Georgette Gómez Explained

Georgette Gómez
Office:President of the San Diego City Council
Term Start:December 10, 2018
Term End:December 10, 2020
Predecessor:Myrtle Cole
Successor:Jennifer Campbell
Office1:Member of the San Diego City Council
from the 9th district
Term Start1:December 12, 2016
Term End1:December 10, 2020
Predecessor1:Marti Emerald
Successor1:Sean Elo-Rivera
Birth Date:3 November 1975
Birth Place:San Diego, California, U.S.
Party:Democratic
Residence:Azalea Park, California, U.S.
Education:San Diego State University (BA)

Georgette Gómez (born November 3, 1975) 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.

Gómez was a candidate for California's 80th State Assembly district in the 2022 special election following the resignation of Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez.[1] 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.[2] Gómez attended Serra High School and later graduated from San Diego State University, where she studied environmental and natural resource geography.[3]

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.[4] 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.[5] 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.

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.[6] She also served as the chairwoman of the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System from January 2018 to October 2019.[7] [8] 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.[9]

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.[10] Gómez and Sara Jacobs advanced to the November 2020 runoff election.[11] 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.[12] 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.[13]

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.[14] [15]

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. 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.[16] In September 2022, she withdrew from the race.[17]

Election results

Personal life

Gómez resides in the Azalea Park neighborhood within City Heights.[18]

References

  1. Web site: Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez to Resign, Assume Union Leadership Role . 2022-04-08 . NBC 7 San Diego . January 4, 2022 . City News Service . en-US.
  2. Web site: About Georgette . https://web.archive.org/web/20150715043432/http://www.gomezd9.com/about . 2015-07-15 . Gomez for City Council 2016.
  3. Web site: Burks. Megan. Who's The Establishment Candidate In San Diego Council District 9?. KPBS Public Media. April 26, 2016 .
  4. Web site: Marti Emerald Not Seeking Reelection, Political Future Uncertain - Times of San Diego. Times of San Diego. 14 April 2015.
  5. Web site: Communities - City of San Diego Official Website. January 9, 2017. January 10, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170110161200/https://www.sandiego.gov/citycouncil/cd9/neighborhoods/. dead.
  6. News: KUSI Newsroom . District 9 City Councilwoman Georgette Gomez elected San Diego City Council President - . December 22, 2018 . KUSI News . December 10, 2018.
  7. News: Bowen. Andrew. MTS Board Elects Georgette Gomez Chairwoman. 13 February 2018. KPBS Public Media. 18 January 2018.
  8. News: Sklar . Debbie L. . MTS Board Elects County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher as New Chair . October 13, 2019 . Times of San Diego . October 10, 2019.
  9. Web site: Keatts . Andrew . 2020-11-16 . The Rise and Fall (for Now) of Georgette Gómez . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220325195152/https://voiceofsandiego.org/2020/11/16/the-rise-and-fall-for-now-of-georgette-gomez/ . 2022-03-25 . 2021-08-24 . . en-US.
  10. News: Presha . Alex . Georgette Gómez Announces Run for Congress in 53rd District . October 23, 2019 . NBC 7 San Diego . September 14, 2019 . en.
  11. Web site: 2020-04-08 . Sara Jacobs, Georgette Gómez Officially Headed for Runoff in 53rd District . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20200306161610/https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/sara-jacobs-georgette-gomez-headed-for-runoff-in-53rd-district/2278981/ . 2020-03-06 . 2020-06-03 . NBC 7 San Diego . en-US.
  12. Web site: Justice Dems boosted this candidate until she disagreed with them on Israel . October 26, 2020 .
  13. Web site: Summers . Dave . 2020-06-24 . Petition Calls for Name Change at Andrew Jackson Post Office in Rolando . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20200624033843/https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/petition-calls-for-name-change-at-andrew-jackson-post-office-in-rolando/2351966/ . June 24, 2020 . 2020-10-15 . NBC 7 San Diego.
  14. Web site: Rivlin-Nadler. Max. Gómez's Tax Omission A Talker In 53rd District Congressional Race. 2020-10-15. KPBS Public Media. October 9, 2020. en.
  15. Web site: Dyer . Andrew . 2020-10-09 . City Council President Georgette Gómez failed to report more than $100,000 in income on taxes, records show . https://web.archive.org/web/20201101073152/https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/watchdog/story/2020-10-08/city-council-president-georgette-gomez-failed-to-report-more-than-100-000-in-income-on-taxes-records-show . 2020-11-01 . 2020-10-15 . San Diego Union-Tribune . en-US.
  16. Web site: Domenick . Candelieri . 2022-04-06 . Assembly District 80 race: Alvarez, Gómez projected to advance to runoff election . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220406041016/https://fox5sandiego.com/news/politics/special-primary-election-results-assembly-district-80-2/ . 2022-04-06 . 2022-04-08 . FOX 5 San Diego . en-US.
  17. Web site: Dyer . Andrew . 2022-09-21 . Georgette Gómez drops bid for 80th Assembly seat . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220921113349/https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/politics/story/2022-09-21/georgette-gomez-assembly-david-alvarez . 2022-09-21 . 2022-10-21 . San Diego Union-Tribune . en-US.
  18. Web site: Stone . Ken . 2016-11-11 . Ex-Green Georgette Gómez Vows to Make S.D. Blue . 2023-12-07 . Times of San Diego . en-US.

External links

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