Dave Min

Dave Min lives in Irvine, California.[1] Min earned a B.S. in economics and a B.A. in philosophy from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School in 1999 and a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 2002.[2] His career experience includes working as an enforcement attorney with the Securities and Exchange Commission, a senior economic policy advisor for U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer, a professor with the University of California at Irvine School of Law, and an economic policy director at the Center for American Progress.[1][3][4]

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am a native Californian, son of Korean immigrants, husband, father of three children in

public schools, and former UC Irvine School of Law Professor running for Congress to protect our Democracy, defend our basic rights, and give everyone a fair shot at the American Dream. I have been endorsed by the California Democratic Party, Congresswoman Katie Porter, Teachers, Police, gun violence prevention groups, organized labor, and over 60 local leaders. I have 100% ratings from Planned Parenthood and Sierra Club, and an ‘F’ rating from the NRA.

I began my career holding Wall Street accountable by prosecuting corporate fraud at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. I have testified six times before Congress and led efforts to expand economic opportunity. As a California State Senator, I’ve passed 28 bills, including eight protecting domestic violence survivors, and I’ve taken on the gun lobby, Big Oil, and anti-choice MAGA extremists. I’ve been a champion for:

- Reproductive freedom, authoring a proposition to add abortion and contraception access to the California Constitution. 100% rating from Planned Parenthood.

- Ending gun violence, passing bills prohibiting gun shows on all state property. F rating from the NRA

- Climate rescue, authoring legislation to end offshore oil drilling and end our reliance on fossil fuels. 100% rating from Sierra Club

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Abortion and contraception accessGun violence preventionTaking bold action to address the climate crisis

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Aside from the priorities listed above, I am also uniquely concerned with expanding the rights of domestic violence survivors. In partnership with my spouse, Jane Soever–who is the Director of the UCI Domestic Violence Clinic and the UCI Initiative to End Family Violence–we have passed eight first-in-the-nation bills which work to protect and expand the autonomy of survivors. I am also focused on halting the rising trend of hate in our country, of all sorts: anti-Asian, anti-Black, anti-LGBTQ+, anti-trans, anti-Jewish, anti-Muslim, and all forms of marginalization. I felt compelled to run for office back in 2018, after bullying became the official policy platform of the Republican Party. As a man of color, I understand what it’s like to be pushed to the periphery. In Congress, I will be a vocal proponent of equity, unity, and a sense of welcome.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for representatives to have previous experience in government or politics?

I do. It’s one thing for candidates to speak to certain values–it’s another to put political capital on the line for a tough vote. With a 100% from Planned Parenthood and Sierra Club, recognition as a Labor Champion with the CA Labor Federation, and an ‘F’ from the NRA, I’ve done more than talk the talk. I have passed 28 bills into law in the California State Senate, and have the requisite experience to be an effective legislator in US Congress.

What do you perceive to be the United States' greatest challenges as a nation over the next decade?

Maintaining and expanding abortion and contraceptive access, preventing gun violence, and halting the impacts of the climate crisis.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

The California Democratic Party

The California Labor Federation

CA State Attorney General Rob Bonta

CA State Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara

CA State Lt. Governor Eleni Kounalakis

CA State Superintendent Of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond

CA State Treasurer Fiona Ma

Former CA State Treasurer John Chiang

Congressmember Judy Chu, CA-28

Congressmember Andy Kim, NJ-03

Congressmember Grace Meng, NY-06

Congressmember Kevin Mullin, CA-15

Congressmember Scott Peters, CA-50

Congressmember Katie Porter, CA-47

Congressmember Mark Takano, CA-41

Former Congressmember Howard Berman, CA-28

AAPI Victory Fund

Asian American Action Fund

Asian American Forward

Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Rising and Empowering (ASPIRE) PAC

Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs (ALADS)

California School Employees Association (CSEA)

California Federation of Teachers (CFT)

Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 9510

Democrats Serve

Equality California

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 47

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 441

International Brotherhood of Teamsters Joint Council 42

International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) District Council 36

Laborers' International Union of North America (LiUNA)

Los Angeles Police Protective League (LAPPL)

National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW)

NeverAgain California

Orange County Employees Association (OCEA)

Orange County Labor Federation (OCLF)

Police Officers Research Association of California (PORAC)

Service Employees International Union (SEIU)

Southern California Armenian Democrats (SCAD)

