Steel & Kim reelected to House along with two other Korean Am

First-term Congressional Representatives Michelle Steel and Young Kim appear headed for reelection in Southern California.

Steel and Kim were part of a wave of Korean Americans who were elected to Congress for the first time in 2020. The other is Marilyn Strickland (D-WA) who also has a significant lead.

Steel defeated Democratic challenger Jay Chen despite being roundly blasted by the Asian American community for falsely painting Chen, a Navy veteran and son of Taiwanese immigrants, as a communist.

With 100 percent of the precincts reporting, she won the 45th Congressional District with 55.3% of the vote to Chen’s 44.7%, results from the California Secretary of State show.

Kim held back Pakistani American candidate Asif Mahmood 59.1% to 40.9% in the 40th Congressional with nearly 99% of the precincts reporting as of this writing.

In Washington State, Strickland, who is both Korean American and African American, leads challenger Keith Swank 57% – 43% with 56% of the precincts reporting, according to the Washington Post.

There are currently four Korean Americans in Congress. The other is Andy Kim (D-NJ). Voters reelected him to a third term as he defeated Republican Bob Healey. This is a seat that Kim flipped to the Democrats four years ago.

(Michelle Steel photo via Wikimedia Creative Commons from US House of Representatives. Young Kim photo via Wikimedia Creative Commons from US House of Representatives)

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