Gil Cisneros

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 (age 53); 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 Mega Millions lottery jackpot^[2] and became philanthropists. He was elected to the House in 2018 to represent California's 39th congressional district.^[3] He was defeated in his 2020 bid for reelection by former California State Assembly member Young Kim, whom he had defeated in 2018. In April 2021, he was nominated by President Biden to serve as Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, and after confirmation by the Senate, he assumed office on August 24, 2021.^[4] On August 1, 2023, he announced he was stepping down from his position in the Pentagon in early September. On September 18 he announced his candidacy for California's 31st congressional district in the 2024 election.^[5]^[6]

Early life and education

Cisneros was born in Los Angeles, of Californio heritage.^[7] His mother worked in a cafeteria, while his father served in the Vietnam War and suffered from exposure to Agent Orange.^[2] Cisneros served in the United States Navy as a supply officer for 11 years.^[8] He earned his Bachelor of Arts in political science from George Washington University and his Master of Business Administration from Regis University.^[9]

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 Master of Arts from Brown University in Urban Education Policy,^[2]^[8] and an MBA from Regis University.

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 Ed Royce in the 2018 election for the United States House of Representatives to represent California's 39th congressional district.^[11]^[14] He specifically cited Royce's vote to repeal the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, as a reason he chose to run.^[13] In January 2018, Royce announced he would retire rather than seek reelection to a 14th term.^[15] Later, the election attracted national attention as the "weirdest race in the country" after the California Democratic Party and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee brokered a truce on negative campaigning between Cisneros and Andy Thorburn, who had each spent $6 million on their respective campaigns.^[16]

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 Young Kim,^[17] with 19.35% of the vote.^[18] This election was rated a "Toss-up" by the Cook Political Report and Sabato's Crystal Ball.^[19] The Associated Press called the election for Cisneros on November 17.^[20]

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

Biden administration

On April 12, 2021, the White House announced that Cisneros would be nominated to serve as Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness in the Biden administration;^[22] his nomination was received on April 27.^[23] On July 27, the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) voted to advance Cisneros's nomination to the full chamber for a future vote.^[23]^[24] Cisneros was confirmed unanimously by the Senate on August 11, 2021 by voice vote,^[25] and he was sworn in on August 24, 2021.^[4]

Electoral history

California's 39th congressional district election, 2018
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

California's 39th congressional district election, 2020
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.

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. Archived from the original on June 13, 2018. 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.

External links

Campaign website

Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
Legislation sponsored at the Library of Congress
Profile at Vote Smart
Appearances on C-SPAN

U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Ed Royce	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 39th congressional district 2019–2021	Succeeded by Young Kim
Political offices
Preceded by Matthew Donovan	Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness 2021–2023	Succeeded by Ashish Vazirani Acting
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by Gloria McLeod as Former US Representative	Order of precedence of the United States as Former US Representative	Succeeded by TJ Cox as Former US Representative

[1] "CISNEROS, Gil - Biographical Information". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. United States Congress.

[cbslocal-2] "Former Navy Vet, Lottery Winner Joins Race To Unseat GOP Congressman". Losangeles.cbslocal.com. July 17, 2017. Retrieved June 13, 2018.

[3] "Democrat Cisneros wins OC's 39th district". November 18, 2018. Retrieved November 18, 2018.

[DOD_profile-4] "Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness - The Honorable Gilbert R. Cisneros Jr". United States Department of Defense. Retrieved September 17, 2021.

[5] "Cisneros to leave Pentagon in early September after controversial tenure". July 31, 2023.

[6] Altimari, Daniela (September 18, 2023). "Cisneros eyes open California seat for return to Congress". Roll Call. Retrieved October 12, 2023.

[7] "¿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.

[ocregister-8] "Republicans-turned-Democrats challenging O.C. GOP Congress members". Orange County Register. July 19, 2017. Retrieved June 13, 2018.

[ip-9] 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.

[sdut-10] "TV news employee in LA has $266M winning ticket". The San Diego Union-Tribune. May 6, 2010. Retrieved June 13, 2018.

[latimes-11] 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.

[12] David Callahan. "The Big Money Behind a New College Fund for Immigrant "DREAMers" — Inside Philanthropy". Insidephilanthropy.com. Archived from the original on June 13, 2018. Retrieved June 13, 2018.

[:0-13] "Lottery Winner to Challenge Royce in California". Rollcall.com. July 17, 2017. Retrieved June 13, 2018.

[14] Wildermuth, John (April 21, 2018). "Lottery millionaire wins again: National Democrats help him in Orange County race". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved June 13, 2018.

[15] "Rep. Ed Royce of California to retire, the 8th GOP chairman to bow out ahead of midterms". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 18, 2018.

[16] "This is the weirdest race in the country". POLITICO. Retrieved July 1, 2018.

[17] Robertson, Derek (June 6, 2018). "This is basically a home run for Democrats". Politico. Retrieved June 13, 2018.

[BPGC-18] "Gil Cisneros". Ballotpedia. Retrieved July 2, 2018.

[:1-19] "California's 39th Congressional District election, 2018 - Ballotpedia". Retrieved July 1, 2018.

[20] "Dem Gil Cisneros scores win in open-seat race in California". TheHill. November 18, 2018. Retrieved November 18, 2018.

[21] "Reference Guide". Roll Call. September 24, 2003. Retrieved March 11, 2024.

[22] "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.

[Congress-23] "PN426 — Gilbert Ray Cisneros Jr — Department of Defense". congress.gov. United States Congress. Retrieved July 31, 2021.

[24] "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.

[25] "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.

[26] "She won $266 million; chatted on 'Oprah'". Orange County Register. May 24, 2011. Retrieved June 13, 2018.

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Gil Cisneros

Early life and education

Career

Lottery win

Continuing education

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2018

2020

2024

Tenure

Committee assignments

Caucus memberships

Biden administration

Electoral history

Personal life

See also

References

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