David Chiu was elected to the California State Assembly in November 2014, representing the 17th Assembly District, which encompasses eastern San Francisco; he was re-elected in 2016. In his first year, David was appointed by Speaker Toni Atkins to serve as Assistant Speaker pro Tempore. Since 2015, David has served as Chair of the Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee.   During the past 4 years, Governor Jerry Brown has signed 48 bills that David has authored. The bills address a wide spectrum of issues, including housing, homelessness, transportation, education, environment, health, public safety, and the civil rights of women, immigrants, LGBTQ Californians, and workers.   Prior to joining the State Assembly, David Chiu served as President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors for six years. On his first day in office in 2008, David was elected President of the Board of Supervisors, the first Asian American to hold the post. David’s reputation as a problem solver led his fellow supervisors to select him as Board President for an unprecedented three consecutive terms. As Board President, David Chiu authored 110 ordinances across a wide range of policy areas.   Previously, David Chiu served as a civil rights attorney with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, a criminal prosecutor with the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, and a founder and Chief Operating Officer of a public affairs technology company, Grassroots Enterprise. In the mid-1990s, David served as Democratic Counsel to the U.S. Senate Constitution Subcommittee and Senator Paul Simon’s aide to the U.S. Senate Budget Committee. Prior to running for office, David was a hands-on leader in San Francisco. He served as a Small Business Commissioner, president of the Asian American Bar Association, board member of Partners Ending Domestic Abuse and board chairman for the Youth Leadership Institute, the Chinatown Community Development Center and Lower Polk Neighbors. David was elected three times to the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee, and chaired the Assembly District’s Democratic Committee.   The first son of immigrant parents, David Chiu grew up in Boston and received his undergraduate, law and master’s in public policy degrees from Harvard University. David is married to Candace Chen. A third-generation San Franciscan, Candace is a public interest lawyer who manages a refugee and foster care youth program. David and Candace are raising their two-year-old son, Lucas. 

Born and raised in the Bay area with the knowledge that has come from living here. I know the issues that we have ahead of us, because I have personally lived through them. I know the troubles that face public education such as funding that had left our schools sometimes without the necessities such as plain paper and books or even elective arts. I have worked a diverse background from being an restaurant barista and UX designer to being part of a start-up and eventually becoming a small business entrepreneur myself in San Francisco. I know the debts that college graduates face, because I am myself a student. I have experienced first hand how financially crippling a hospital visit can be for a simple emergency check up, even with good health insurance.