Evan Low (born June 5, 1983) is an American

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

currently serving in the

California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature, the upper house being the California State Senate. The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The A ...

. He is a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

representing the 26th Assembly District, which encompasses parts of the Northern CA South Bay and

Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo County ...

, including

Cupertino Cupertino ( ) is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States, directly west of San Jose on the western edge of the Santa Clara Valley with portions extending into the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The population was 57,8 ...

Sunnyvale Sunnyvale () is a city located in the Santa Clara Valley in northwest Santa Clara County in the U.S. state of California. Sunnyvale lies along the historic El Camino Real and Highway 101 and is bordered by portions of San Jose to the north ...

, Santa Clara and portions of northern and western San Jose. He is a member of the

California Legislative LGBT Caucus The California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus (formerly the California Legislative LGBT Caucus) is an American political organization formed in June 2002 and composed of openly lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender members of the California State Leg ...

(and served as chair from 2017 to 2018 and 2021 to 2022), and currently serves as Chair of the California Asian American & Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus. Prior to his election in the Assembly in 2014, Low served as

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

and City Councilmember in

Campbell, California Campbell is a city in Santa Clara County, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, Campbell's population is 43,959. Campbell is home to the Pruneyard Shopping Center, a sprawling open-air retail complex which was in ...

. On January 15, 2020, Low was named national co-chair of the

Andrew Yang Andrew Yang (born January 13, 1975) is an American businessman, attorney, lobbyist, and politician. Yang was a candidate in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries and the 2021 New York City Democratic mayoral primary. He is the co-c ...

for president campaign.

Early life

Low was born in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

on June 5, 1983, to

Chinese American Chinese Americans are Americans of Han Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans along with their ancestors trace lineage from ...

optometrist Optometry is a specialized health care profession that involves examining the eyes and related structures for defects or abnormalities. Optometrists are health care professionals who typically provide comprehensive primary eye care. In the Uni ...

Arthur Low. Low grew up in

and attended Leland High School. In 2003, Low moved to

Education

Low earned an

associate's degree An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree. The fi ...

from

De Anza College De Anza College is a public community college in Cupertino, California. It is part of the Foothill-De Anza Community College District, which also administers Foothill College in nearby Los Altos Hills, California. The college is named after the ...

, a community college in

Cupertino, California Cupertino ( ) is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States, directly west of San Jose on the western edge of the Santa Clara Valley with portions extending into the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The population was 57,8 ...

, and a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in political science from

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sys ...

Campbell City Council

In 2004, Low unsuccessfully ran for a seat on the City Council, but he ran again in 2006 and won in his second attempt. Low worked as a senior district representative for California's former 28th State Assembly district Assemblymember

Paul Fong Paul Fong () (born August 5, 1952) is an American politician. He is a former Democratic California State Assembly member from the 28th district. As a former Assemblymember, Fong continues to fight for the rights of workers to a living wage and ...

. When his colleagues selected him to become Campbell mayor in 2009, Low became the youngest openly gay, Asian American Mayor in the nation. In 2013, his colleagues on the Campbell City Council selected him to serve as Mayor for a second time. His term on the council expired in 2014.

California Assembly

In 2014, Assembly Speaker

Toni Atkins Toni Gayle Atkins (born August 1, 1962) is an American politician serving as the 51st and current President pro tempore of the California State Senate since 2018. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served as the 69th Speaker of the ...

appointed Low as Assistant Majority Whip. Low was kept in the same leadership role by Atkins's successor, Speaker

Anthony Rendon Anthony Michael Rendon (, ; born June 6, 1990) is an American baseball third baseman for the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played for the Washington Nationals and was a member of the Nationals' 2019 World S ...

, in 2016. Low chaired the California Assembly Business and Professions Committee from March 2016 until November 2021, when he was removed without explanation by Speaker Anthony Rendon. Low was replaced by

Marc Berman Marc Berman (born October 31, 1980) is a politician and attorney, currently serving as a member of the California State Assembly. He is a Democrat representing the 24th Assembly District, encompassing parts of the San Francisco Peninsula and S ...

