PERSON: Robert Garcia

Member of Congress

Robert Julio Garcia (born December 2, 1977) is a Peruvian American politician and educator serving as the U.S. representative for California’s 42nd congressional district since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 28th mayor of Long Beach, California from 2014 to 2022. He was both the city’s youngest and first elected openly LGBT mayor, as well as the first Latino to hold the office. He is the second person of color to be mayor of Long Beach, after Republican Eunice Sato, a Japanese-American who served from 1980 to 1982. A former member of the Long Beach City Council, he was vice mayor from 2012 to 2014.

Garcia was elected to the United States House of Representatives in the 2022 midterm elections. He is the first Peruvian-American to be elected to Congress, and was one of the leading figures in the expulsion of George Santos.

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