Gil Cisneros
Gil Cisneros | |
---|---|
10th Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness | |
In office August 24, 2021 – September 8, 2023 | |
President | Joe Biden |
Preceded by | Matthew Donovan |
Succeeded by | Ashish Vazirani (acting) |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 39th district | |
In office January 3, 2019 – January 3, 2021 | |
Preceded by | Ed Royce |
Succeeded by | Young Kim |
Personal details | |
Born | Gilbert Ray Cisneros Jr. February 12, 1971 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Political party | Democratic (2008–present) |
Other political affiliations | Republican (before 2008) |
Spouse | Jacki |
Children | 2 |
Education | George Washington University (BA) Regis University (MBA) Brown University (MA) |
Military service | |
Allegiance | United States |
Branch/service | United States Navy |
Rank | Lieutenant Commander |
Gilbert Ray Cisneros Jr. (born February 12, 1971)[1] is an American government official, philanthropist, and politician who served as Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness in the Biden administration. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the U.S. representative for California's 39th congressional district from 2019 to 2021.
In 2010, he and his wife won a $266 million
Early life and education
Cisneros was born in
Career
Cisneros worked as a shipping and manufacturing manager for Frito-Lay until he was laid off in 2010.[10]
Lottery win
Weeks after he was laid off, Cisneros won a Mega Millions jackpot worth $266 million.[10] He and his wife became philanthropists, establishing endowments for scholarships to be given to Latino students at GWU and the University of Southern California. They also founded Generation First Degree Pico Rivera, with the goal of ensuring every Latino household in Pico Rivera has at least one college graduate, and the Gilbert and Jacki Cisneros Foundation with an initial investment of $20 million to provide mentorship in education.[9][11][12]
Gil Cisneros work in philanthropy led him to an appointment by President Barack Obama to be on the Advisory Committee on the Arts for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 2014.
Continuing education
After setting up the foundation, Cisneros earned a
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
2018
Cisneros was a Republican until 2008, but left the party because he felt it had become "too ideological" and switched to the Democratic Party.[13]
In 2017, he declared his candidacy against
Fears of a lockout by either party were not realized when Cisneros advanced to the November runoff election, finishing second in the June primary election to Republican former Assemblywoman
2020
Cisneros lost to Young Kim by a margin of 1.2% in the 2020 House of Representatives election for California's 39th congressional district, in a rematch of the 2018 election.
2024
On September 18, 2023 Cisneros announced his intention to make a return to Congress by announcing his candidacy for the vacant 31st congressional district seat that became available with the retirement of Grace Napolitano. [21] Cisneros finished first in the primary, among ten candidates, and will face Republican Daniel Martinez in the November general election.
Tenure
Committee assignments
Caucus memberships
- Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus
- Congressional Hispanic Caucus
- Congressional Progressive Caucus
- Congressional Taiwan Caucus
- New Democrat Coalition
Biden administration
On April 12, 2021, the White House announced that Cisneros would be nominated to serve as
Electoral history
Primary election | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
Republican | Young Kim
|
30,019 | 21.2 | |
Democratic | Gil Cisneros | 27,469 | 19.4 | |
Republican | Phil Liberatore | 20,257 | 14.3 | |
Democratic | Andy Thorburn | 12,990 | 9.2 | |
Republican | Shawn Nelson | 9,750 | 6.9 | |
Republican | Bob Huff | 8,699 | 6.2 | |
Democratic | Sam Jammal | 7,613 | 5.4 | |
Democratic | Mai-Khanh Tran | 7,430 | 5.3 | |
Democratic | Herbert H. Lee | 5,988 | 4.2 | |
Republican | Steven C. Vargas | 4,144 | 2.9 | |
Democratic | Suzi Park Leggett | 2,058 | 1.5 | |
Republican | John J. Cullum | 1,747 | 1.2 | |
No party preference
|
Karen Lee Schatzle | 903 | 0.6 | |
No party preference
|
Steve Cox | 856 | 0.6 | |
Republican | Andrew Sarega | 823 | 0.6 | |
American Independent | Sophia J. Alexander | 523 | 0.4 | |
American Independent | Ted Alemayhu | 176 | 0.1 | |
Total votes | 141,445 | 100.0 | ||
General election | ||||
Democratic | Gil Cisneros | 126,002 | 51.6 | |
Republican | Young Kim
|
118,391 | 48.4 | |
Total votes | 229,860 | 100.0 |
Primary election | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
Republican | Young Kim | 83,941 | 48.3 | |
Democratic | Gil Cisneros (incumbent) | 81,402 | 46.9 | |
No party preference
|
Steve Cox | 8,286 | 4.8 | |
Total votes | 173,629 | 100.0 | ||
General election | ||||
Republican | Young Kim | 173,946 | 50.6 | |
Democratic | Gil Cisneros (incumbent) | 169,837 | 49.4 | |
Total votes | 343,783 | 100.0 |
Personal life
Cisneros and his wife Jacki have twin sons.[8] They own a home in Pico Rivera,[26] and lived in Newport Beach until they moved to Yorba Linda in late 2017, the year he began running for election.[11] Before Cisneros won the lottery, Jacki worked for KNBC in Los Angeles.[10] Gil currently resides in El Monte, California.
