As the general election approaches, the Korean American Grassroots Conference would like to help all of our community members stay informed with the latest developments in election administrations, as well as candidates for other offices than the White House. The first in a three-part series, this post focuses on the five Korean American candidates running for a federal office in 2020. As of October 2020, there are 7 Korean Americans serving in appointed positions in law enforcement—including U.S. Attorney, Assistant U.S. Attorneys, and federal judges across the country—and 1 member of the U.S. Congress.
You can find the rest of the series here:
- Korean American Elected Officials and Candidates: State and Metropolitan City Offices (to be uploaded in October 2020)
- Korean American Elected Officials and Candidates: Local Offices (to be uploaded in October 2020)
1. Andy Kim, U.S. House of Representatives (D, NJ-3) Incumbent*
Rep. Andy Kim spoke at the 2017 KAGC National Conference.
The election of Rep. Andy Kim (D, NJ-3) in 2018 made waves of impact across the United States. Those in the Democratic Party applauded the political newcomer’s defeat of a two-term GOP incumbent in a swing district, but the Korean American community celebrated the election of a first Korean American to the U.S. Congress since 1993—and New Jersey’s first Asian American member of Congress ever.
A Rhodes Scholar and career diplomat, Rep. Kim is the second Korean American to ever serve as a member of Congress and the first Korean American Democrat to do so. He grew up in southern New Jersey in the district he now represents with his parents who had immigrated from Korea. Rep. Kim attended Harvard College and was selected as a Rhodes Scholar in 2005, after which he went on to serve in the USAID, Pentagon, and White House where he advised the Secretary of Defense, Generals David Petraeus and John Allen in Afghanistan, and the National Security Council.
Despite having never run for any elected office, Rep. Kim won his first race in 2018. Since then, he has served in the House Armed Services Committee, House Small Business Committee whose Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Tax, and Capital Access Rep. Kim chairs, House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, as well as the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, where he was elected as the Freshman Representative.
In the House of Representatives, Rep. Kim has supported numerous efforts to strengthen the U.S.-Korea relations through security alliance, trade partnership, and other domains of exchange. He signed onto legislation like the American Dream and Promise Act (H.R. 6), United States and Republic of Korea Alliance Support Act (H.R. 889), resolution supporting the goals and ideals of Korean American Day (H.Res. 38), resolution commemorating the centennial anniversary of Korea’s March First Movement Day (H.Res. 164), resolution encouraging reunions of divided Korean-American families (H.Res. 410), Korean American VALOR Act (H.R. 5590), and the resolution calling for a formal end of the Korean war (H.Res. 152) as an original co-sponsor and co-sponsored the Partner with Korea Act (H.R. 1762), Divided Families Reunification Act (H.R. 1771), and Adoptee Citizenship Act (H.R. 2731).
Each member of the U.S. House of Representatives represents a population of 700,000 constituents on average. New Jersey’s 3rd congressional district, represented by Rep. Kim, encompasses most of Burlington County and parts of Ocean County in southern New Jersey, with Korean population of 2,588. The district voted for Trump (51.4%) in the 2016 presidential election, and for Romney (51.8%) in the 2012 presidential election.
Rep. Kim has spoken at the KAGC events on multiple occasions since 2017, including the 2017 KAGC National Conference, 2019 KAGC U Leadership Summit, and 2019 KAGC National Conference.
2. Marilyn Strickland, U.S. House of Representatives (D, WA-10)
Marilyn Strickland, former Mayor of Tacoma and current candidate for Washington’s 10th Congressional District.
Daughter of a veteran of the World War II and Korean war, Marilyn Strickland was born to an African American father and Korean mother in Seoul. Ms. Strickland worked in the private sector as a business administrator before being elected to the Tacoma City Council in 2007. After serving two terms, Ms. Strickland ran for the mayor of the city and served as the 38th Mayor of Tacoma from 2010 to 2017—the first Asian-born elected mayor of the city and the first African American woman to occupy the office.
During her mayorship, Ms. Strickland focused on improving education with an emphasis on workforce training, investing in transportation, and attracting international investment, which led to a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2015 and helped create “over 40,000 new jobs in the Tacoma region.” Her public-private partnership has been recognized by the National League of Cities Women in Municipal Government in 2013 and the Washington Council on International Trade in 2015.
Since 2018, Ms. Strickland has served as the President and CEO of the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce as the first person of color and second woman to helm the 136-year-old organization. In May 2020, Ms. Strickland announced her bid for the 10th congressional district of Washington, a seat vacated by the incumbent Rep. Denny Heck (D, WA-10) who is now running for Lieutenant Governor of Washington instead.
The 10th district is situated at the southern end of Puget Sound, centered on Olympia and stretching to Tacoma and other suburban areas of greater Seattle. There are 9,560 Korean American residents in the district, which Cook Political Report describes as “solid Democratic.” The district voted for Clinton (50%) in the 2016 presidential election, and for Obama (56%) in the 2012 presidential election. Ms. Strickland won 20.5% of all votes in the primary election that took place on August 11th, 2020, the most among 19 candidates who ran for the seat.
3. Michelle Eunjoo Park Steel, U.S. House of Representatives (R, CA-48)
Michelle Steel is the current chair of the Orange County Board of Supervisors and a candidate for CA-48.
