Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia Endorses Joe Biden for President

In early January, Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia announced his endorsement of former Vice President Joe Biden for the Democratic Party Presidential nomination.

“I’m honored to endorse Joe Biden for President,” said Mayor Garcia in his endorsement letter. “As the Mayor of a growing, vibrant and diverse city, Donald Trump’s reckless attacks on immigrants, health care, and the LGBTQ community are deeply personal. Joe is a candidate that has both the experience and the ability to build a broad-based coalition needed to beat Donald Trump — not just here in California, but across the country. We’ve seen Joe bring people together time and time again to deliver results for working families, including right here in California.”

While many factors went into Garcia’s decision, including experience, one of the largest factors for Garcia’s endorsement was Biden’s support for LGBT issues.

“Vice President Biden has always been a champion for the LGBTQ community,” stated Garcia in a later speech. “In fact, he was the person that actually nudged a lot of our leaders — including President Obama at the time — to support marriage equality.”

But the biggest factor for the Long Beach Mayor was who could potentially beat Donald Trump in November. In a follow-up speech, Garcia lauded Biden as the candidate who could best do that.

“This is about winning and beating Donald Trump in November, and restoring American values and restoring a sense of hope and support for all people,” added Garcia. “I think that Vice President Biden is well-equipped and ready to do that.”

Long Beach has a large labor union and Hispanic population, both groups Biden has targeted in Californian appearances, such as in a speech in next door Los Angeles in November. Since becoming Mayor in 2014, Garcia has held many of the same stances as Biden on numerous issues, from union engagement to more recent California-centric issues such as the housing crisis and homelessness.

Along with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s support of Biden, Biden stands to gain a lot of votes in Los Angeles County through mayoral endorsements alone.

California’s Primary is March 3, 2020.