United Association (UA - Plumbers & Pipefitters) Local 582

United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 324

Democrats of Greater Irvine

Irvine Democratic Club

Central Orange County Democratic Club

Newport Beach Women's Democratic Club

Laguna Woods Democratic Club

Costa Mesa Democratic Club

Senate President Pro Tempore Toni Atkins

Senate Majority Leader Mike McGuire

Senator Ben Allen

Senator Bob Archuleta

Senator Angelique Ashby

Senator Josh Becker

Senator Catherine Blakespear

Senator Anna Caballero

Senator Dave Cortese

Senator Bill Dodd

Senator Maria Elena Durazo

Senator Steve Glazer

Senator Lena Gonzalez

Senator Melissa Hurtado

Senator John Laird

Senator Monique Limon

Senator Josh Newman

Senator Steve Padilla

Senator Richard Roth

Senator Susan Rubio

Senator Henry Stern

Senator Tom Umberg

Senator Aisha Wahab

Senator Scott Wiener

Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon

Assembly Speaker Designate Robert Rivas

Assembly Majority Leader Eloise Gomez Reyes

Assemblymember David Alvarez

Assemblymember Jasmeet Bains

Assemblymember Steve Bennett

Assemblymember Marc Berman

Assemblymember Tasha Boerner-Horvath

Assemblymember Mia Bonta

Assemblymember Isaac Bryan

Assemblymember Lisa Calderon

Assemblymember Mike Fong

Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel

Assemblymember Mike Gipson

Assemblymember Matt Haney

Assemblymember Chris Holden

Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin

Assemblymember Ash Kalra

Assemblymember Alex Lee

Assemblymember Evan Low

Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal

Assemblymember Brian Maienschein

Assemblymember Kevin McCarty

Assemblymember Stephanie Nguyen

Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva

Assemblymember Luz Rivas

Assemblymember Miguel Santiago

Assemblymember Pilar Schiavo

Assemblymember Phil Ting

Assemblymember Chris Ward

Assemblymember Buffy Wicks

Assemblymember Lori Wilson

Assemblymember Jim Wood

Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur

Aliso Viejo Mayor Richard Hurt

Aliso Viejo Councilwoman Tiffany Ackley

Aliso Viejo Councilman Ross Chun

Anaheim Union High School District Superintendent Michael Matsuda

Former Anaheim Councilman Dr. Jose Moreno

Buena Park Councilman Connor Traut

Buena Park Councilman Jose Trinidad Castaneda

Costa Mesa Mayor Pro-Tem Jeff Harlan*

Costa Mesa Councilwoman Andrea Marr*

Costa Mesa Councilman Loren Gameros*

Costa Mesa Councilman Manuel Chavez*

Former Cupertino Mayor Gilbert Wong

Fullerton Mayor Fred Jung

Fullerton Councilwoman Shana Charles

Fullerton Councilman Ahmad Zahra

Garden Grove Councilwoman Kim Bernice Nguyen

Former Garden Grove Mayor Diedre Thu-Ha Nguyen

Glendale Councilman Ardy Kassakhian

Huntington Beach Councilwoman Rhonda Bolton*

Huntington Beach Councilman Dan Kalmick*

Huntington Beach Councilwoman Natalie Moser*

Former Huntington Beach Mayor Kim Carr*

Irvine Vice-Mayor Tammy Kim*

Irvine Councilwoman Kathleen Treseder*

Former Irvine Councilwoman MaryAnn Gaido*

Laguna Beach Councilman Alex Rounaghi*

Laguna Beach Mayor Bob Whalen*

Laguna Woods Councilwoman Shari Horne*

Former Newport Beach Councilwoman Joy Brenner*

San Clemente Councilman Chris Duncan

Santa Ana Mayor Valerie Amezcua

Santa Ana Councilman David Penaloza

Santa Ana Councilwoman Thai Viet Phan

Santa Monica College Trustee Dr. Sion Roy

Seal Beach Mayor Joe Kalmick*

Tustin Councilwoman Letitia Clark*

Tustin Councilwoman Beckie Gomez*

Coast Community College Board Trustee Elizabeth Dorn Parker*

Irvine Unified School District Trustee Paul Bokota*

Irvine Unified School District Trustee Lauren Brooks*

Irvine Unified School District Trustee Jeff Kim*

Irvine Unified School District Trustee Katie McEwen*

Irvine Unified School District Trustee Cyril Yu*

Newport-Mesa Unified School District Trustee Leah Ersoylu*

Newport-Mesa Unified School District Trustee Michelle Murphy*

Orange Unified School District Trustee Kris Erickson

Orange Unified School District Trustee Ana Page

Orange Unified School District Trustee Andrea Yamasaki

Former Orange Unified School District Trustee Kathy Moffat

South Orange County Community College District Trustee Carolyn Inmon*

Tustin Unified School District Allyson Damikolas

Saddleback Valley Unified School District Trustee Barbara Schulman*

Saddleback Valley Unified School District Trustee Suzie Swartz*

South Orange County Community College District Trustee Ryan Dack*

Municipal Water District of OC Director Randall Crane*

Costa Mesa Parks Commissioner Cassius Rutherford*

Costa Mesa Parks Commissioner Dr. Kelly Anne Brown*

Costa Mesa Planning Commission Chair Dr. Adam C. Ereth*

Irvine Community Services Commissioner Naz Hamid*

Irvine Green Ribbon Environmental Committee Vice Chair Dr. Steven Allison*

Irvine Planning Commissioner Jong Limb*

Irvine Transportation Commission Vice Chair Scott Hansen*

Irvine Transportation Commissioner Mari Fujii*

Denotes in District CA-47

