By Dhanika Pineda
David Yung Ho Kim could be the first Asian American and first Korean American to represent California’s 34th district, which encompasses LA’s Koreatown. This is his third time running against incumbent Jimmy Gomez (D-CA).
Kim’s parents immigrated from Korea to Los Angeles before he was born. Though he was born in Arizona, Kim’s childhood is peppered with memories of trips to LA for the holidays, visiting his paternal grandmother.
“I’ve seen Los Angeles pretty much every year of my life,” Kim told AsAmNews, “Maybe that’s why I like this area so much, because maybe I feel it in my genes.”
During the day, Kim works a full-time job as a children’s court lawyer, representing clientele he describes as the most vulnerable in the community — Black and Brown parents faced with a lack of resources and the threat of their children being taken away.
Previously, Kim also worked as a federal immigration court attorney representing undocumented individuals and families.
When Kim’s parents first immigrated to the Westlake Koreatown area, they also spent some time as undocumented residents in the country. This is a common experience among the many Asian immigrants that Los Angeles’ cultural enclaves — such as Little Tokyo, Chinatown, Historic Filipinotown, Little Bangladesh and Koreatown — draw in.
All of these enclaves sit within California’s 34th District, and there has yet to be a representative in the legislature of Asian descent to represent them. Kim wants to change that.
“I feel that these communities have been historically underrepresented, although they have voices, their voices have not been lifted up,” he said, adding that it often feels like politicians do not have enough face time with their constituents and are unable to see and hear their concerns.
KIm is running on a progressive platform with goals such as universal basic income, universal healthcare, and a Green New Deal. His platform also calls for affordable housing, education reform, and repealing funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“We’re all interconnected,” Kim said. “Our struggles are all interconnected, oppression is all interconnected, and if someone’s not living well, then we need to go out and help.”
(This coverage was made possible by a grant through the URL Collective, a nonprofit supporting local, diverse media. AsAmNews and URL Collective have partnered to bring you election reporting from grassroots media.)
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