. Low is a co-founder and co-chair of the California Legislative Tech Caucus. There are 24 members of the Tech Caucus. In 2016, Low introduced AB 1887 that would ban all California state-funded travel to states that enacted laws to discriminate against individuals based upon

sexual orientation Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. These attractions are generall ...

gender identity Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent, and consistent with the i ...

, and

gender expression Gender expression, or gender presentation, is a person's behavior, mannerisms, interests, and appearance that are associated with gender, specifically with the categories of femininity or masculinity. This also includes gender roles. These cat ...

, that was supported by

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

Minority Leader

Nancy Pelosi Nancy Patricia Pelosi (; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who has served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2019 and previously from 2007 to 2011. She has represented in the United States House of ...

. In 2016, ''

New York Magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker'', ...

'' identified Low as a potential United States presidential candidate in 2024 along with nine other young Democrats who, like Obama, have unusual ambition. In the 2017–2018 session, ''

The Sacramento Bee ''The Sacramento Bee'' is a daily newspaper published in Sacramento, California, in the United States. Since its foundation in 1857, ''The Bee'' has become the largest newspaper in Sacramento, the fifth largest newspaper in California, and the 2 ...

'' identified Low as California's most prolific lawmaker, where he had the most bills signed by any member of the state legislature by Governor Jerry Brown. He has also been credited with driving the future of Uber and Lyft in the California State Legislature. In 2019, Low introduced AB-57, which would allow candidates with birth names in character-based languages—such as Chinese, Japanese, and Korean—to use those names in voter requested translated ballots. Previously, candidates such as

Fiona Ma Fiona Ma (born March 4, 1966) is an American accountant and politician. She has been serving as the California state treasurer since January 7, 2019. She previously served as a member of the California Board of Equalization from 2015 to 2019, t ...

have had

transliterated Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus '' trans-'' + '' liter-'') in predictable ways, such as Greek → , Cyrillic → , Greek → the digraph , Armenian → or ...

versions names of their name (e.g. Fei O Na Ma) appear on translated ballots. The bill also required candidates without character based birth names to phonetically translate their names on translated ballots, unless they prove that they are known under a different name within the target community. AB-57 was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom in July 2019 and went into effect in 2020.

2014 California State Assembly

2016 California State Assembly

2018 California State Assembly

2020 California State Assembly

2022 California State Assembly

After redistricting added Campbell to Assemblymember

's district, Low announced he would run in the new 26th district spanning

, and Santa Clara.

Honors

San Francisco Mayor The mayor of the City and County of San Francisco is the head of the executive branch of the San Francisco city and county government. The officeholder has the duty to enforce city laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by ...

Gavin Newsom Gavin Christopher Newsom (born October 10, 1967) is an American politician and businessman who has been the 40th governor of California since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 49th lieutenant governor of California fr ...

issued a Proclamation naming June 5, 2006, “Evan Low Day” in the City and County of San Francisco. Assemblymember Low has been named "Legislator of the Year" by the

Internet Association The Internet Association (IA) was an American lobbying group based in Washington, D.C., which represented companies involved in the Internet. It was founded in 2012 by Michael Beckerman and several companies, including Google, Amazon, eBay, and Fa ...

, TechNet, The Computing Technology Industry Association, California Faculty Association, Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association, California District Attorneys Association and Faculty Association of California Community Colleges.

References

External links

*
Campaign website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Low, Evan 1983 births 21st-century American politicians American LGBT people of Asian descent American mayors of Chinese descent California politicians of Chinese descent De Anza College alumni Democratic Party members of the California State Assembly Gay politicians Leland High School (San Jose, California) alumni LGBT mayors of places in the United States LGBT state legislators in California Living people Mayors of places in California People from Campbell, California Politicians from San Jose, California San Jose State University alumni