Since 2016, San Diego City Council member Georgette Gomez has served District 9 and was unanimously voted as council president in 2018. Running for Rep. Susan Davis’s seat for the 53rd Congressional District, Gomez said it has some of the poorest communities in the county, is mostly a working-class district and much of the district below Interstate 8 has a historical significance of being unattended to with critical issues these communities face.
Gomez grew up in the Logan Heights area with her parents and two siblings who were undocumented. She said her parents struggled, worked many jobs to make a future for their children to make sure they were getting an education and wanted to ensure they graduated from college.
She said her commitment to social justice comes from her experiences growing up as the daughter of immigrants who did everything to help her live a better life.
“When I graduated from SDSU, I committed myself to do the work in communities of color and low-income communities to make sure we are creating stronger opportunities for youths to continue to have a good life, a good future,” she said. “I have been doing that ever since. In Chula Vista, we organized against a peaker plant being placed right across the street from our homes, close to a mobile home park. This is the classic social justice fight. Things like these are placed next to communities disregarding the people. I have committed my life to keep that occurring. All people matter in this country.”
Gomez said businesses had to shut down completely because they did not get relief fast enough, and much of the relief was earmarked for large corporations. She said that is not the way elected leaders should work.
