Judy May Chu (born July 7, 1953) is an American politician serving as the

U.S. representative 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 c ...

for since 2013. A member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, she has held a seat in Congress since 2009, representing until redistricting. Chu is the first

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 ...

woman elected to Congress. – Se
imageArchive
Chu was elected to the California Board of Equalization in 2007, representing the 4th district. She previously served on the Garvey Unified School District

Board of Education A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional are ...

, on the Monterey Park

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

(with three terms as mayor) and 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 ...

. Chu ran in the 32nd congressional district special election for the seat vacated by

Hilda Solis Hilda Lucia Solis (; born October 20, 1957) is an American politician and a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for the 1st district. Solis previously served as the 25th United States Secretary of Labor from 2009 to 2013, as par ...

after Solis was confirmed as President Obama's

Secretary of Labor The United States Secretary of Labor is a member of the Cabinet of the United States, and as the head of the United States Department of Labor, controls the department, and enforces and suggests laws involving unions, the workplace, and all ot ...

in 2009. She defeated

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

candidate

Betty Tom Chu Betty Tom Chu is an American lawyer, politician and banker. She is known for being the first Chinese-American woman to pass the bar admission of State Bar of California. She was also the first Chinese-American woman to be the chief executive of a ...

and

Libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...

candidate Christopher Agrella in a runoff election on July 14, 2009.Blood, Michael P
Democrat captures US House seat in LA county
''Huffington Post'', 15 July 2009. Chu was redistricted to the 27th district in 2012, but still reelected to a third term, defeating Republican challenger Jack Orswell.

Early life

Chu was born in 1953 in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. Her father, Judson Chu, was a

World War II veteran born in California, and her mother, May, was a

war bride War brides are women who married military personnel from other countries in times of war or during military occupations, a practice that occurred in great frequency during World War I and World War II. Among the largest and best documented examp ...

originally from

Jiangmen Jiangmen (), alternately romanized in Cantonese as Kongmoon, is a prefecture-level city in Guangdong Province in southern China. As of the 2020 census, its three urban districts, plus Heshan City being conurbated, with 2,657,662 inhabitants ar ...

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

. Chu grew up in

, near 62nd Street and

Normandie Avenue Normandie Avenue is one of Los Angeles County's longest north–south streets, with a stretch of about . It lies between Western Avenue to the west and Vermont Avenue to the east. The avenue begins in the south by branching off from Vermont Aven ...

, until her early teen years, when the family moved to the

Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gov ...

Education

In 1974, Chu earned a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree in mathematics from

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

. In 1979, she earned a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

degree in psychology from the

California School of Professional Psychology The California School of Professional Psychology (CSPP) was founded in 1969 by the California Psychological Association. It is part of the for-profit Alliant International University where each campus's Clinical Psychology Psy.D. and Ph.D. prog ...

Alliant International University Alliant International University, often called Alliant, is a private for-profit university with its main campus in San Diego and other campuses in California. It offers programs in six California campuses – in San Francisco, San Diego, Los Ang ...

campus.

Career

Academic

Chu taught psychology in the

Los Angeles Community College District The Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) is the community college district serving Los Angeles, California, and some of its neighboring cities and certain unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County. Its headquarters are in Downtown Lo ...

for 20 years, including 13 years at

East Los Angeles College East Los Angeles College (ELAC) is a public community college in Monterey Park, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. It is part of the California Community Colleges System and the Los Angeles Community College District. With fourteen communiti ...

Local politics

Chu's first elected position was as a board member for the

Garvey School District Garvey School District (founded in 1891) is a pre-K-8 school district with headquarters located in the city of Rosemead, California. It operates nine pre-K-6 elementary schools, one pre-K-8 elementary school and two intermediate schools (grades 7- ...

Rosemead, California Rosemead is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2021 census, it had a population of 50,245, currently dropping. Rosemead is part of a cluster of cities, along with Alhambra, Arcadia, Temple City, Monterey Park ...

in 1985. In 1988, Chu was elected to the city council of

Monterey Park, California Monterey Park is a city located in the western San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, United States, approximately from the Downtown Los Angeles civic center. The city's motto is "Pride in the past, Faith in the future". Mo ...

