California New Members 2023

Rep.-elect Kevin Mullin (D-Calif.-15)

DATE OF BIRTH: June 15, 1970
RESIDENCE: South San Francisco, Calif.
OCCUPATION: California State Assembly member
EDUCATION: B.A., University of San Francisco; MPA, San Francisco State University
FAMILY: wife, Jessica Stanfill Mullin; two children

• Rep.-elect Kevin Mullin (D-Calif.) served for nearly a decade in the California State Assembly before running for the House of Representatives. 

He will represent California’s 15th Congressional District after defeating fellow Democrat David Canepa in the midterm elections.

Mullin, a fourth-generation resident of San Mateo County, has deep connections to California politics. His father, Gene Mullin, had a long career in both local and state politics. Both generations of Mullins served on the South San Francisco City Council, with the elder Mullin serving two terms as mayor, as well as in the state assembly. 

Kevin Mullin worked as political director for his father and served as district director for Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.), whose congressional seat he is filling, when she was a state senator.

During his time in the assembly, he also served as Speaker pro tempore. 

— Joseph Choi

Rep.-elect Sydney Kamlager (D-Calif.-37)

DATE OF BIRTH: July 20, 1972
RESIDENCE: View Park, Calif.
OCCUPATION: California state senator
EDUCATION: B.A., University of Southern California; M.A., Carnegie Mellon University
FAMILY: husband, Austin; two stepchildren

• California State Sen. Sydney Kamlager (D) will represent portions of southern and central Los Angeles in California’s 37th Congressional District, after beating fellow Democratic candidate Jan Perry.

Both Democrats were able to advance to the general election this November given the Golden State’s use of a top-two primary system, in which the top two candidates in the primary election move forward regardless of their party affiliation.

Kamlager will replace Democratic Rep. Karen Bass in the 37th congressional district. Bass, who ran for mayor of Los Angeles this election cycle, endorsed Kamlager. Vice President Harris also endorsed her.

Kamlager has previously represented a similar swath of Los Angeles, both in the California State Assembly and the California State Senate. According to her campaign website, Kamlager plans to focus on voting rights, reproductive justice and criminal justice reform, among other issues, while in Congress.

— Julia Shapero

Rep.-elect Robert Garcia (D-Calif.-42)

DATE OF BIRTH: Dec. 2, 1977
RESIDENCE: Long Beach, Calif.
OCCUPATION: mayor of Long Beach
EDUCATION: B.A., Ed.D., California State University, Long Beach; M.A.,
University of Southern California
FAMILY: husband, Matthew Mendez Garcia

• Robert Garcia will represent California’s 42nd Congressional District as the first openly gay immigrant elected to Congress and the third openly LGBTQ representative from California.

Garcia, who was born in Lima, Peru, and served as mayor of Long Beach for eight years, will succeed Rep. Ken Calvert (R), who lost his seat due to  redistricting.

As mayor of Long Beach, Garcia spearheaded the city’s aggressive COVID-19 testing and vaccination initiatives that earned his administration national recognition. He lost his mother, a health care worker, and stepfather to the virus.

Under Garcia’s leadership, Long Beach in 2018 was made a so-called sanctuary city that provides protections for immigrants. Garcia, who was able to apply for permanent legal residency thanks to immigration reform passed in the 1980s, has pledged to “expand pathways to citizenship for undocumented residents and fight to end legal discrimination against undocumented residents.”

— Brooke Migdon