Georgette Gómez

Georgette Gómez (born November 3, 1975)[1] is an American politician and community activist. She served as a member of the San Diego City Council from 2016 to 2020. Gómez is a Democrat, though city council positions are officially nonpartisan per California state law. In December 2018, Gómez was unanimously appointed president of the city council. Gómez was a candidate for California's 53rd congressional district in the 2020 elections, losing to fellow Democrat Sara Jacobs.

Georgette Gómez
President of the San Diego City Council
In office
December 10, 2018  December 10, 2020
Preceded byMyrtle Cole
Succeeded byJennifer Campbell
Member of the San Diego City Council
from the 9th district
In office
December 12, 2016  December 10, 2020
Preceded byMarti Emerald
Succeeded bySean Elo-Rivera
Personal details
Born (1975-11-03) November 3, 1975
San Diego, California, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
EducationSan Diego State University (BA)
WebsiteGovernment website

Gómez was a candidate for California's 80th State Assembly district in the 2022 special election following the resignation of Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez.[2] She was defeated by San Diego city councilor David Alvarez.

Early life and education

Gómez was born in San Diego to working-class immigrants. She was raised in Barrio Logan.[3] Gómez attended Serra High School and later graduated from San Diego State University, where she studied environmental and natural resource geography.[4]

Career

San Diego City Council

Gómez was a candidate for the ninth district of the San Diego City Council in the 2016 San Diego City Council election after incumbent Marti Emerald opted not to seek reelection.[5] The ninth district includes the neighborhoods of Alvarado Estates, City Heights, College Area, College View Estates, El Cerrito, Kensington, Mountain View, Mt. Hope, Rolando, Southcrest, and Talmadge.[6] In the June 2016 primary, Gómez came in second to Ricardo Flores, Emerald's chief of staff. Since no candidate received a majority of the votes in the primary, a runoff election was held in November 2016 between Flores and Gómez. Gómez was then elected to the City Council in November with a majority of the votes.[7]

On December 10, 2018, the city council voted unanimously to appoint Gómez to be the council president. In this role, she automatically gained a seat on the board of directors of the San Diego Association of Governments.[8] She also served as the chairwoman of the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System from January 2018 to October 2019.[9][10] Under Gómez, the city moved to create a community choice energy agency called San Diego Community Power (as an alternative to SDG&E), a strategy which makes up half of the emissions reductions in the San Diego Climate Action Plan.[11]

2020 congressional election

In September 2019, Gómez announced her candidacy in the 2020 elections to represent California's 53rd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives.[12] Gómez and Sara Jacobs advanced to the November 2020 runoff election.[13] In the runoff, Gomez campaigned as both a progressive and a strong supporter of Israel; she was endorsed by Democratic Majority for Israel, which caused her to lose support from the Justice Democrats.[14] Jacobs beat Gomez 59.5%-40.5% in the November 2020 general election.

In June 2020, Gómez expressed support for a petition calling for a name change of the Andrew Jackson Federal Post Office in her district due to his history of owning slaves and his part in the forced displacement of Native Americans during the Trail of Tears.[15]

On October 8, 2020, the San Diego Union Tribune reported that Gómez failed to pay taxes on her city council salary in 2017. Gómez admitted the mistake and amended her filing.[16][17]

2022 California's 80th Assembly district election

Gómez announced her candidacy to represent California's 80th Assembly District on January 3, 2022; the same day Lorena Gonzalez announced her resignation.[18] In the special election on April 5, 2022, no candidate received a majority of the votes. Gómez and fellow Democrat David Alvarez advanced to a runoff election to be held June 7, 2022.[19] In September 2022, she withdrew from the race.[20]

Election results

California's 80th State Assembly district special election, 2022
Vacancy resulting from the resignation of Lorena Gonzalez
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic David Alvarez 13,117 38.4
Democratic Georgette Gómez 12,626 37.0
Republican Lincoln Pickard 8,399 24.6
Total votes 34,142 100.0
General election
Democratic David Alvarez
Democratic Georgette Gómez
Total votes 100.0
Democratic hold
2020 United States House of Representatives elections in California[28]
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Sara Jacobs 58,312 29.1
Democratic Georgette Gómez 39,962 20.0
Republican Chris Stoddard 25,962 13.0
Democratic Janessa Goldbeck 17,041 8.5
Republican Famela Ramos 15,005 7.5
Republican Michael Patrick Oristian 14,807 7.4
Democratic Tom Wong 7,265 3.6
Democratic Annette Meza 4,446 2.2
Democratic Joseph R. Fountain 4,041 2.0
Democratic Jose Caballero 3,226 1.6
Democratic Joaquín Vazquez 3,078 1.5
Democratic John Brooks 2,820 1.4
No party preference Fernando Garcia 1,832 0.9
Democratic Suzette Santori 1,625 0.8
Democratic Eric Roger Kutner 734 0.4
Total votes 200,156 100.0
General election
Democratic Sara Jacobs 192,897 59.5
Democratic Georgette Gómez 131,349 40.5
Total votes 324,246 100.0
San Diego City Council District 9 election, 2016[7]
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Ricardo Flores 7,348 34%
Democratic Georgette Gómez 6,567 31%
Democratic Sarah Saez 5,023 23%
Democratic Araceli Martinez 2,589 12%
Total votes 21,527 100%
General election
Democratic Georgette Gómez 20,075 55%
Democratic Ricardo Flores 16,583 45%
Total votes 36,658 100%

