Steve Choi

Senator Steve Choi (R-Irvine) represents California's 37th Senate District, a sprawling stretch of Orange County that takes in Irvine, Newport Beach, Fullerton, Costa Mesa, Lake Forest, Aliso Viejo, and Laguna Niguel. ^[1] A first-generation Korean immigrant who arrived in the United States in 1968 with fifty dollars in his pocket, Choi embodies the kind of self-made American success story that animates his policy outlook. ^[2] He earned a doctorate in library and information science from the University of Pittsburgh after completing earlier degrees at Kyung Hee University and Louisiana State University, then built a career as a college professor, librarian, and small-business owner before entering public life. ^[3] Choi's civic resume is unusually deep: trustee of the Irvine Unified School District, Irvine city councilman, two-term mayor of Irvine, and three-term state assemblyman for the 68th District. ^[1] In November 2024 he unseated Democratic incumbent Josh Newman by a 51.1-to-48.9 percent margin, marking the first time in forty-four years that a Senate Republican flipped a seat from a sitting Democrat in a presidential general election. ^[4] A devout Christian who describes himself as holding conservative and traditional values, ^[5] Choi has been a consistent champion of parental rights, education freedom, and limited government — priorities that closely mirror the California Family Council's worldview framework. With a 78% CFC Biblical Values Scorecard rating and a California ProLife PAC endorsement, ^[5] his faith-informed approach to public service reflects CFC's conviction that Scripture provides a sufficient foundation for addressing public policy, and that government's legitimate role is to protect — not replace — the authority of families and religious communities (Chapters 1, 8, and 11).

Born on January 15, 1944, in the small city of Naju, South Korea, Steven Seokho Choi grew up to earn a bachelor's degree in English from Kyung Hee University in Seoul before completing ROTC training and serving as an artillery officer in the Republic of Korea Army's 3rd Infantry Division along the 38th Parallel, ultimately receiving an honorable discharge at the rank of First Lieutenant ^[2][3]. He immigrated to Hawaii in 1968 to teach Korean to Peace Corps volunteers through the U.S. State Department, then worked his way through graduate school by washing dishes in New York City restaurants and busing tables at hotels during the summers ^[2].

Choi's entry into politics began in 1998 when community members urged the educator to seek a seat on the Irvine Unified School District Board of Education, where he won election and was reelected in 2002 ^[1]. He moved to the Irvine City Council in 2004, becoming the first Asian American elected to a four-year term on that body ^[1][7]. As a councilman and later as a two-term mayor of Irvine from 2012 to 2016, he oversaw a city consistently ranked among the safest in America, championed fiscal audits to root out waste, chaired the Orange County Public Library Advisory Board, and successfully opposed pressure from Shanghai's Xuhui government to sever Irvine's sister-city ties with Taoyuan, Taiwan ^[2][6].

His 80.0% Biblical Values Scorecard rating across 30 scored floor votes demonstrates strong alignment with CFC's worldview framework, reflecting consistent support for the sanctity of human life, parental authority in education, and religious liberty protections.

Choi's historic 2024 Senate victory over incumbent Josh Newman was propelled by strong name recognition in the newly redrawn district and by internal Democratic divisions. ^[4,11] Sworn in on December 5, 2024, Choi declared that he would work to address escalating costs, overly restrictive regulations, and rising crime to make California "a better place to live, work, and raise a family." ^[12] He now sits on the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review, Education, Elections and Constitutional Amendments, and Revenue and Taxation committees. ^[13] His legislative priorities — parental empowerment in education, fiscal discipline, public safety, and property tax relief — align closely with CFC's worldview framework across multiple issue areas.