LONG BEACH, Calif. — After serving eight years as the mayor of Long Beach, Robert Garcia is now headed to Congress.

In November, he decisively defeated Republican John Briscoe with 68% of the vote to become the next representative of the 42nd Congressional District, which includes Long Beach and parts of southeastern Los Angeles County. 

Garcia was elected mayor of Long Beach in 2014 and broke several barriers upon taking the position. He was the first openly gay person, first Latino American, and the youngest person to ever lead the city. 

During his time leading in Long Beach, Garcia told “Inside the Issues” guest host Amrit Singh that he was set on investing in infrastructure.

“If you go around Long Beach, it’s new streets, new libraries, new parks, the streets are great,” he said. “So I think that first and foremost, making sure people have good neighborhoods that are clean and safe, is the most important thing.”

Like so many other leaders across the country, Garcia was tested by the pandemic and forced to respond to an ever-evolving emergency. He launched a successful vaccination program that quickly got shots to first responders, frontline health workers and seniors. 

The pandemic was also deeply personal to him. In the summer of 2020, Garcia’s mother and his step-father both died from COVID-19. Garcia’s last proposal as mayor was a memorial to over 1,300 people who died from the coronavirus in Long Beach. He plans to fight for COVID-19 funding and research once he arrives in Congress. 

“We have to remember that we still are in a pandemic, people are still dying and while we have certainly overcome most of the health challenges, there’s still a long way to go to recovery that makes sure that we are investing particularly at the federal level in the science to ensure that we don’t have another pandemic,” the congressman-elect said. 

Garcia will be sworn in as a member of the 118th Congress on Jan. 3, 2023. He will be the first openly gay immigrant in the House of Representatives and part of the largest freshman Latino class in the history of the Congress. As one of the few gay members of Congress, he hopes to be a champion for the trans and gay communities.

“There’s only 10 LGBTQ+ people in the House. There haven’t been that many in history, and I think it’s important for me and my generation to be a strong voice,” Garcia said.

The congress member-elect was born in Lima, Peru and came to the United States when he was just 5 years old. He said once he begins his position on Capitol Hill, he’s committed to providing a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented people across the country.

“Having someone that is an immigrant with a shared life experience, knowing what it’s like to go through the citizenship process, knowing what it’s like to be undocumented, getting your papers at 21 years old, I think can bring a unique perspective,” Garcia said. 

While he waits to be sworn into office, Garcia has been hard at work hiring his staff. Recently, he picked Nancy Pelosi’s former chief of staff to take the top position in his office. He was also chosen by his peers to be the president of the incoming freshman class for the house. Garcia says his executive experience in Long Beach has prepared him for the role.

During his first 100 days in Congress, Garcia plans to focus on legislation that protects democracy and voting rights in the United States.

“Unfortunately, democracy is under attack by extreme forces in this country, by manipulation by lies and misinformation by attacks on the media. Those are things I want to stand up for every day and remind folks we live in a good democracy, that we have to fight for it.”

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