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Newcomer Gonzales-Torres defeats incumbent in California's 34th Congressional District race
L-R: Angela Gonzales-Torres, Jimmy Gomez
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Courtesy of Angela Gonzales-Torres/Maxine Wallace
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Courtesy of Angela Gonzales-Torres/The Washington Post via Getty Images
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Angela Gonzales-Torres has unseated U.S. Rep. Jimmy Gomez in the 34th Congressional District race, according to the Associated Press on Wednesday.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Gonzales-Torres led Gomez 59% to 41% in the race for the district that includes downtown Los Angeles, Koreatown, Boyle Heights and Eagle Rock.
She finished 15 percentage points behind Gomez in the June primary election.
“I look forward to working for my community in Congress, holding the Trump administration accountable, abolishing ICE, and putting money back into our communities instead of funding endless wars,” Gonzales-Torres said in a statement.
Gomez, who was elected to the seat in 2017, conceded the race in an emailed statement to LAist, saying he was proud of accomplishments like expanding paid family leave, negotiating labor protections and fighting for working parents and their children.
“Everything I've done in public service has been about making sure the opportunities my parents sought remain possible for the next generation,” Gomez said. “Serving Los Angeles has been a privilege. Titles come and go, but the people and the values we fight for endure.”
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Newcomer vs. veteran
Both candidates ran as Democrats and shared some priorities, including the Green New Deal, affordable housing and Medicare for All.
However, Gonzales-Torres criticized Gomez during the campaign for taking money from the tech industry and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, also known as AIPAC. Her campaign website says she plans to get money out of politics by abolishing super PACs.
Gonzales-Torres, who is from Highland Park, was endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America and gathered support from progressive leaders in California, including U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, state Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez and L.A. City Controller Kenneth Mejia.
A relative newcomer to politics compared to her opponent, Gonzales-Torres served as president of the Highland Park Neighborhood Council and as a regional representative on Metro’s Public Safety Advisory Committee.
Gomez was endorsed by U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.). He was also supported by the California Democratic Party and U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff.
Allegations of misconduct sway race
Gomez was a campaign co-chair for former U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell, a close ally who faces allegations of sexual assault and misconduct.
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Swalwell has denied the allegations. Federal and state investigations are ongoing.
Gomez resigned from Swalwell’s campaign in April, shortly after the accusations became public. He also called for Swalwell, who resigned from Congress, to end his bid for governor.
Months later, in August, the House Ethics Committee announced that Gomez was under investigation on allegations of sexual misconduct and assault. He has denied those allegations, but they stuck with voters.
In October, a Democracy and Fair Elections Lab at USC poll found that concerns about ethical and sexual misconduct allegations against Gomez were top of mind for many voters.
What to keep in mind about these numbers
- For LAist's charts showing vote counts, we get numbers directly from the L.A. County and Orange County registrars of voters for local races. Totals are updated on our site as soon as possible after the registrars provide new tallies. For statewide races, counts come from the California Secretary of State's Office.
- Has your ballot been tallied yet? You can track the status of your ballot here.
- Keep in mind that, in tight races particularly, the winner may not be determined for days or weeks after election day. That's because early voting and mail-in ballots have fundamentally reshaped how votes are counted and when election results are known. The upshot: Ballots can be postmarked up to and including Election Day. They're counted as long as the ballot arrives within seven days of the election and that window contributes to the lag time before results are announced.
- In L.A. County, for example, daily updates on the counting are expected to take place at least once a day — usually around 5 p.m. — through Nov. 13. (There will be multiple updates on Nov. 5 and 6.) Then, the once-a-day counts will resume again on Nov. 17, 19, 25 and 27. The office is scheduled to certify election results by Friday, Nov. 27. In Orange County, There will be multiple updates after the polls close, and then daily updates weekdays at 5 p.m. until results are scheduled to be certified on or before Dec. 3.
- The California Secretary of State is scheduled to certify the election results on Dec. 11.
- Our priority during the vote count will be sharing outcomes and election calls only when they have been thoroughly checked and vetted by journalists. To that end, we will rely on official results and report when candidates concede. Otherwise, we rely on NPR and the Associated Press for race calls. We will not report the calls or projections of other news outlets. You can find more about NPR's and the AP's process for counting votes and calling races here and here.
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