. In 1989, she became mayor of Monterey Park and served until 1994. Chu was mayor for three terms. Chu ran for the

in 1994, but lost the Democratic primary to Diane Martinez; in 1998, she lost the primary to

Gloria Romero Gloria Romero may refer to: *Gloria Romero (actress) Gloria Anne Borrego Galla (born December 16, 1933), known professionally as Gloria Romero (), is a multi-awarded Filipino actress, regarded as the “Queen of Philippine Movies”, her care ...

. Chu was elected to the State Assembly on May 15, 2001, following a special election after Romero was elected to the

State Senate A state legislature in the United States is the legislative body of any of the 50 U.S. states. The formal name varies from state to state. In 27 states, the legislature is simply called the ''Legislature'' or the ''State Legislature'', whil ...

. She was elected to a full term in 2002 and reelected in 2004. The district includes

Alhambra The Alhambra (, ; ar, الْحَمْرَاء, Al-Ḥamrāʾ, , ) is a palace and fortress complex located in Granada, Andalusia, Spain. It is one of the most famous monuments of Islamic architecture and one of the best-preserved palaces of the ...

, El Monte,

Duarte Duarte may refer to: * Duarte (surname), person's surname (or composed surname) and given name * Duarte, California, United States * Duarte Province, Dominican Republic * Pico Duarte Pico Duarte is the highest peak in the Dominican Republic, on th ...

, Monterey Park, Rosemead, San Gabriel,

San Marino San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...

, and

South El Monte South El Monte is a city in the San Gabriel Valley, in Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2010 census, the city had a population of 20,116, down from 21,144 at the 2000 census. Geography According to the United States C ...

, within

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the ...

. Barred by term limits from running for a third term in 2006, Chu was elected to the State Board of Equalization from the 4th district, representing most of Los Angeles County.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2009 special

Chu decided to run for the 2009 special election for the

California's 32nd congressional district California's 32nd congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of California based in Los Angeles County. The 32nd district takes in the city of Malibu and the Los Angeles neighborhoods of Pacific Palisades, Beverly G ...

after U.S. Representative

was appointed to become President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

United States Secretary of Labor The United States Secretary of Labor is a member of the Cabinet of the United States, and as the head of the United States Department of Labor, controls the department, and enforces and suggests laws involving unions, the workplace, and all ot ...

. Chu led the field in the May 19 special election, but due to the crowded field (eight Democrats and four Republicans) she only got 32% of the vote, well short of the 50% needed to win outright. In the runoff election, she defeated

Betty Chu (her cousin-in-law and a Monterey Park City Councilwoman) 62%–33%.

2010

Chu was heavily favored due to the district's heavy Democrat tilt. With a

Cook Partisan Voting Index The Cook Partisan Voting Index, abbreviated Cook PVI, CPVI, or PVI, is a measurement of how strongly a United States congressional district or U.S. state leans toward the Democratic or Republican Party, compared to the nation as a whole, based ...

of D+15, it is one of the safest Democratic districts in the nation. She was reelected to her first full term with 71% of the vote.

2012

In August 2011, Chu decided to run in the newly redrawn

California's 27th congressional district California's 27th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of California. The district is currently represented by . It comprises parts of Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties and covers much of the San Gabriel ...

. The district has the second highest percentage of

Asian American Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for all the indigenous people ...

s in the state with 37%, behind the newly redrawn 17th CD which is 50% Asian. Registered Democrats make up 42% of the district. Obama won the district with 63% in the 2008 presidential election.

Jerry Brown Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected Secretary of S ...

won with 55% in the 2010 gubernatorial election. Chu was reelected, defeating Republican Jack Orswell 64% to 36%.

2014

Chu was reelected over Orswell, 59.4% to 40.6%.

2016

Chu was reelected over Orswell, 67.4% to 32.6%.

2018

Chu won reelection over fellow Democrat Bryan Witt by a 79.2% to 20.8% margin, in one of a handful of districts in California that featured only Democrats on its midterm ballot.

2020

Chu won reelection to her seventh term over Republican Johnny J. Nalbandian by a 69.8% to 30.2% margin. Nalbandian never conceded the race, citing unproven voter fraud.