See also
References
- ^ "CISNEROS, Gil - Biographical Information". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. United States Congress.
- ^ a b c "Former Navy Vet, Lottery Winner Joins Race To Unseat GOP Congressman". Losangeles.cbslocal.com. July 17, 2017. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
- ^ "Democrat Cisneros wins OC's 39th district". November 18, 2018. Retrieved November 18, 2018.
- ^ a b "Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness - The Honorable Gilbert R. Cisneros Jr". United States Department of Defense. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
- ^ "Cisneros to leave Pentagon in early September after controversial tenure". July 31, 2023.
- ^ Altimari, Daniela (September 18, 2023). "Cisneros eyes open California seat for return to Congress". Roll Call. Retrieved October 12, 2023.
- ^ "¿Hispanos en Congreso de EE.UU. podrían producir cambios? | Voice of America - Spanish". www.vozdeamerica.com. Archived from the original on July 20, 2021. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
- ^ a b c "Republicans-turned-Democrats challenging O.C. GOP Congress members". Orange County Register. July 19, 2017. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
- ^ a b L.S. Hall (June 24, 2015). "Lucky and Focused: A Lottery Winner Uses His Millions to Boost Hispanic Students — Inside Philanthropy". Insidephilanthropy.com. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
- ^ a b c "TV news employee in LA has $266M winning ticket". The San Diego Union-Tribune. May 6, 2010. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
- ^ a b c Christine Mai-Duc (August 5, 2017). "Navy veteran/lottery winner to challenge Orange County Rep. Ed Royce for Congress". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
- ^ David Callahan. "The Big Money Behind a New College Fund for Immigrant "DREAMers" — Inside Philanthropy". Insidephilanthropy.com. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
- ^ a b "Lottery Winner to Challenge Royce in California". Rollcall.com. July 17, 2017. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
- ^ Wildermuth, John (April 21, 2018). "Lottery millionaire wins again: National Democrats help him in Orange County race". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
- ^ "Rep. Ed Royce of California to retire, the 8th GOP chairman to bow out ahead of midterms". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 18, 2018.
- ^ "This is the weirdest race in the country". POLITICO. Retrieved July 1, 2018.
- ^ Robertson, Derek (June 6, 2018). "This is basically a home run for Democrats". Politico. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
- ^ "Gil Cisneros". Ballotpedia. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
- ^ "California's 39th Congressional District election, 2018 - Ballotpedia". Retrieved July 1, 2018.
- ^ "Dem Gil Cisneros scores win in open-seat race in California". TheHill. November 18, 2018. Retrieved November 18, 2018.
- ^ "Reference Guide". Roll Call. September 24, 2003. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
- ^ "President Biden Announces His Intent to Nominate 11 Key Administration Leaders on National Security and Law Enforcement". The White House. April 12, 2021. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
- ^ a b "PN426 — Gilbert Ray Cisneros Jr — Department of Defense". congress.gov. United States Congress. Retrieved July 31, 2021.
- ^ "SASC Advances Nominations of Del Toro, Cisneros, Miller, Karlin, Connor, 1,986 Military Promotions" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: Senate Armed Services Committee. July 27, 2021. Retrieved July 31, 2021.
- ^ "PN426 - Nomination of Gilbert Ray Cisneros Jr for Department of Defense, 117th Congress (2021-2022)". congress.gov. Library of Congress. August 11, 2021. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
- ^ "She won $266 million; chatted on 'Oprah'". Orange County Register. May 24, 2011. Retrieved June 13, 2018.