California Congressman John Garamendi says he’s been diagnosed with type of blood cancer

Gillian Brassil
·2 min read
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Rep. John Garamendi, D-Walnut Grove, revealed Monday he has been diagnosed with cancer in a video posted on X.

“’When will you be back in California? You need to come in for a series of tests,’” Garamendi recounted his doctor saying. “Thus began my journey with multiple myeloma.”

Garamendi, 79, said tests confirmed he had an early stage of the blood cancer. Multiple myeloma is a cancer which forms in white blood cells called plasma cells, according to Mayo Clinic. Cancerous plasma cells build up in bone marrow in cases of multiple myeloma. Typically, plasma cells help fight infections by producing antibodies.

The congressman said that he has “embarked on my journey to remission with a course of chemoimmunotherapy as an outpatient at Kaiser Oncology in Sacramento.”

He said he will continue working while taking treatments but that his doctors warned him to avoid unnecessary exposure to viruses, including COVID-19 and the flu.

Garamendi represents California’s 8th Congressional District, which grabs parts of Contra Costa and Solano counties. He was first elected to Congress in 2009 via a special election.

“With the benefit of early detection and excellent doctors, the love and support of (my wife) Patti and my entire family, the help of my extraordinary staff and colleagues in Congress,” Garamendi said, “I know that I’ll get through this while continuing to serve my extraordinary constituents and advance the American democracy.”

Garamendi has had a long political career in California. He was in the Assembly from 1974 to 1976 and the State Senate from then until 1990.

He became the state’s first elected insurance commissioner in 1990, serving from 1991 to 1995. He took the role again from 2003 to 2007.

Garamendi served as lieutenant governor from 2007 to 2009, during the administration of former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

He served in former President Bill Clinton’s administration as deputy secretary of the interior from 1995 to 1998. He was born in Florida but raised in California, earning his undergraduate degree at UC Berkeley and an MBA from Harvard Business School.