LONG BEACH, Calif. (KNX) — Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia announced he would be running for Congress Friday, vying to fill the seat of Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif.) who will be retiring at the end of 2022.
Garcia announced his bid for Congress on his Twitter page Friday morning with a video dedicated to his late mother, a healthcare worker who died at 61 from COVID-19 complications.
“Hey everyone, I’m running for Congress,” Garcia tweeted. “My mom brought me to this country when I was 5. She risked everything so that I could succeed. Every single kid deserves the same shot that this country has given me.”
Garcia said in his campaign video that after losing his mother, he made a promise that he would “work harder than ever to make sure other families didn’t experience the same pain.” Garcia also lost his stepfather to COVID-19.
Garcia made history as the first openly gay and Latino man elected mayor of Long Beach. He was praised on the state and national levels for his leadership in expanding his city’s mobile testing and vaccination efforts.
Lowenthal announced Thursday that he’d be retiring from the 47th District of California after serving in that seat for almost 10 years.
Garcia, an ally and close friend of Lowenthal, celebrated the congressman saying, “I can’t thank him enough for his compassionate and dedicated leadership. He has made our nation stronger.”
The primary election will be held June 7 and the top two candidates will advance to the general election on Nov. 8.
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