After many tough months of campaigning for the 2022 election, all four Korean Americans running for re-election in the House of Representatives have won their seats and will go back to Congress. Two Democrats and two Republicans kept the confidence of their constituents and will return to their offices in DC on January 3, 2023.
Representative Andy Kim, a New Jersey Democrat, was re-elected to a third term in New Jersey’s third Congressional District. Kim, who was first elected in 2018, defeated his challenger Republican Bob Healey. In 2018, Kim flipped the seat from red to blue and was comfortably re-elected two years later. In his campaign’s early days, there were some concerns that re-districting might tighten the race this year but Kim handily fended off Healey by double digits.
Representative Marilyn Strickland, a Democrat, was easily re-elected to a second term in Washington’s 10th District, defeating Republican Keith Swank by over 14 points. The former mayor of Tacoma, Strickland, successfully rebutted Swank’s contention that he, as an Army veteran and former Seattle police officer was the better candidate to tackle rising crime rates in the district.
Representative Young Kim, a Republican, was re-elected to a second term in California’s 40th District, defeating Democratic challenger Dr. Asif Mahmood. With district lines re-drawn, Democrats targeted Kim’s seat to flip back to blue but Kim coasted to defeat Mahmood by over 10 percentage points.
Representative Michelle Steel, a Republican, was re-elected to a second term in California’s 45th District, defeating Jay Chen, a Democratic Navy reserve officer, in one of the most divisive races in California this year. In a heavily Asian district, Korean American Steel won over Taiwanese American Chen.
