By Michael Hernandez
WASHINGTON, D.C.–”I take this oath of 244 years into this beautiful nation that I have served as a first generation American, a patriot, and citizen legislator,” said newly sworn-in Congressman Mike Garcia (R-25). “I will do what is right for my country, my district and work for a unified country. Hopefully, we will make this nation the strongest we have seen. I appreciate your support. May God bless the United States of America.”
“Mike Garcia went from being a military officer to being a member of Congress,” said House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-23) who introduced Congressman Mike Garcia. “He went from the Naval Academy to becoming a jet fighter pilot. Now one more time, this nation has called upon him to unite a district and unite Congress itself.”
Previously Mike Garcia was one of the first Super Hornet strike fighter pilots in the Navy and flew over 30 combat missions during Operation Iraqi Freedom in the skies above Baghdad, Fallujah and Tikrit. He is a native of Santa Clarita and is the son of a Los Angeles Police Department officer.
Garcia was nominated by Congressman Howard “Buck” McKeon to attend the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in political science and a minor in Spanish in the top three percent of his class. He was deployed several times on the USS Nimitz, a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and left the military after 20 years of service to work with the Raytheon Company and to also work in real estate. He is the husband of Rebecca Garcia, the owner of the Rebecca Rollins Interiors in Santa Clarita and the father of Preston (age 13) and Jett (age 3).
Garcia, 44, won his seat in a special election on May 12 and the Secretary of State’s uncertified tally shows him up by nearly 10 percentage points over his opponent, Assemblywoman Christy Smith, D-38 State Assembly District (which overlaps the 25th Congressional district that stretches from the Northern San Fernando Valley, Simi Valley, Santa Clarita and the Antelope Valley. The seat has been vacated by the resignation of Congresswoman Katie Hill in October. Both Mike Garcia and Christy Smith will run again in November for the two-year Congressional seat.
Michael Hernandez, Co-Founder of the Citizens Journal—Ventura County’s online news service; editor of the History Makers Report and founder of History Makers International—a community nonprofit serving youth and families in Ventura County, is a former Southern California daily newspaper journalist and religion and news editor. He worked 25 years as a middle school teacher in Monrovia and Los Angeles Unified School Districts. Mr. Hernandez can be contacted by email at [email protected].
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