Georgette Gomez to launch campaign for 53rd Congressional District

SAN DIEGO — San Diego City Councilwoman Georgette Gomez will launch her campaign today for the 53rd Congressional District.

Since first being elected to the technically nonpartisan council in 2016, Gomez has become one of the most powerful Democrats in the city. She has served as the council's president since being unanimously appointed to the position last December. She is also the chair of the Metropolitan Transit System.

Since becoming council president, she has overseen a Democratic supermajority that has shepherded multiple ordinances intended to spark housing growth, combat homelessness and reduce the city's carbon footprint. Prior to running for office, Gomez was the associate director of the Environmental Health Coalition for a dozen years.

Speculation about Gomez's potential run for the 53rd District came shortly after Rep. Susan Davis, D-San Diego, announced last week that she would not seek re-election to the seat. Gomez did little to calm that speculation with a Twitter post saying she was "strongly considering" a bid.

"The outpouring encouragement I've received 2 run 4 Congress has been inspiring," Gomez wrote Sept. 5. "A wave of true grassroots energy is exactly how we're going 2 beat Trump & deliver bold progressive change."

Gomez officially filed papers with the Federal Election Commission to run for the district Sept. 11.

Gomez will join a race that already includes U.S. Navy veteran Jose Caballero -- who had planned an insurgent run to Davis' left -- community organizer Joaquin Vazquez and Sara Jacobs, a policy advisory and a granddaughter of Qualcomm co-founder and former chairman Irwin Jacobs who finished third in the 2018 primary for the 49th District.

All four candidates are Democrats vying for a safely blue seat. The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index rates the district as a lock for Democrats; former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton won the district by 35 points in the 2016 election.

The district includes La Mesa, Lemon Grove, parts of El Cajon and Chula Vista and central San Diego neighborhoods like Hillcrest, Mission Hills, North Park and Grantville.

Gomez is scheduled to kick off her campaign at the United Domestic Workers Union, located at 4855 Seminole Drive.