Dave Min did not complete [the profile publisher]'s 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Dave Min is a father and a UC Irvine law professor who has dedicated his life to improving the economic opportunities available to working families. After graduating from Wharton and Harvard Law School, Dave began his career as an Enforcement attorney at the Securities and Exchange Commission, turning down higher paying private sector jobs to help protect the retirement security of seniors and help clean up an unfair and corrupt financial system in the aftermath of the Enron and Worldcom accounting scandals.

Dave went on to work as an economic and financial policy advisor for Senator Chuck Schumer and as an economic policy director at the Center for American Progress. He is a first generation Korean-American and native California who lives and works in Irvine with his wife and UC Irvine School of Law colleague Jane Stoever, where they are raising their three children. Dave is one of the country's leading experts on banking and housing policy, and he has testified six times before Congress on these issues. His work has been featured in national media outlets such as the New York Times, and he has been a regular guest on TV and radio outlets including CNBC and NPR's Marketplace.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Healthcare: Dave believes that healthcare is a basic human right and that everyone should have reliable, high quality healthcare. Dave will crack down on Big Pharma and fight for affordable high quality coverage for all Californians.Education: Endorsed by the California Teachers Association and an educator himself, Dave Min is uniquely qualified to champion high quality education while advocating for reforms that address the challenges our state faces.Climate: Combating climate change is a top priority for Dave Min, which is why he's endorsed by the California League of Conservation Voters. Dave will fight for clean air and water, to protect our coastlines, and to reverse climate change trends.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

As a father of young children and the son of immigrants, I believe the biggest problem we are facing as a country is that our political leaders all have a short-termist outlook that emphasizes short-term gains over long-term outcomes. This has led to disastrous social and economic policies that have disinvested in long-term priorities like public education, universal health care, retirement security, infrastructure and fighting climate change. As a result, the American Dream that attracted so many millions of immigrants (including my parents) to this country over time is fading. For the first time ever, a majority of young people now believe they will have a worse future than their parents.

To get back on track, we have to start thinking long-term again. As the Greeks once said, a civilization is great when its elders plant trees whose shade they know they'll never sit in. Thinking long-term and investing long-term will not only create jobs in the short run, but will also create the conditions for sustained prosperity and rebuild the pathway to the middle class that has always been the defining characteristic of our country.

My own background is in banking and housing policy, and I expect to remain engaged on these issues, especially given the dearth of affordable housing right now. However, I am running for this seat because I am deeply concerned about the direction of our state and our country, particularly in areas like climate change, schools, health care, and the

Campaign website

Min’s campaign website stated the following:

Healthcare: I believe healthcare is a human right, and that we should be working towards a system in which everyone has healthcare coverage.

Since I began my campaign in April, I’ve talked with thousands of residents of CA-45, and I’ve found that almost all of us share the same goals when it comes to healthcare reform—we want broader (ideally universal) coverage, cheaper rates, affordable copayments and prescription drugs, and a system that emphasizes primary care and prevention (as opposed to waiting until emergency care is needed).

Of course, I will oppose efforts to cut Medicare and Medicaid, as Donald Trump and Mimi Walters have proposed (over $4 trillion in cuts were proposed in the latest House budget), and will work to strengthen and protect these lifeline programs. But this is not enough.

We should explore every possible opportunity to achieve universal healthcare coverage. In the near term, this includes extending Medicare to those 55 and older, allowing all Americans the option to buy into Medicare or some other public option at an affordable price, and expanding the Children’s Health Insurance Program. I also believe we need to empower Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices.

If elected to Congress, I will fight to reform our healthcare system so that it achieves these policy goals. We need a system that allows all of us—children, parents, grandparents, veterans, students—to sleep better at night knowing that a catastrophic accident or illness won’t bankrupt our families.

Preventing Gun Violence: Proud to have earned the Moms Demand Action Candidate Distinction.

