Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has endorsed Democrat Gil Cisneros in the race for a San Gabriel Valley-based House seat that is open for the first time in a generation.
“Gil Cisneros is an outstanding public servant and leader,” Pelosi said in a statement released Thursday, noting a variety of legislation the two collaborated on together in Congress. “Gil is a shining example of an elected official who fights for people, not corporate special interests. I am proud to endorse him and I look forward to serving with him again.”
The endorsement is significant because Pelosi rarely picks favorites in Democratic primaries and Cisneros is one of twelve candidates that have filed their candidacy and who are competing for the seat that has been held by Rep. Grace Napolitano for the last 25 years. Napolitano, who is also the oldest member of the U.S. House of Representatives, announced her retirement in July.
“I am profoundly honored to receive the endorsement of Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi,” Cisneros said. “Speaker Pelosi’s steadfast leadership and unwavering commitment to advancing progressive values have been transformative for our nation. This endorsement not only reflects her confidence in our shared vision for a better America, but also underscores the importance of our collective pursuit of accessible healthcare, quality education, and economic opportunities for all.”
Cisneros is running in the 31st Congressional District, which includes the cities of Azusa, Baldwin Park, Bradbury, Covina, Duarte, El Monte, Irwindale, La Puente, La Verne, San Dimas, South El Monte, and West Covina. He moved to El Monte, where he bought a house last month, from Virginia, and previously lived in Orange County.
Cisneros served one term in Congress in 2019-2020 after winning a competitive race in a Orange County district narrowly divided between Republican and Democratic voters. As a freshman lawmaker, Cisneros was a part of a group of freshman lawmakers seeking to make change: he was a part of a group that first introduced an impeachment against Donald Trump and he was also a part of a small group of House Democrats who signed a letter pledging to oppose the return of Pelosi as Speaker of the House. At the time, Cisneros said he respected Pelosi but his constituents were asking for a change. Pelosi eventually reached a deal with those lawmakers to limit her time as speaker to an additional four years.
Cisneros lost re-election in 2020 against Republican Young Kim and was later appointed by Biden as undersecretary of Defense, where he oversaw military personnel and readiness until resigning in September to run for election. He moved back to California from McLean, Va. where he lived for the last two years.
Cisneros said he was raised in a family of veterans. After high school, he served in the Navy and then says he became the first member of his family to graduate college. Around 2004, he began working as a shipping and distribution manager for Frito-Lay until one day in 2010, when his life changed after winning a $255 million lottery jackpot.
Cisneros was 39 when he came into the fortune that propelled him into a career in philanthropy. He and his wife started the Gilbert and Jacki Cisneros Foundation to fund college education for Latinos in the Pico Rivera area.
In 2014, after earning an MBA, he got a second master’s degree in urban education and was later appointed to Obama’s Advisory Council for the Arts – marking his first political appointment.
Napolitano has endorsed California state Sen. Bob Archuleta (D-Pico Rivera) as her preferred candidate to take her place in the House.
The race has attracted a large field of six Democrats, three Republicans, and two third-party candidates, according to candidacy filings on the L.A. County Registrar’s office. Other Democratic candidates include Citrus Community College Trustee Mary Ann Lutz, state Sen. Susan Rubio of Baldwin Park, and personal injury lawyer Gregory Hafif. The Republican candidates are Elvira Moreno, Pedro Antonio Casas and Daniel Bocic Martinez who ran against Napolitano in 2022.
The district is heavily Democratic, with registered Democrats outnumbering Republicans by more than 2-to-1, and Latinos making up about 55% of district residents.
Despite running as a Democrat, Cisneros was once a registered Republican.
“I am a Democrat,” he told the Times when asked about the switch. “I will put my Democratic record up against (my opponents’) any day.”
