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Dave Min

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For the Dutch footballer, see David Min (footballer).

Dave Min
Official House portrait of Min smiling in front of the U.S. flag, wearing a black suit, white shirt, and orange tie.
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from California's 47th district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 3, 2025
Preceded byKatie Porter
Member of the California Senate
from the 37th district
In office
December 7, 2020 – November 30, 2024
Preceded byJohn Moorlach
Succeeded bySteven Choi
Personal details
Born (1976-03-05) March 5, 1976 (age 48)
Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse
Jane Stoever
​
(m. 2005)​
Children3
EducationUniversity of Pennsylvania (BS)
Harvard University (JD)
WebsiteHouse website

David Kunnghee Min (born March 5, 1976) is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the U.S. representative from California's 47th congressional district since 2025. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented the 37th district in the California State Senate from 2020 to 2024, which includes portions of Orange County. He was an assistant law professor at the University of California, Irvine prior to being elected to office.

Min ran in the 2018 election to represent California's 45th congressional district but was defeated in the nonpartisan blanket primary by incumbent Congresswoman Mimi Walters and fellow UC Irvine professor Katie Porter, who went on to defeat Walters in the general election.[1] He was elected to the state senate in the 2020 elections after defeating Costa Mesa mayor and future Orange County Board of Supervisors member Katrina Foley in the primary and then by narrowly defeating incumbent Republican John Moorlach in the November election.[2]

Min defeated Republican nominee Scott Baugh in the 2024 election to represent California's 47th congressional district.[3]

Early life and career

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Min was born on March 5, 1976, in Providence, Rhode Island, and raised in Palo Alto, California.[4] His parents immigrated to the United States from South Korea in 1972 to pursue doctoral degrees at Brown University.[5] He attended the University of Pennsylvania, earning bachelor of science in economics from the Wharton School and a bachelor of arts in philosophy from the School of Arts and Sciences, both in 1999.[6] He then attended Harvard Law School, where he earned his Juris Doctor in 2002.[7]

After graduating from Harvard Law School, Min worked in financial regulation as a staff attorney at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Banking Committee counsel for Senator Chuck Schumer, and counsel and senior policy advisor for the Joint Economic Committee.[8][9] He joined the Center for American Progress, a left-wing think tank, in 2009 as its associate director for financial markets policy and supervisor of its Mortgage Finance Working Group.[10][11]

He became an assistant law professor at the University of California, Irvine in 2012 and focused on banking law, capital markets, and real estate finance.[9] The same year, he testified about the impact of Dodd-Frank Financial Regulations to the House Financial Services Subcommittee.[12] He passed the California bar exam in 2022.[13]

Early political career

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2018 congressional campaign

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Min announced his House candidacy on April 5, 2017, challenging incumbent Rep. Mimi Walters in California's 45th congressional district.[14] Min stated he was inspired to run for Congress after President Donald Trump temporarily suspended immigration from certain predominantly Muslim countries, which he said was a "slap in the face" to the son of two immigrants.[15] Min said there is a new "groundswell of political consciousness" nationally among Korean Americans, with people starting to feel comfortable enough to enter politics.[16]

Min received the endorsement of the California Democratic Party at its State Convention in February 2018 after a contentious floor fight where he barely received the necessary 60% of the vote.[17][18]

Min criticized Walters for living outside of the district and for refusing to hold public or in-person town halls.[5] Min came in third place in the primary election behind Walters and Katie Porter.[1] Porter went on to win the general election.

California State Senate

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Official portrait as state senator, 2023

On January 9, 2019, Min announced his campaign against State Senator John Moorlach to represent the California's 37th State Senate district.[19] In the primary election, Min defeated Costa Mesa Mayor Katrina Foley, thus advancing to the general election to face Moorlach.[20]

Min narrowly defeated Moorlach in the fall of 2020 with 51.2% of the vote.[21] He assumed office on December 7, 2020. His term lasts four years.[22]

While in office, Min introduced legislation related to violence, including bills to expand protections for survivors of domestic abuse, study harassment on California's transit systems, make child custody cases private by default, and reduce gun shows and sales on state-owned property.[23][24][25][26][27]

Min also introduced legislation to facilitate the termination of offshore oil drilling leases in Orange County following the 2021 Huntington Beach oil spill, but it died following opposition from the oil industry and trade unions.[28] Some lawmakers, including Bob Hertzberg, expressed concerns about the cost of Min's proposed legislation.[29]

U.S. House of Representatives

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Elections

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2024

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Main article: 2024 California's 47th congressional district election

Min announced a second campaign for Congress in January 2023, running for California's 47th congressional district.[30] Katie Porter, the incumbent representative who defeated Min in the 2018 congressional primary, vacated the seat to run in the 2024 United States Senate election in California and endorsed Min to succeed her.[31] After Min was arrested and convicted for a DUI, former representative Harley Rouda called for him to drop out of the race. Min declined to leave the race.

