A Fireside Chat with Mayor Gloria

Mayor, City of San Diego

Todd Gloria

On December 10, 2020, Todd Gloria was sworn in as the 37th Mayor of the City of San Diego – America’s eighth largest city. He is the first person-of-color and the first LGBTQ person to ever be elected the city’s Mayor.

A third-generation San Diegan of Filipino, Dutch, Puerto Rican, and Native American descent, Mayor Gloria’s lifelong career in public service was inspired by a lesson his parents – a hotel maid and a gardener – taught him at a young age: if you care about something, then you should leave it better than you found it. That lesson continues to motivate Mayor Gloria to improve San Diego every single day.

Mayor Gloria has spent his entire professional life in service to the public, beginning his career at the County of San Diego’s Health and Human Services Agency. He then went on to serve as District Director to United States Congresswoman Susan A. Davis, whom he credits as his mentor.

In 2008, Mayor Gloria was elected to the San Diego City Council following Christine Kehoe and Toni Atkins in serving the Third District. In 2012, after serving his first term, Mayor Gloria’s colleagues on the City Council elected him as their City Council President.

In 2013, he assumed the reigns of the City, beginning his time as Interim Mayor after the resignation of Bob Filner. During that time, Mayor Gloria is widely credited with restoring the public’s trust in city government.

In 2016, Mayor Gloria was elected to the California State Assembly to represent the 78th Assembly District. He immediately rose to a leadership position in the Assembly serving first as Assistant Majority Whip and eventually Majority Whip.

During his time in the Assembly, Mayor Gloria passed legislation on many of the major issues San Diego is working to address including building more affordable housing, fighting gun violence, combatting climate change, and providing resources for those experiencing homelessness.

As the 37th Mayor of San Diego, Mayor Gloria is committed to making San Diego a city of opportunity that invests in every neighborhood and every San Diegan.

Mayor Gloria is a graduate of the University of San Diego and an enrolled member of the Tlingit Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska. He lives in the neighborhood of Mission Hills.

Professor and Department Chair, Political Science, UC San Diego; Political Commenter, Various Publications

Thad Kousser

Thad Kousser is a Professor of Political Science and Department Chair at UC San Diego, where he studies American state and national politics. He has been a visiting professor at Stanford University, a Flinders Fulbright Distinguished Chair at Flinders University in Australia, received UCSD’s Academic Senate’s Distinguished Teaching Award, served as co-editor of the journals Legislative Studies Quarterly and State Politics and Policy Quarterly, and has worked as a staff assistant in the California, New Mexico, and United States Senates. Kousser also comments on American politics for venues such as NPR, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, Politico, The Hill, the Los Angeles Times, and the San Diego Union Tribune.