Senator Dave Min was elected in 2020 to represent Orange County’s 37th State Senate District, which includes in the cities of Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Laguna Beach, Laguna Woods, Lake Forest, Newport, Orange, Tustin, and Villa Park. As well as the communities of Anaheim Hills, Corona Del Mar, Foothill Ranch, North Tustin, and Silverado Canyon.
In the Senate, Senator Min is focused on gun violence prevention, climate action, economic development and innovation, and investing in public education. He serves as Chair of the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee, which has jurisdiction over the state’s environmental stewardship, including protection of California’s public lands and coastline, oil and gas regulation, and preserving biodiversity.
As the only Korean American in the Legislature, Senator Min is proud member of the California Asian and Pacific Islander (API) Legislative Caucus which has been instrumental in the passage of the historic AAPI Equity Budget. In response to the rise in anti-Asian hate during the COVID-19 pandemic, the $166.5 million investment addresses longstanding racial inequities, provides services to victims of hate crimes, and funds prevention efforts.
Before joining the State Senate, Senator Min was a law professor at UC Irvine, where he taught and researched in the area of business law. He is one of the country’s leading experts on banking and housing policy, and has testified six times before Congress on these issues.
A son of Korean immigrants who grew up during the Korean War and its aftermath, Dave’s parents came to the United States in 1971 and raised their two sons in the Golden State. Dave is a native Californian who currently resides in Irvine with his wife, Jane Stoever, and their three young kids.
His basic philosophy is one of long-termism, summed up by this quote from the ancient Greeks: A civilization is great when its elders plant trees whose shade they know they will never sit in.