Tenure

In 2009, Chu voted to increase the debt ceiling to $12.394 trillion. In 2010, she voted to increase the debt ceiling to $14.294 trillion. In January 2011, she voted against a bill to reduce spending on non-security items to fiscal year 2008 levels. In 2011, Chu voted against the Budget Control Act of 2011, which incrementally raised the debt ceiling. In 2010, she voted against measures proposed by the House to strip government funding to

Planned Parenthood The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is a nonprofit organization that provides reproductive health care in the United States and globally. It is a tax-exempt corporation under Internal Reve ...

, and opposed restricting federal funding of abortions. Chu opposed the "See Something, Say Something Act of 2011," which provides "immunity for reports of suspected terrorist activity or suspicious behavior and response." She said, "if a person contacts law enforcement about something based solely on someone's race, religion, ethnicity, or national origin, they would not receive immunity from civil lawsuits." In June 2011, the House Ethics Committee began an investigation after receiving information suggesting that two of Chu's top aides had directed staffers to do campaign tasks during regular work hours. The investigation found that Chu had sent two emails to her staff on how to respond to aspects of the Ethics Committee's inquiry. The Committee found no evidence that Chu was aware of her staff's actions, it did find that the emails represented actions that interfered with the committee's investigation of the matter, and on December 11, 2014, it formally reprimanded Chu for interfering with its investigation of her office. In

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, a Chinese spy, Christine "Fang Fang" Fang, volunteered for Chu's campaign and is suspected to have used political connections to spy for the

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...

. Chu was one of several Democratic politicians who were targeted. In 2015, ''

The Intercept ''The Intercept'' is an American left-wing news website founded by Glenn Greenwald, Jeremy Scahill, Laura Poitras and funded by billionaire eBay co-founder Pierre Omidyar. Its current editor is Betsy Reed. The publication initially reported ...

'' published an investigative work by Ali Gharib and Eli Clifton, assisted in part by the work of independent researcher Joanne Stocker, indicating that Chu received $11,150 from the

People's Mujahedin of Iran The People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), also known as Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) or Mojahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO) ( fa, سازمان مجاهدين خلق ايران, sâzmân-e mojâhedīn-e khalq-e īrân), is an Iranian pol ...

(MEK) between January 2009 and September 2012, when the MEK was listed a

Foreign Terrorist Organization Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) is a designation for non-United States-based organizations deemed by the United States Secretary of State, in accordance with section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 (INA), to be involved ...

. She is an advocate of the MEK. On December 6, 2017, Chu was arrested during a protest outside of the

U.S. Capitol The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the Seat of government, seat of the Legislature, legislative branch of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is form ...

. Chu accused

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, a

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

member, of inciting the conflict between

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

and

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

over the disputed region of

Nagorno-Karabakh Nagorno-Karabakh ( ) is a landlocked country, landlocked region in the Transcaucasia, South Caucasus, within the mountainous range of Karabakh, lying between Lower Karabakh and Syunik Province, Syunik, and covering the southeastern range o ...

. On October 1, 2020, she co-signed a letter to Secretary of State

Mike Pompeo Michael Richard Pompeo (; born December 30, 1963) is an American politician, diplomat, and businessman who served under President Donald Trump as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 2017 to 2018 and as the 70th United State ...

that condemned Azerbaijan's offensive operations against the

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

-populated enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, denounced Turkey's role in the

Nagorno-Karabakh conflict The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is an ethnic and territorial conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, inhabited mostly by ethnic Armenians, and seven surrounding districts, inhabited mostly by Azerbaij ...

and called for an immediate ceasefire. As of October 2022, Chu had voted in line with Joe Biden's stated position 100% of the time.

Committee assignments

Committee on Ways and Means The Committee on Ways and Means is the chief tax-writing committee of the United States House of Representatives. The committee has jurisdiction over all taxation, tariffs, and other revenue-raising measures, as well as a number of other program ...

Subcommittee on Health The U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health is a subcommittee within the Committee on Energy and Commerce. Jurisdiction The House Subcommittee on Health has general jurisdiction over bills and resolutions relating to pub ...

