Power

Jimmy Gomez Comes Out Victorious in California Special Election

“Tonight, the Latino community stood up to Donald Trump by electing a strong progressive champion,” said Alejandro Chavez, senior electoral campaign manager at Democracy for America.

The win for Gomez was hailed by the groups that endorsed the legislator's candidacy as a victory against President Trump and for the Latino community. AssemblyAccess / YouTube

California Assemblymember Jimmy Gomez (D-Los Angeles) won Tuesday’s special election to represent District 34 in the U.S. House of Representatives.

“Today, our community said yes to California values, our progressive values,” Gomez said at his election party, according to the Los Angeles Times. “All of you here that helped me on this campaign, we are the resistance.”

Gomez beat out fellow Democrat Robert Lee Ahn with 60.1 percent of the vote as of Wednesday morning while Ahn—who conceded on Tuesday night—received 39.9 percent. The District 34 seat had been vacated by Democrat Xavier Becerra when he became California’s attorney general.

The win for Gomez was hailed by the groups that endorsed the legislator’s candidacy as a victory against President Trump and for the Latino community.

“Tonight, the Latino community stood up to Donald Trump by electing a strong progressive champion,” Alejandro Chavez, senior electoral campaign manager at Democracy for America and the grandson of Cesar E. Chavez, said in a statement. “We congratulate him on his impressive win tonight, and are thrilled to work with him in Congress to resist Trump and enact the progressive agenda we need.”

Cristóbal J. Alex, president of Latino Victory Fund, called Gomez’s win “a mandate to go to Congress and fight the Trump administration” in a statement. The organization, which works to elevate Latino voices and build political power within the community, invested $250,000 in efforts to turn out the vote, including direct mail, canvassing, and a digital program targeting young voters in English and Spanish.

Gomez had received endorsements from a bevy of organizations, including Planned Parenthood’s political arm. During his time in the state’s general assembly, Gomez introduced legislation later signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown (D) that responded to the Center for Medical Progress’ (CMP) smear campaign against Planned Parenthood by criminalizing the distribution of CMP’s illegally obtained recordings.