Two firsts: San Diego elects openly gay mayor of color

San Diego just experienced two firsts with its recent election: a new mayor who is openly gay and of color, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Todd Gloria’s election represents a shift towards a more liberal demographic for the Southern California city, the second largest in the state and eighth largest in the country.

“As a native San Diegan, this feels particularly sweet because growing up, I didn’t see a lot of people like me in government and that is now changing,” Gloria told The New York Times. “And I think about what this accomplishment may mean for children of color, young LGBTQ youth, who question if there’s a place for them in the city. And I hope that my election tells them that there is, if they’re willing to work hard.”

The new mayor, who is Native American, Filipino, Puerto Rican and Dutch, said he loves Vice President-elect Kamala Harris because she’s making “multiracial” understandable. He vows to create opportunity for people of color like himself when he takes office.

“You have these people from these very different backgrounds who are able to come here and make a life for themselves and I worry very much that stories like theirs are not replicable in San Diego in 2020,” he said. “My public service is about trying to make sure those pathways of opportunity continue to exist.”