An immigrant from Korea herself, Michelle Steele has served on the Orange County Board of Supervisors since 2014 where she was elected as the Chair in 2017. She is the first Korean American to serve on the Board. In 2019, Ms. Steele was also appointed as a Co-Chair to the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders by President Trump.
Ms. Steel also serves on the Orange County Transportation Authority Board of Directors since 2015, in addition to that of the Korean American Republican Association and a number of organizations across California. Prior to her election to the Orange County Board of Supervisors, she was elected to the California State Board of Equalization in 2006, a state agency responsible for tax administrations where she also served as Vice Chair in 2011 before her term expired in 2015.
Throughout her public service, Ms. Steel has advocated for lowering taxes, fought against “sanctuary city” policies, and expressed opposition to same-sex marriage. Ms. Steel graduated from Pepperdine University and earned a MBA from the University of Southern California. Since 1981, she has been married to Shawn Steel, former Chairman of the California Republican Party and current Republican National Committee Committeeman.
California’s 48th Congressional District includes Huntington Beach, Laguna Beach, and other municipalities along the coast of Orange County, as well as parts of Garden Grove and Irvine. U.S. Census estimates the Korean American population in the district to be 7,004. The district is currently represented by Rep. Harley Rouda (D, CA-48) who was elected in 2018 with 53.5% of the votes against a 10-term incumbent.
In the primary election that took place on March 3rd, the incumbent Rep. Rouda won 46.7% of the votes, and Ms. Steel 34.9%. The hotly contested district voted for Clinton (47.9%) in the 2016 presidential election, but for Romney (54.7%) in 2012.
4. Young O. Kim, U.S. House of Representatives (R, CA-39)
Young Kim served in the California State Assembly from 2015 to 2017 and now running for Congress in CA-39 for the second time since 2018.
Young Kim, a one-term former California Assemblywoman and a two-time challenger for the Congressional seat in California’s 39th district, is perhaps more widely known as a long-time aide to former Rep. Ed Royce, or from her TV show and radio program on Korean media outlets in Southern California.
As an immigrant from Korea, Ms. Kim graduated from the University of Southern California in 1981 and went on to run a small business before serving as a community liaison and director of Asian affairs in former-Congressman Royce’s office for 21 years. In 2014, she challenged the incumbent Assembly member in her hometown in northern Orange County and became the first Korean American Republican woman to serve in the California State Assembly.
A fiscal conservative, Ms. Kim favors reduced regulations, increased trade, and lowering taxes. While she has expressed support for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, Ms. Kim has opposed sanctuary city policies and same-sex marriage.
In her first bid for Congress in 2018, Ms. Kim received 21.2% of the votes in the 17-way primary but lost to Rep. Gil Cisneros (D, CA-39) who currently represents the district after winning the general election with 51.6% of the votes.
With 47,654 Korean Americans in the district, the 39th district includes municipalities like Fullerton, Buena Park, and Diamond Bar across much of Orange County, as well as parts of Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties. In the March 2020 primary elections, the challenger Young Kim won 48.4% of the votes, whereas the incumbent Rep. Cisneros won 46.8%.
The University of Virginia’s Center for Politics describes this year’s race as “leans Democratic.” The 39th district voted for Clinton (51.5%) in the 2016 presidential election and for Romney (50.8%) in the 2012 presidential election.
Rep. Cisneros has introduced the Korean American VALOR Act (H.R. 5590) and supported several pieces of legislation related to U.S.-Korea relations and to the Korean American community.
5. David Kim, U.S. House of Representatives (D, CA-34)
David Kim is a candidate for CA-34.
A son of Korean immigrants, David Yung Ho Kim is an immigration attorney who in 2019 was elected to the MacArthur Park Neighborhood Council. Shortly after graduating from law school, Mr. Kim went on to work for the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office as a law clerk. Self-described progressive candidate, Mr. Kim has secured the endorsement of Sunrise Movement Los Angeles, Our Revolution Los Angeles, as well as Andrew Yang who vied for the Democratic Party’s nomination for president earlier in 2020.
The 36-year-old candidate is running on campaign promises such as universal basic income (UBI), homes guarantee, cancelling student debt, and abolishing ICE.
The 34th congressional district of California is home to the largest Korean American population as a single district anywhere at 59,101 and counting, represented by Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D, CA-34) who was elected in a special election in 2017, after serving in the California State Assembly for three terms. The district is located in the heart of Los Angeles and encompasses Koreatown.
In the 2018 general election, Rep. Gomez clenched his second-term in U.S. Congress with 72.5% of the votes. In the 2020 primary election, both the incumbent Rep. Gomez and the challenger advanced to the general election with 52.1% of the votes and 21.0%, respectively.
As the Representative of the largest Korean American district, Congressman Gomez has led the “Korean American Day” resolution in both the 115th (H.Res. 686) and 116th Congresses (H.Res. 38), in addition to supporting the Divided Families Reunification Act (H.R. 1771) and Adoptee Citizenship Act (H.R. 2371). Rep. Gomez has also penned a joint op-ed with KAGC on the 70th anniversary of the Korean war and another piece with Rep. Woodall (R, GA-7) in celebration of the Korean American Day.
Stay tuned for the rest of the series:
- Korean American Elected Officials and Candidates: State-level Offices (to be uploaded in October 2020)
- Korean American Elected Officials and Candidates: Local-level Office (to be uploaded in October 2020)