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

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

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.[6]

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

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 June 2020, Gomez 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 genocide of Native Americans during the trail of tears.[12]

On October 8, 2020, the San Diego Union Tribune reported that Gomez failed to pay taxes on her city council salary in 2017. Gomez admitted the mistake and amended her filing.[13][14]

Election results
2020 United States House of Representatives elections in California[15]
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[6]
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

Gomez resides in the Azalea Park neighborhood within City Heights.

References
  2. "About Georgette". Gomez for City Council 2016.
  3. Burks, Megan. "Who's The Establishment Candidate In San Diego Council District 9?". KPBS Public Media.
  4. "Marti Emerald Not Seeking Reelection, Political Future Uncertain - Times of San Diego". Times of San Diego. April 14, 2015.
  5. "Communities - City of San Diego Official Website".
  6. "Election History - Council District 9" (PDF). City of San Diego. Retrieved January 12, 2013.
  7. KUSI Newsroom (December 10, 2018). "District 9 City Councilwoman Georgette Gomez elected San Diego City Council President -". KUSI News. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
  8. Bowen, Andrew (January 18, 2018). "MTS Board Elects Georgette Gomez Chairwoman". KPBS Public Media. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
  9. Sklar, Debbie L. (October 10, 2019). "MTS Board Elects County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher as New Chair". Times of San Diego. Retrieved October 13, 2019.
  10. Presha, Alex (September 14, 2019). "Georgette Gómez Announces Run for Congress in 53rd District". NBC 7 San Diego. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
  11. "Sara Jacobs, Georgette Gómez Officially Headed for Runoff in 53rd District". NBC 7 San Diego. Retrieved June 3, 2020.
  12. "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.
  13. Rivlin-Nadler, Max. "Gómez's Tax Omission A Talker In 53rd District Congressional Race". KPBS Public Media. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
  14. "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.
  15. "STATEMENT OF VOTE PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY ELECTION MARCH 3, 2020" (PDF). California Secretary of State Alex Padilla. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
Civic offices
Preceded by
Marti Emerald		 Member of the San Diego City Council
from the 9th district
2016–present		 Incumbent
Preceded by
Myrtle Cole		 President of the San Diego City Council
2018–present		 Incumbent
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