Robert Garcia, a member of the Etiwanda School District Board of Trustees since 2016 and a Democrat, is hoping to capitalize on his political experience thus far and his party affiliation to succeed Eloise Gómez Reyes in representing the 50th Assembly District.
Gómez Reyes, the current majority leader in the Assembly, has revealed her intention to run for the newly-drawn State Senate 29th District in 2024.
My announcing his candidacy for Assembly early, Garcia hopes to get a jump on others who are likewise interest in the Assembly post. Reconstituted with the reapportionment in 2021 that followed the 2020 Census, the 50th Assembly District is comprised by all or portions of Fontana, Bloomington, Colton, Loma Linda, Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga, Redlands, Rialto, and San Bernardino.
Voter registration in the 50th is highly favorable toward the Democrats. Of the district’s 251,997 registered voters, 116,615 or 46.3 percent affiliate with the Democratic Party. The 59,850 or 23.8 percent who are registered Republicans are not that much more numerous than the 56,240 or 22.3 percent who have no party affiliation. The remaining 7.6 percent of the voters in the district identify as members of the Libertarian, Peace & Freedom, American Independent, Green or other more obscure parties.
Garcia and others believe that the real race in the 50th in 2024 will be between the Democrats who will need to battle it out in the March primary to achieve the honor of vying against what is likely to be a Republican in the Novmeber general election.
On his website, Garcia celebrates himself as the sort of candidate who will appeal to mainstream Democrats.
“Robert is a son of immigrants, educator, and public servant who has spent his life making excellence in education his mission,” the website states. “His biggest influences have been his parents, who instilled a work ethic to excel in school and in life. Born to his mother, age 17, and his father who was denied an education past third grade, he thrived because of the sacrifices his working-class parents made to prioritize education. At 17, Robert became the first in his family to graduate high school. Robert continued his education earning his bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of California, Los Angeles, and master’s degree in public policy from the University of Southern California. Having volunteered to mentor high school students from schools in Los Angeles challenged with low educational outcomes, he was driven to become a teacher. In his 20 years as an educator, as a math and science classroom teacher and current school administrator, he has led schools through transformational change and success.”
According to the website, “Robert is passionate about education and its role in strengthening communities. It is for that reason that Robert was drawn to serve. Robert is running for State Assembly to continue his mission for excellence, prioritizing the needs of all in the Inland Empire. He will fight to ensure safe neighborhoods, fully fund our schools, invest in homelessness reduction, create good-paying job opportunities while building a sustainable economy, and supporting our small businesses across the Inland Empire.”
Garcia and his wife, Samantha, live in Rancho Cuamonga with their three children.
“I look forward to joining the State Assembly and bringing critical resources to ensure safe neighborhoods, fully fund our schools, invest in homelessness reduction, create good-paying job opportunities while building a sustainable economy, and supporting our small businesses across the Inland Empire,” Garcia said.
While Garcia has moved quickly to pick up the endorsements of several local Democratic officeholders, such as San Bernardino County Supervisor Joe Baca Jr., Fontana City Councilman Jesse Sandoval, Fontana Unified School District Board Member Mary Sandoval and San Bernardino County School Boardmember Laura Abernathy Mancha, he has yet to get the key support of Gómez Reyes, who is more experienced in the cutthroat world of politics and is sizing up who will be in the field to succeed her before she enters into an affiliation with Garcia when it may be more beneficial to her political prospects for her to enter into an alliance with someone who might run against Garcia.
Garcia, throwing caution to the wind, is proceeding as if he believes that affiliating with Gómez Reyes is in his absolute best interest.
“I am grateful for Majority Leader Reyes’ leadership and look forward to working together to represent our community,” he said.