection that twelvemonth —  conscionable weeks earlier the second probe cleared her of a harassment charge.

Two years later, she won reelection again, with astir 63% of the vote.

Assemblywoman Garcia’s announcement besides included endorsements from 27 Southeast L.A. elected officials.

“The astir important happening to cognize astir Cristina Garcia,” Downey Mayor Blanca Pacheco said successful a statement,” is that she always, ever puts the involvement of the communities she represents supra each else.”

The legislature territory for which she volition tally is an incredibly harmless 1 for Democrats, possibly adjacent much truthful than the ones the caller 42nd absorbed, since it doesn’t see the mostly much blimpish country of Little Saigon, successful Orange County.

But the predetermination could extremity up being competitory aft all.

Assemblywoman Garcia’s main — and, to date, lone different — rival is Robert Garcia, the elected person of the caller 42nd District’s largest metropolis and a rising prima successful the Democratic Party.

Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia speaking astatine a property league arsenic U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh visited the Port of Los Angeles and discussed efforts to easiness proviso concatenation issues with larboard leaders and section unions from LA and Long Beach successful San Pedro connected Tuesday, November 30, 2021. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press-Telegram/SCNG)

This week, for example, Gov. Gavin Newsom endorsed the Long Beach mayor.

Mayor Garcia announced his legislature bid precocious past week, a time aft Lowenthal announced helium would discontinue from Congress.

“My ma brought maine to this state and risked everything truthful that I could go an American,” Mayor Garcia said successful a Twitter video announcing his bid. “She came present ne'er doubting that America was a spot wherever her migrant lad could succeed. That’s wherefore today, I americium warring for each kid to get the aforesaid changeable that this state gave me.”

The Long Beach politician did not instrumentality a petition for remark connected Thursday evening.

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