There are 33,000 gun deaths each year in the United States. Restrictions on gun access for domestic abusers, the mentally ill, those on the terrorist watch list—these are all common-sense gun reforms that we must get behind as a country. My wife Jane runs the Domestic Violence Clinic at UCI’s Law School, and has seen first-hand what happens when we fail to pass legislation that protects our most vulnerable populations. We must do better.

Instead of trying to reduce the horrific toll of gun violence, Mimi Walters has cosponsored the Concealed Carry Reciprocity bill, which would actually override California’s own common-sense restrictions on who can carry weapons in public. I believe this bill is a threat to public safety. My wife Jane and I wrote more about our opposition to this bill in an Orange County Register op-ed.

We should treat gun violence as public health issue, and use data to reduce the number of deaths and injuries from gun violence. This means adequate funding for research on the issue, which has far too often been blocked by the gun lobby.

Mimi Walters has an A rating from the National Rifle Association and has consistently voted against reforms that would save lives.

Immigration: I want my children to grow up in an America that represents the core values that drew my parents, and millions of immigrants just like them, to this country: the values of inclusion, diversity, and economic opportunity.

I am fundamentally opposed to Donald Trump’s travel ban, and any other immigration policies that discriminate against people based on their race, religion, or national origin, and believe that such policies are contrary to the spirit and the letter of our nation’s Constitution and its laws.

I also believe that Trump’s other immigration policies are a wasteful and immoral use of our tax dollars. Building a wall across our entire border with Mexico makes no sense when our own roads and bridges are in disrepair.

As a practical matter, we don’t have the resources to enforce against all violations of our immigration laws, so we need to be smarter about how we spend federal tax dollars. Indiscriminate deportations break up families, increase crime, and heighten distrust of law enforcement in immigrant communities. At the same time, we ought to ensure that there is some pathway to citizenship in place for undocumented immigrants who are productive and law-abiding members of our society, especially those who were brought over at a young age and grew up here. I strongly oppose Trump’s decision to unilaterally end DACA and would do all I can to protect these young people, who are American in all but official status. My ultimate goal is an immigration policy that is both humane and efficiently uses our resources.

Climate Change: This is the defining issue of our lifetimes, and we must take action.

I support measures to begin immediately limiting carbon emissions. There is a scientific consensus that climate change is real, manmade, and potentially an existential threat, and so we must take that consensus seriously and stop denying basic, proven facts. We owe it to our children and future generations to take immediate and significant steps to curb the acceleration of climate change that we are seeing.

At a bare minimum, we must reverse course on Donald Trump’s reckless decision to unilaterally withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord and the EPA’s decision to repeal the Clean Power Plan. But we must also take more proactive steps. I support tax incentives to encourage renewable energy and energy efficiency; and government investment in research into breakthrough technologies such as batteries that could dramatically shift our energy use away from fossil fuels.

America did not become the greatest economy on earth by looking backwards. The clean energy revolution is well underway. When it comes to energy, this administration is stuck in the 19th century, while other nations such as China are racing ahead into the future. The energy transition, if we take advantage of it, is not only a moral imperative but an enormous economic opportunity.

Education: Investing in the future.

Education is one of my top priorities for domestic spending. I believe we should significantly increase federal investments in education at the primary, secondary, and university levels.

I support efforts to achieve universal pre-K, which studies have shown to lead to not only better educational outcomes but better adult health.

I believe college should be debt-free, like it used to be, when a student working a part-time job could pay off her college costs and graduate with minimal or no debt. I support the expansion of existing federal programs offering student loan forgiveness. I also believe we must be more creative in developing new relief programs for students burdened by debt, as we’re facing a potential student loan crisis in the coming years. Having worked in public policy during the 2007-08 mortgage crisis, I am all too aware of the problems that debt can create, not just for struggling households but also for the broader economy.

Federal education funding should not be tied to any requirements related to “school choice” or charter schools. I oppose efforts to use taxpayer money to fund private schools (i.e., charter schools and vouchers).

Women's Issues: Protecting women’s health care and autonomy.

The government should not be regulating the personal healthcare decisions of its citizens, and that includes women and their reproductive health. I oppose efforts to reduce funding to Planned Parenthood and the essential health care services it provides.

I also believe strongly that we should take steps to ensure that women are treated more fairly across our society, including in their healthcare and in the workplace. On healthcare, in addition to supporting bills such as the American Health Care Act (AHCA), which would have cut funding for Planned Parenthood, Mimi Walters has specifically voted against maternity coverage, maternity leave, pregnancy leave, and a ban on gender-based insurance price discrimination. She has also voted against workplace protections for women and against laws preventing gender-based wage discrimination. I think she was wrong in all of these votes, and would seek to protect and further advance policies that seek to establish a level playing field for all Americans, regardless of their gender.

