Young Oak Kim is an American politician and businesswoman serving as the US representative for California's 40th congressional district, previously representing the 39th congressional district from 2021 to 2023.
31 Facts About Young Kim
2.
Young Kim lost the seat in a rematch with Quirk-Silva in 2016.
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Young Kim was the first South Korean-born Republican woman elected to the California State Legislature.
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In 2018, Young Kim was the Republican nominee in California's 39th congressional district, narrowly losing to Democrat Gil Cisneros in the general election.
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Young Kim was born in 1962 in Incheon, South Korea, and spent her childhood in Seoul.
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Young Kim has a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Southern California.
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Young Kim started her own business in the clothing industry.
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Young Kim worked for state senator Ed Royce after her husband met Royce while promoting a nonprofit organization, the Korean American Coalition.
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Young Kim was elected to the Assembly in 2014, defeating Democratic Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva.
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In 2017, Young Kim announced her candidacy for the Orange County Board of Supervisors, a nonpartisan office, in the 4th district, which includes Fullerton, Placentia, La Habra, and Brea, plus portions of Anaheim and Buena Park.
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In January 2018, immediately after Royce announced his retirement, Young Kim announced that she would instead enter the race to succeed Royce as the representative for California's 39th congressional district.
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Young Kim received the most votes in the primary election among a field of 17 candidates, allowing her to advance to the general election along with the Democratic candidate Gil Cisneros.
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Young Kim proved to be one of the top House fund-raising challengers across the nation, outraising Cisneros $6.16 million to $4.36 million.
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Young Kim won even as Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden carried the district by 10 points.
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In December 2021, Young Kim announced that she would seek reelection in California's 40th congressional district, due to redistricting.
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On January 3,2021, Young Kim was sworn in to the 117th United States Congress.
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On January 6,2021, Young Kim voted to certify Joe Biden's Electoral College victory, declining to support Republican-led efforts to contest the results.
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On January 13,2021, Young Kim voted against the second impeachment of Donald Trump.
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Young Kim said she supported censuring Trump but not impeaching him.
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On February 4,2021, Young Kim joined 10 other Republican House members voting with all voting Democrats to strip Marjorie Taylor Greene of her Education and Labor Committee and Budget Committee assignments in response to controversial political statements she had made.
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Young Kim is rated among the most centrist of Republican representatives by Govtrack, based on patterns of sponsorship and co-sponsorship of legislation with Democrats.
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Young Kim voted opposite to the majority of the Republican caucus on several key votes, among them the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act and a bill to delay spending cuts in Medicare and other services.
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In June 2020, after the rising calls to "defund the police" in the aftermath of George Floyd's murder, Young Kim called these demands "irresponsible" and said that defunding law enforcement would make communities more vulnerable.
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Young Kim called for increased accountability and transparency in law enforcement, as well as an increase in training and reevaluation of guidelines to decrease the use of unnecessary force.
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In June 2020, Young Kim criticized President Trump for referring to COVID-19 as "Kung Flu", and received backlash from some in her party.
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Young Kim has expressed her concerns on the issue of divided families on the Korean Peninsula, especially Korean Americans with relatives in North Korea.
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Young Kim worked on the comfort woman issue from the days of Korea under Japanese rule and has said that victims of human trafficking and slavery should be supported.
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Young Kim has said transgender people "deserve to be respected" but that she does not believe that LGBT individuals were born with their identities or orientations.
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In 2022, Young Kim opposed the Respect for Marriage Act, which recognizes the validity of same-sex marriages.
30.
Young Kim voted against the several versions of the bill that came before the House.
31.
Young Kim is married to Charles Young Kim, a nonprofit administrator and philanthropist.