He finished second in the top two primary for CA-47 and advanced to the general election.[32] He faced Scott Baugh, a former assemblymember who was Porter's opponent in 2022. The Associated Press projected Min to be the winner of the election on November 13.[33]

Tenure

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Min was sworn in on January 3, 2025.

Min voted against a bipartisan bill, backed by over 60 House Democrats that would make sexual and domestic violence deportable offenses.[34]

Caucus membership

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Personal life

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Min is married to Jane Stoever, a clinical professor of law at UC Irvine.[36] She works on domestic violence issues.[37] They have three children.[5] He is Episcopalian.[38]

Min was arrested in Sacramento for drunk driving in 2023.[39] He had a blood alcohol level nearly twice the legal limit and did not have his headlights on when he was pulled over for driving through a red light.[40] Min pleaded no contest, and was sentenced to three years informal probation.[41]

Electoral history

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2018

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2018 California's 45th congressional district election
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Mimi Walters (incumbent) 86,764 51.7
Democratic Katie Porter 34,078 20.3
Democratic Dave Min 29,979 17.8
Democratic Brian Forde 10,107 6.0
No party preference John Graham 3,817 2.3
Democratic Kia Hamadanchy 3,212 1.9
Total votes 167,957 100.0
General election
Democratic Katie Porter 158,906 52.1
Republican Mimi Walters (incumbent) 146,383 47.9
Total votes 305,289 100.0
Democratic gain from Republican

2020

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2020 California's 37th State Senate district election
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican John Moorlach (incumbent) 132,275 47.3
Democratic Dave Min 78,293 28.0
Democratic Katrina Foley 68,952 24.7
Total votes 279,520 100.0
General election
Democratic Dave Min 270,522 51.1
Republican John Moorlach (incumbent) 258,421 48.9
Total votes 528,943 100.0
Democratic gain from Republican

2024

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2024 California's 47th congressional district election[42][43]
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Scott Baugh 57,517 32.1
Democratic Dave Min 46,393 25.9
Democratic Joanna Weiss 34,802 19.4
Republican Max Ukropina 26,585 14.8
Republican Long Pham 4,862 2.7
No party preference Terry Crandall 2,878 1.6
Democratic Boyd Roberts 2,570 1.4
No party preference Tom McGrath 1,611 0.9
No party preference Bill Smith 1,062 0.6
Democratic Shariq Zaidi 788 0.4
Total votes 179,068 100.0
General election
Democratic Dave Min 181,721 51.4
Republican Scott Baugh 171,554 48.6
Total votes 353,275 100.0
Democratic hold