LGBTQ Equality: Fundamental and non-negotiable.

Supporting LGBTQ rights is a fundamental, non-negotiable issue for me, both because many of my friends throughout my life have been (or later became) part of the LGBTQ community, and because as a moral matter, I believe the government’s role should be to facilitate the ability of ALL its citizens to seek happiness and NOT to promote or support discrimination.

When elected, I promise to fight to reverse the Trump administration’s attacks on the LGBTQ community, and to be a strong advocate for anti-discrimination legislation like the Fair and Equal Housing Act and federal funding of initiatives to support the LGBTQ community.

Another legislative priority of mine will be comprehensive, inclusive immigration reform. One-third of the 1 million LGBTQ adult immigrants are undocumented. I will stand up for DREAMers and work to keep families from being torn apart.

Economic Policy: Creating good-paying jobs that support a middle class standard of living.

I’ve devoted my career to the goal of building an economy that works for people of all backgrounds. As a young lawyer at the SEC, as a senior Congressional advisor, as a policy director at the Center for American Progress, and as a law professor at UC Irvine, I’ve fought for nearly two decades to protect hard-working Americans by making our economy and our markets operate better and more fairly for everyone.

I strongly believe in investing in priorities that have long-term value, to ensure a better future for the children of Orange County. As a nation, we need to invest in education, environmental protection, infrastructure, scientific research, and other areas that produce long-term benefits for all of us. Too often, we’ve abandoned our obligations to “pay it forward” to future generations. It’s time to reverse course, and start to put meaningful resources back into these priorities, creating more jobs for Orange County residents in the near term and restoring the foundations of the American Dream in the longer term.

We need to explore various policy solutions that will help reduce the steep income and wealth inequality that threatens the stability and well-being of the United States. This includes improving and, where appropriate, expanding (rather than eliminating, as the House GOP has proposed) the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010. I also support efforts to strengthen the ability of workers to join together and collectively bargain for their employment contracts, to help address the asymmetric bargaining power held by large employers.

We must proactively support the formation of small businesses and enable them to flourish. Small businesses in Orange County are a major engine of economic growth and job creation. I support the expansion of existing federal tax credit and business loan programs targeted at small businesses.

Campaign Finance Reform

The Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United (like its decision in First Bank of Boston v. Bellotti in 1978) was wrongly decided. Corporations are business entities created by the state and their political expenditures should not be protected by First Amendment political speech rights. Citizens United should be overturned, and this should be a litmus test for judicial nominees.

At a minimum, everyone and every business organization who contributes or spends on political campaigns should be required to disclose who they are (and who their investors or principals are).

Our democratic republic is defined by the idea of “One Person, One Vote.” Campaign finance laws should help reflect this basic principle and not allow electoral politics to be distorted by outsized campaign spending by wealthy individuals or business organizations.

Gerrymandering (whether for racial, partisan, or other purposes) undermines the principle of one person, one vote and should be prohibited.

Foreign Policy/Trade

We are currently investing in bombs over diplomacy and that is a recipe for alienating our allies and bankrupting our nation. We should be smarter about how we approach foreign policy. Whether it’s in dealing with Israeli-Palestinian conflicts, Iran’s nuclear development, or North Korea’s belligerence, we must recognize that diplomacy can be a long, difficult, and intensive process, but one that can pay dividends over the long run.

We also should be mindful of the interests and concerns of our allies, who want to see a stable, consistent, and thoughtful approach to dealing with the many problems around the world. We should keep in mind Teddy Roosevelt’s advice—“speak softly and carry a big stick”—which has served us well in the past.

On trade, I believe we need bilateral and multilateral trade agreements to help ensure that American priorities and values are reflected in the legal frameworks that govern potential trade disputes in our global economy. However, existing trade agreements (including NAFTA) do not always reflect these American priorities and values, particularly in the areas of worker rights and environmental protection. We should seek to modify these agreements to better represent the interests of all Americans and not just the shareholders of large multinational corporations.

[5]

—David Min’s campaign website (2018)[6]

Response to [the profile publisher]

In an email to [the profile publisher], Min listed the following campaign themes:

Dave is running for Congress to create a better America for the children of Orange County—one that reflects our core values of diversity, tolerance, and opportunity that drew his parents and millions of others like them to this country in search of a better life. Dave will stand up to Donald Trump and his reckless and senseless policies, and will work tirelessly to create an economy that works for everyone so all Orange County families can prosper.[5]

—Dave Min (2018)[3]