** Subcommittee on Human Resources * Committee on Small Business ** Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Tax and Capital AccessIssue Rating
at votesmart.org

Caucus memberships

American Sikh Congressional Caucus The American Sikh Congressional Caucus is a congressional caucus focusing on the interests of the American Sikh community. Co-launched by Judy Chu (D-California) and David Valadao (R-California), the caucus seeks to address issues such as militar ...

(co-chair) *

Congressional Progressive Caucus The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) is a congressional caucus affiliated with the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party in the United States Congress. The CPC represents the most Left-wing politics, left-leaning faction of the ...

(vice-chair) *

Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus The Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) is a caucus consisting of members of the United States Congress who are Asian American and Pacific Islander ( AAPI), and who have a strong interest in advocating and promoting issues and ...

(chair) *

Congressional Taiwan Caucus The Congressional Taiwan Caucus is the largest Congressional Member Organization in the United States Congress with 229 members. The caucus focuses exclusively on improving American–Taiwanese relations. Its counterpart in the Senate is the S ...

*Creative Rights Caucus (co-founder and co-chair) *

LGBT Equality Caucus The Congressional LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus was formed by openly gay representatives Tammy Baldwin and Barney Frank June 4, 2008, to advance LGBT+ rights. The caucus had 165 members (164 Democrats and one Republican, Jeff Van Drew) in the 1 ...

* House Baltic Caucus *

Climate Solutions Caucus The Climate Solutions Caucus is a bipartisan caucus of U.S. legislators supported by the Citizens' Climate Lobby whose members work to achieve action addressing the risks from climate change. The House of Representatives and Senate each have a ...

* Medicare for All Caucus * Congressional Armenian Caucus

Political positions

Abortion

Chu claims that abortion access is "not just health care - it is a fundamental human right." She opposed the overturning of ''Roe v. Wade''.

Personal life

Chu married

Mike Eng Michael Francis Eng (; born September 14, 1946) is an American politician serving as one of five members of the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board (CUIAB) since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he was appointed to the body, an ...

in 1978. They live in Monterey Park. Eng took Chu's seat on the Monterey Park City Council in 2001, when Chu left the council after being elected to the

Assembly Assembly may refer to: Organisations and meetings * Deliberative assembly, a gathering of members who use parliamentary procedure for making decisions * General assembly, an official meeting of the members of an organization or of their representa ...

, and in 2006, he took Chu's seat on the Assembly when Chu left the Assembly. Chu's nephew, Lance Corporal Harry Lew, a

U.S. Marine The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through com ...

, died by suicide while serving in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

on April 3, 2011, allegedly as a result of

hazing Hazing (American English), initiation, beasting (British English), bastardisation (Australian English), ragging (South Asian English) or deposition refers to any activity expected of someone in joining or participating in a group that humiliates, ...

from fellow Marines after Lew allegedly repeatedly fell asleep during his watch. Chu described her nephew as a patriotic American and said that those responsible must be brought to justice. In December 2019, Chu and her brother Dean Chu donated $375,000 to the

Chinese American Museum The Chinese American Museum (Chinese: 華美博物館; abbreviated CAM) is a museum located in Downtown Los Angeles as a part of the El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historic Monument. It is dedicated to the history and experience of Chinese America ...

, California. Chu is one of three

Unitarian Universalists Unitarian Universalism (UU) is a liberal religion characterized by a "free and responsible search for truth and meaning". Unitarian Universalists assert no creed, but instead are unified by their shared search for spiritual growth, guided by a ...

in Congress.

References

External links

Congresswoman Judy Chu
official U.S. House website
Judy Chu for Congress
campaign website * * , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Chu, Judy 1953 births 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians American mayors of Chinese descent California politicians of Chinese descent American Unitarian Universalists American women of Chinese descent in politics California city council members Asian-American city council members California School of Professional Psychology alumni Female members of the United States House of Representatives Living people Mayors of places in California Democratic Party members of the California State Assembly Members of the United States Congress of Chinese descent Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from California Asian-American members of the United States House of Representatives Monterey Park, California People from Monterey Park, California People from the San Gabriel Valley Politicians from Los Angeles School board members in California Spouses of California politicians University of California, Los Angeles alumni Women city councillors in California Women state legislators in California Women mayors of places in California