Rep. Jimmy Gomez lost his fight for another term as voters in his Los Angeles district backed a democratic socialist challenger amid a House ethics investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct.
Angela Gonzales-Torres defeated the five-term Democrat in California’s 34th Congressional District, bringing his congressional career toward a close more than nine years after he first took office.
The Associated Press called the race Wednesday, according to the Washington Examiner. Gonzales-Torres held 58.66% of the reported vote to Gomez’s 41.34%.
The outcome reversed their order of finish in June’s six-way primary, when Gomez took roughly 46% and Gonzales-Torres collected nearly 31%. Republican Calvin Lee finished with almost 14%, falling short of the top-two finish required to advance.
With Republicans shut out of the general election, the November contest became a battle between the Democratic incumbent and a challenger backed by the Democratic Socialists of America.
Gonzales-Torres made the misconduct allegations a central line of attack against Gomez, who has represented the district since July 2017.
The House Ethics Committee publicly announced its investigation Aug. 17, saying it was reviewing allegations of sexual misconduct involving a House staffer. The panel stressed that the existence of the investigation did not establish that a violation had occurred.
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Gomez, who is married, has maintained that the interactions were consensual and denied violating the law or House ethics rules.
Gonzales-Torres called him a “creep” after the investigation was announced and demanded that he resign. Gomez stayed in office and continued his reelection campaign.
She escalated her criticism in September while announcing support from the Democratic Socialists of America.
Gomez “is complicit in genocide, endorsed by Leading the Future—the AI super PAC of Palantir and OpenAI co-founders—and is under investigation for sexual misconduct,” she posted on X. “I can’t wait to show my community what a Congressmember can do. Thank you DSA for standing with me.”
A Los Angeles native and community advocate, Gonzales-Torres campaigned on housing, economic security, health care and immigration. Her supporters included former Democratic National Committee Vice Chair David Hogg and former Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y.
Her victory denied Gomez a sixth term and gave the party’s socialist wing another foothold in Congress.
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[ H/T Trending Politics ]
