California State Assemblymember Evan Low has launched his campaign for Congress. The 40-year-old is running for the District 16 seat, which represents large parts of the South Bay Area in Northern California.
The seat is currently held by longtime Democrat Anna Eshoom who announced recently that she was retiring and would not see re-election, San José Spotlight reports.
Low, also a Democrat, has branded himself as a strong opponent of the Republican party.
“We need fighters and the Republican Party has been the party of Trump and I have been a fighter,” Low told POLITICO in an interview just before his announcement. “And given that we have the most homophobic speaker in generations, the best way to combat that is to send more openly LGBT individuals to Congress.”
The Assemblymember is a seasoned politician. In 2006, he became the first Asian American and openly gay person to serve on the Campbell City Council, The Mercury News reports. Three years later he became the youngest Asian American and youngest LGBTQ mayor of Campbell.
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Low was elected to the California State Assembly in 2014. He currently serves District 26, which encompasses parts of San Jose, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale and Cupertino.
“He’s well known, he’s a person who has made himself a force in the assembly, particularly for the LGBTQ and the AAPI communities,” Larry Gerston, a San Jose State political science professor emeritus, told San José Spotlight. “He’s been a person who has been out there first and foremost to set the tone for legislation and attention to their issues.”
According to POLITICO, Low has championed LGBTQ rights as an assemblymember. He has also been an advocate for the Asian American community amidst the rise in anti-Asian violence.
The Mercury News says Low’s campaign will also focus on public safety issues and the continued growth of Silicon Valley.
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