Personal life

Gómez resides in the Azalea Park neighborhood within City Heights.

References

  1. "Who's the Establishment Candidate in San Diego Council District 9?". April 26, 2016.
  2. "Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez to Resign, Assume Union Leadership Role". NBC 7 San Diego. Retrieved April 8, 2022.
  3. "About Georgette". Gomez for City Council 2016.
  4. Burks, Megan (April 26, 2016). "Who's The Establishment Candidate In San Diego Council District 9?". KPBS Public Media.
  5. "Marti Emerald Not Seeking Reelection, Political Future Uncertain - Times of San Diego". Times of San Diego. April 14, 2015.
  6. "Communities - City of San Diego Official Website". Archived from the original on January 10, 2017. Retrieved January 9, 2017.
  7. "Election History - Council District 9" (PDF). City of San Diego. Retrieved January 12, 2013.
  8. KUSI Newsroom (December 10, 2018). "District 9 City Councilwoman Georgette Gomez elected San Diego City Council President -". KUSI News. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
  9. Bowen, Andrew (January 18, 2018). "MTS Board Elects Georgette Gomez Chairwoman". KPBS Public Media. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
  10. Sklar, Debbie L. (October 10, 2019). "MTS Board Elects County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher as New Chair". Times of San Diego. Retrieved October 13, 2019.
  11. "The Rise and Fall (for Now) of Georgette Gómez". Voice of San Diego. November 16, 2020. Retrieved August 24, 2021.
  12. Presha, Alex (September 14, 2019). "Georgette Gómez Announces Run for Congress in 53rd District". NBC 7 San Diego. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
  13. "Sara Jacobs, Georgette Gómez Officially Headed for Runoff in 53rd District". NBC 7 San Diego. Retrieved June 3, 2020.
  14. "Justice Dems boosted this candidate until she disagreed with them on Israel". October 26, 2020.
  15. "Petition Calls for Name Change at Andrew Jackson Post Office in Rolando – NBC 7 San Diego". June 24, 2020. Archived from the original on June 24, 2020. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
  16. Rivlin-Nadler, Max (October 9, 2020). "Gómez's Tax Omission A Talker In 53rd District Congressional Race". KPBS Public Media. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
  17. "City Council President Georgette Gómez failed to report more than $100,000 in income on taxes, records show". San Diego Union-Tribune. October 9, 2020. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
  18. "Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez to Resign, Assume Union Leadership Role". NBC 7 San Diego. Retrieved April 8, 2022.
  19. "Assembly District 80 race: Alvarez, Gómez projected to advance to runoff election". FOX 5 San Diego. April 6, 2022. Retrieved April 8, 2022.
  20. "Georgette Gómez drops bid for 80th Assembly seat". San Diego Union-Tribune. September 21, 2022. Retrieved October 21, 2022.
  21. Jennewein, Chris (April 6, 2022). "David Alvarez, Georgette Gómez Headed for Runoff in 80th Assembly District Special Election". Times of San Diego. Retrieved April 8, 2022.
  22. "Our Candidates". Working Families Party. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
  23. Aere, Jacob (February 9, 2022). "Former Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez endorses Georgette Gómez for District 80 seat, other contenders fighting for role". KPBS. Retrieved April 8, 2022.
  24. Aere, Jacob (February 9, 2022). "Former Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez endorses Georgette Gómez for District 80 seat, other contenders fighting for role". KPBS. Retrieved April 8, 2022.
  25. "80th Assembly District special election: Democrats David Alvarez, Georgette Gomez advance to runoff". ABC 10 News San Diego. April 6, 2022. Retrieved April 8, 2022.
  26. Jennewein, Chris (April 6, 2022). "David Alvarez, Georgette Gómez Headed for Runoff in 80th Assembly District Special Election". Times of San Diego. Retrieved April 8, 2022.
  27. Jennewein, Chris (January 14, 2022). "Georgette Gómez Picks Up High-Profile Endorsements in Campaign for Assembly". Times of San Diego. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
  28. "STATEMENT OF VOTE PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY ELECTION MARCH 3, 2020" (PDF). California Secretary of State Alex Padilla. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 17, 2020. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
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