Openly gay elected mayor of Long Beach makes history three times

Robert Garcia, the newest mayor of Long Beach, made history three times over on Tuesday night: He’s not only the city’s youngest mayor ever, but he’s also the first Latino and first openly gay candidate to be elected to that Long Beach office.

Garcia, who beat Damon Dunn in a close race, garnered 52.1 percent of the vote. He currently serves as a City Councilman and vice mayor as well as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Southern California.

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An American Dream

Garcia, who’s the first college graduate in his family, immigrated with is family to Covina, California from Lima, Peru at five years-old.

After getting a bachelor’s degree from Long Beach State, Garcia attended USC for his master’s degree, then worked his way onto the Long Beach City Council in 2009.

In his acceptance speech, Garcia alluded to the ‘American Dream’ aspect of his personal story: “‘To see my mom work so hard, she worked at thrift stores and working at small jobs, cleaning homes, and to see me go to college, be the first in my family to go to college, and now here…’”

The new mayor’s mother was more direct, noting that she felt like she was “actually living” the American dream by seeing her son compete for the mayoral office.

Open Minds

According to the city government’s website, Long Beach is one of the most diverse metropolitan areas in the nation.

It boasts a population that’s 40 percent Hispanic, 29 percent white, 14 percent black, 13 percent Asian and 4 percent other ethnicities.

That diversity was reflected in the mayoral race: while Garcia is making history on three fronts, his opponent Damon Dunn would also have made history as the city’s first African-American mayor, had he won.

Many have suggested that Long Beach’s makeup was a significant reason behind Garcia’s ability to win. Garcia himself called Long Beach the “best city in America,” noting its acceptance of people regardless of race, socioeconomic status or sexual orientation: “We have one of the largest Cambodian communities outside of Cambodia, a large Latino community, a large LGBT population, and we have everyone. I really think that’s what makes Long Beach strong.”

He also stressed that he’s “‘in this to be the mayor of everyone, no matter the age or the color of their skin or who they love.’”

Garcia’s Plans

According to NBC, Garcia believes that the biggest issues facing Long Beach are fiscal responsibility, growing in an environmentally-friendly manner, bringing in business, and working with employees to improve services.

As a City Council member, Garcia helped to change the path of Long Beach’s spending, moving it from enormous debt in 2009 to a surplus as of 2014. In the next few days, he plans to put together a team to examine the city’s budget further.

Other early plans include restoring park and library programs that were cut in previous years and partnering with educational organizations to better city services.

Robert Garcia will be sworn into mayoral office on July 15^th, 2014.

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