Melissa Garza
Melissa "Sharkie" Garza was a special election candidate who sought election to the U.S. House to represent the 34th Congressional District of California.[1]
Elections
2017
| U.S. House, California District 34, 2017 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Jimmy Gomez |
59.2% | 25,569 | |
| Democratic | Robert Lee Ahn | 40.8% | 17,610 | |
| Total Votes | 43,179 | |||
| Source: California Secretary of State | ||||
The election replaced Xavier Becerra (D), who was appointed as California's attorney general.[2] Democrats Jimmy Gomez and Robert Lee Ahn were the top two vote-getters in a primary field of 23 candidates and advanced to the general election. Gomez and Ahn competed in the runoff election on June 6, 2017, when Gomez defeated Ahn by more than 20 percent, 60.1 percent to 30.9 percent.[3] The previous two elections in the district have also featured a general election contest between two Democrats.[4][1][5]
Ahn and Gomez participated in a candidate forum on May 25, 2017, where they discussed the Trump administration, infrastructure, job creation, healthcare, and local issues. During the forum, Ahn emphasized his legal and business background and knowledge of Korean relations, while Gomez highlighted his legislative experience in the California State Assembly and endorsements from progressive organizations like the Bernie Sanders-backed Our Revolution. For an overview of the forum and the candidates' responses, click here.
In the fundraising race, Ahn outpaced Gomez, raising $353,000 between April 1 and May 17. His campaign capital was boosted by an additional $195,000 personal loan. In the same time period, Gomez raised $327,000.[6]
| U.S. House, California District 34 Primary, 2017 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |
Jimmy Gomez |
25.4% | 10,728 | |
| Democratic | Robert Lee Ahn |
22.3% | 9,415 | |
| Democratic | Maria Cabildo | 10.1% | 4,259 | |
| Democratic | Sara Hernandez | 5.6% | 2,358 | |
| Democratic | Arturo Carmona | 5.2% | 2,205 | |
| Democratic | Wendy Carrillo | 5.2% | 2,195 | |
| Green | Kenneth Mejia | 4.6% | 1,964 | |
| Republican | William Morrison | 3.2% | 1,360 | |
| Democratic | Yolie Flores | 3.2% | 1,368 | |
| Democratic | Alejandra Campoverdi | 2.4% | 1,001 | |
| Democratic | Tracy Van Houten | 2.5% | 1,042 | |
| Democratic | Vanessa Aramayo | 2% | 853 | |
| Democratic | Sandra Mendoza | 1.6% | 674 | |
| Democratic | Steven Mac | 1.6% | 663 | |
| Democratic | Raymond Meza | 1.2% | 509 | |
| Independent | Mark Edward Padilla | 1% | 427 | |
| Libertarian | Angela McArdle | 0.8% | 319 | |
| Democratic | Ricardo De La Fuente | 0.8% | 331 | |
| Democratic | Adrienne Nicole Edwards | 0.4% | 182 | |
| Democratic | Richard Joseph Sullivan | 0.4% | 155 | |
| Democratic | Armando Sotomayor | 0.3% | 118 | |
| Democratic | Tenaya Wallace | 0.2% | 103 | |
| Democratic | Melissa "Sharkie" Garza | 0.2% | 79 | |
| Total Votes | 42,308 | |||
| Source: California Secretary of State |
||||
Campaign themes
2017
The following issues were listed on Garza's campaign website. For a full list of campaign themes, click here.
| “ |
|
” |
| —Melissa Garza's campaign website | ||
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Melissa Garza California Congress. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- United States House of Representatives
- California's 34th Congressional District special election, 2017
- California's 34th Congressional District
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Los Angeles Times, "Field of candidates running to succeed Xavier Becerra in Congress keeps growing," February 10, 2017
- ↑ Los Angeles Times, "Gov. Brown taps California's Rep. Xavier Becerra to be state's first Latino attorney general," December 1, 2016
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "U.S. House of Representatives District 34 - Districtwide Results," accessed June 7,2017
- ↑ KPCC, "Governor calls June 6 election to replace Becerra in House," January 25, 2017
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "U.S. House of Representatives District 34 - Districtwide Results," April 5, 2017
- ↑ Daily Kos, "Morning Digest: Tennessee Republican Mae Beavers, sponsor of anti-porn bill, running for governor," May 31, 2017
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
