This MAGA City Is Probably Getting a Gay Immigrant Congressman
Thanks to California’s new congressional redistricting, Huntington Beach is now likely to be represented by Congressman Robert Garcia.
Featured image: U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia; Photo Credit: MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images
California’s new congressional map has moved a city with a Trump-loving city council into a district represented by one of the most liberal voices in the U.S. House of Representatives.
In the gerrymandering schemes being deployed across the country after President Donald Trump pushed Texas to create a new congressional map to benefit the Republican Party, California joined the fray and redrew its maps. Voters in the state approved the initiative in November 2025. The resulting map moves right-leaning Huntington Beach into Democrat U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia’s district.
Huntington Beach previously made headlines for banning the Pride flag from city property after a referendum in 2024. A bust of Trump used to be on display during city council meetings, Reuters reports.
U.S. Rep. Dave Min, a moderate Democrat, currently represents the city.
Garcia, 48, has been a vocal critic of Trump and his administration and has publicly called out far-right politicians in Congress. He’s also the ranking member of the House’s powerful Oversight Committee and has led House investigations, including into the Epstein Files.
Californian news outlet CalMatters noted last year that Garcia’s newly redrawn district is less progressive than before since the district absorbed Huntington Beach and Newport Beach, which have more conservative voters.
The progressive congressman was born in Peru and moved to the U.S. as a child. He served as the mayor of Long Beach, California, for years before his election to Congress in 2022. Reuters notes that he won reelection by 36 points in 2024. He’ll face a primary in the newly drawn district on Tuesday.
“I’ve represented people I don’t agree with on everything, my entire time as mayor, and currently as a member of Congress,” Garcia told Reuters. “That’s OK. That’s America.”
Some in Huntington Beach have criticized the new redistricting.
“So, two wrongs make a right?” Huntington Beach City Councilman Pat Burns told the news agency. “It’s just California ugly-ass politics, and they are all about their agenda and not about the people. They don’t care about the people of California one bit.”
Garcia said that regardless of political party, California cities are seeing similar problems that need to be resolved.
“I expect actually there’s going to be a lot of partnerships with the cities, especially communities like Huntington Beach and Newport Beach. While they might have a more conservative council, at the end of the day, they want the same thing that communities in Long Beach want,” Garcia said.
