California State AssemblyCandidate for District 68

Dr. Steven Choi was elected to represent California’s 68th Assembly District in 2016. He began his career in public service when he was elected to the Irvine Unified School District Board of Education in 1998. He left that post in 2004 when he was elected to join the Irvine City Council, where he served for eight years before being elected Mayor of Irvine in 2012.

Born in South Korea, Steven Choi earned his B.A. degree from Kyung Hee University in Seoul, South Korea. He came to the United States from South Korea as a Peace Corps language instructor for the State Department in August 1968. He then continued his post-graduate education, earning his master's degree in Library Science from Louisiana State University, and his Ph.D. in Library and Information Science from the University of Pittsburgh.

He has taught at several universities and colleges including USC, UCI, California State University, Los Angeles, Henderson State University in Arkansas, Saddleback College, and most recently, Coastline Community College. He founded and serves as Director of Dr. Choi's Academy.

With extensive experience in local office, Choi was elected to the Irvine Unified School District School Board on November 3, 1998 and reelected on November 5, 2002. He was elected to the Irvine City Council on November 2, 2004, becoming the first Asian American elected to a four-year term on the Council. Choi served as an Irvine City Council Member until 2012, when he was elected to his first of two terms as Irvine's Mayor.

Committed to excellence in early education, he was the founder and director of highly successful Dr. Choi's Academy. The Academy focuses on providing tutoring and academic enrichment programs for students. Alongside Steven, his wife, Janie, has also been serving Orange County children for over 21 years with Kumon Math and Reading academic program.

Steven brings his wide breadth of experience to the State Assembly, having served on the Board of Directors of the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) and the Orange County Sanitation District. He also served on several other vital boards, such as the Orange County Public Library Advisory Board and the President's Advisory Council at Concordia University. In the Assembly, Choi serves as Vice-Chairman of the Assembly Committee on Higher Education. He also serves on the Banking and Finance Committee, Health and Human Services - Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee, and the Committee on Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism & Internet Media.

Dr. Choi and his wife Janie live in Irvine where they raised their two children, Daniel and Michelle.

I am an educator and small business owner who is using his experience to improve lives in Orange County and across California.

I’m fighting to reduce the cost of living by:

•    Protecting Prop 13 to keep property taxes down
• Opposed the gas tax hike and efforts tax utility bills
• Reducing the cost of health care and prescription drugs
• Making college more affordable

I’ve worked hard to create new and better paying full-time jobs in Orange County to promote innovative job opportunities for working families.

I’m working to reform, modernize, and hold our education system accountable – both at the K-12 level and in higher education.

I have supported efforts to provide the assistance needed to lead the homeless to productive lives and opportunity so they will stop living in our parks and our our streets and obey our laws.

Solving all these problems will take time, but we can do it if we work together. Count on me to work with Democrats and Republicans to forge solutions to the problems facing our county and state.