Dave Min

Min was born in Providence, Rhode Island, and raised in Palo Alto, California, the child of Korean immigrants; his official biography describes him as a product of California public schools.[3][19] He earned a B.S. in economics from the Wharton School and a B.A. in philosophy from the University of Pennsylvania in 1999, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 2002.[2][3][19] He began his career prosecuting Wall Street fraud as an enforcement attorney at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and later worked as a senior economic policy advisor to Sen. Chuck Schumer and as an economic policy director at the Center for American Progress.[2][3][19]

Min became a law professor at the UC Irvine School of Law, where he taught and researched business law; his official biography calls him a leading expert on banking and housing policy and says he testified six times before Congress.[2][3] He ran for Congress in 2018 in the 45th District and finished third in the top-two primary, behind Rep. Mimi Walters and Katie Porter.[2][19] In 2020 he defeated Republican incumbent John Moorlach, 51.1% to 48.9%, for the 37th District seat in the California State Senate, where he served until 2024.[2][19] In May 2023, Min, then a state senator, was arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor drunk driving in Sacramento. On Aug. 29, 2023, he pleaded no contest in Sacramento County Superior Court to misdemeanor driving under the influence and was sentenced to two days in jail, a three-month first-offender program and three years of informal probation, according to the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office. After the arrest, Min said his decision to drive was irresponsible and that he accepted full responsibility.[20][21]

In the Senate, Min chaired the Natural Resources and Water Committee and, his official biography says, authored more than 30 laws, including the first U.S. law codifying the goal of protecting 30% of open spaces and coastal waters by 2030.[3] In his Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey he says he passed 28 bills, including eight protecting domestic-violence survivors.[22] Min was elected to the U.S. House in 2024, winning the open 47th District seat and defeating Republican Scott Baugh 51.4% to 48.6%, and succeeded Katie Porter.[2][19] For 2025 and 2026 he is assigned to the Natural Resources Committee, the Oversight and Government Reform Committee and the Joint Economic Committee.[2] He lives in Irvine with his wife, Jane, and their three children, according to his official biography.[3] During the campaign, his materials emphasized abortion access, gun violence prevention, climate action and protections for domestic-violence survivors.[22] He won the November 3, 2026 general election with 57.8% of the vote to Jenny Rae Le Roux's 42.2%, according to unofficial results reported by NBC News.[1]