References

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  1. ^ a b "2018 California general election results" (PDF). California Secretary of State. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  2. ^ "Democrat Dave Min declares victory over GOP incumbent John Moorlach in 37th Senate District". Orange County Register. November 4, 2020.
  3. ^ Mason, Melanie (November 12, 2024). "Democrat Dave Min keeps Katie Porter's House seat blue". Politico.
  4. ^ "Rep. Dave Min - D California, 47th, In Office - Biography | LegiStorm". www.legistorm.com. Retrieved January 7, 2025.
  5. ^ a b c Namkung, Victoria (May 23, 2017). "'Policy Nerd' Dave Min Wants to Give Up Academia for a Seat in Congress". NBC News. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
  6. ^ https://fedsoc.org/contributors/david-min
  7. ^ "David Min". University of California, Irvine School of Law. Archived from the original on June 2, 2017. Retrieved June 7, 2017.
  8. ^ Hagen, Lisa (April 26, 2017). "Dems crowd primaries to challenge GOP reps". The Hill. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
  9. ^ a b Coker, Matt (April 6, 2017). "David Min is Second Democrat UCI Law Professor to Challenge Rep. Mimi Walters". OC Weekly. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
  10. ^ Dayen, David (May 25, 2018). "In a California House Race, THe Democratic Party's Candidate is Going to War Against Elizabeth Warren's". The Intercept. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
  11. ^ Wisckol, Martin (April 5, 2017). "Dave Min, a UC Irvine law professor, will challenge Rep. Mimi Walters". Orange County Register. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
  12. ^ "Impact of Dodd-Frank Financial Regulation Law". C-SPAN.org. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
  13. ^ "State Senator Among Lucky Few Who Passed California's February Bar Exam". The Recorder. Retrieved May 24, 2022.
  14. ^ "Where Congressional Candidates from UCI Stand on Local and National Issues – New University". www.newuniversity.org. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
  15. ^ Summers, Juana. "Outraged by Trump, these candidates of color are now running for office". CNN. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
  16. ^ "California House Race Is a Test of Latino, Korean Influence". Associated Press. Retrieved June 7, 2017.
  17. ^ Mai-Duc, Christine (February 25, 2018). "Dave Min gets Democratic endorsement for Congress after intense fight on the convention floor". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 25, 2018.
  18. ^ Nwanevu, Osita. "California Is Not As Liberal As You Think". Slate Magazine. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
  19. ^ Graham, Jordan. "Democrat who lost D.C. bid in June says he'll try for Sacramento next". Orange County Register. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
  20. ^ "2020 California primary election results" (PDF). California Secretary of State. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
  21. ^ "Democrat Dave Min declares victory over GOP incumbent John Moorlach in 37th Senate District". Orange County Register. November 4, 2020. Retrieved November 29, 2020.
  22. ^ "2022 Election: New districts, new contenders for Orange County state seats". Orange County Register. March 17, 2022. Retrieved May 24, 2022.
  23. ^ "Proposed legislation aims to curb anti-Asian violence, harassment". spectrumnews1.com. Retrieved May 24, 2022.
  24. ^ "AAPI Heritage Month: 100 ways Asian Americans and allies are fighting hate crimes, violence". www.nbcnews.com. Retrieved May 24, 2022.
  25. ^ "Proposed law would make it tough for abusive parents to get unsupervised visits with their kids". Orange County Register. August 27, 2021. Retrieved May 24, 2022.
  26. ^ Cardine, Sara (February 4, 2022). "Bill targeting gun shows, sales on state-owned fairgrounds reintroduced by O.C. senator". Daily Pilot. Retrieved May 24, 2022.
  27. ^ "Domestic violence victims would get new protections under bills from State Sen. Dave Min". Orange County Register. February 17, 2021. Retrieved May 24, 2022.
  28. ^ Willon, Phil (May 20, 2022). "California lawmakers kill plans to ban oil drilling in state-controlled waters". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved May 24, 2022.
  29. ^ Willon, Phil (April 27, 2022). "Push to limit California offshore oil after O.C. spill threatened by high taxpayers costs". Daily Pilot. Retrieved May 24, 2022.
  30. ^ Nguyen, Lily (January 19, 2023). "State Sen. Dave Min announces bid for congressional seat in coastal Orange County". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
  31. ^ Gans, Jared (January 18, 2023). "Dave Min announces bid for Porter's California House seat, nabs her endorsement". The Hill. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
  32. ^ "California 47th Congressional District Primary Election Results". The New York Times. March 5, 2024. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 14, 2024.
  33. ^ "AP Race Call: Democrat Dave Min wins election to U.S. House in California's 47th Congressional District". AP News. November 14, 2024. Retrieved November 14, 2024.
  34. ^ "Dozens of House Dems back GOP immigration bill related to sex crimes".
  35. ^ "Caucus Members". Congressional Progressive Caucus. Retrieved January 15, 2025.
  36. ^ "Jane K. Stoever". University of California, Irvine School of Law. Retrieved June 8, 2017.
  37. ^ Bowman, Bridget (May 24, 2018). "Could Negative Campaigning in California Primaries Dampen Democratic Energy?". Roll Call. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
  38. ^ "Religious affiliation of members of the 119th Congress" (PDF). Pew Research Center. Retrieved January 8, 2025.
  39. ^ White, Jeremy B. (May 3, 2023). "California lawmaker running for Congress is arrested for drunk driving". Politico. Retrieved May 4, 2023.
  40. ^ Ramos, Richard (May 24, 2023). "CHP releases video of state Senator Dave Min's DUI arrest in Sacramento - CBS Sacramento". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
  41. ^ "Convicted criminal Dave Min should drop out of Orange County congressional race". Orange County Register. Retrieved January 17, 2024.
  42. ^ "Statement of Vote" (PDF). sos.ca.gov. Sacramento: Secretary of State of California. 2024. p. 90. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 18, 2024. Retrieved January 16, 2025.
  43. ^ "Statement of Vote" (PDF). sos.ca.gov. Sacramento: Secretary of State of California. 2024. p. 7. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 30, 2024. Retrieved January 16, 2025.
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U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from California's 47th congressional district
2025–present 		Incumbent
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by United States representatives by seniority
415th 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dave_Min&oldid=1271400882"