Robert Garcia, who had served as Long Beach’s mayor for the past eight years, was set to be officially sworn in Tuesday as one of the new members of the 118th United States Congress, but the process stalled late in the day after House members could not settle on a new speaker, who will administer their oaths of office.

Garcia was elected in November to represent the newly drawn 42nd Congressional District, which includes most of Long Beach, Lakewood and parts of several Southeast Los Angeles cities. Garcia won decisively (68%) in a runoff vote against Republican candidate John Briscoe.

His legislative career in Long Beach started as a representative for the 1st City Council District, where he served from 2009 until 2014, when he was elected as the first openly gay mayor in Long Beach’s history.

His last day in office in Long Beach was Dec. 19.

Garcia announced he was running for Congress in December 2021, setting off a series of political moves that shook up the composition of the City Council and thrust two council members into the mayoral race, which was eventually won by Rex Richardson in November.

In Congress, Garcia was chosen to serve as the president of the freshman class of Democrats.

“The 34 of us are ready to take on our country’s greatest challenges,” he tweeted Sunday, “and stand up for working people across America.”

For much of the day Tuesday, Garcia and other members of Congress were locked in a vote to decide who will replace the previous Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi.

Garcia’s first vote in Congress was for the leader of the Democratic caucus, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries. After two additional rounds of voting, where no candidate claimed a majority, the House adjourned until Wednesday morning when the process will continue.

After a new speaker is selected, he or she will administer the oath of office to Garcia and other House members.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include details of the deadlocked speaker vote.

https://staging-live.lbpost.com/news/mayor-robert-garcia-says-goodbye-after-13-years-in-elected-office