Alex Lee | |
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![]() Official portrait, 2025 | |
Member of the California State Assembly | |
Assumed office December 7, 2020 | |
Preceded by | Kansen Chu |
Constituency | 25th district (2020–2022) 24th district (2022–present) |
Personal details | |
Born | Alex Tianming Lee July 11,1995 San Jose,California,U.S. |
Political party | Democratic |
Education | University of California,Davis (BA) |
Alex Lee Tianming (born July 11,1995) is an American politician who has served as a member of the California State Assembly since 2020,having represented the 24th district since 2022 and the 25th district from 2020 to 2022. A member of the Democratic Party,Lee's district includes Fremont,Newark,Sunol,Milpitas,and parts of western San Jose.
A YIMBY Democratic socialist,Lee is one of the most progressive members of the California legislature. [1] During his tenure,he has been a strong supporter of legislation to increase housing,in particular social housing. [1] [2]
Lee was born on July 11,1995,in San Jose,California. [3] [4] His parents immigrated to the United States from Hong Kong. [5] [6] His father is an engineer and his mother is a nurse. [7] After his parents divorced,Lee lived alternately with his father in Milpitas and his mother in North San Jose. [8]
Lee graduated from Milpitas High School in 2013. He became interested in filmmaking and eventually decided to pursue a dual degree in political science and communications at the University of California,Davis. [9] In 2015,Alex Lee became the first president pro tempore of the ASUCD senate to be removed mid-quarter after a controversy involving accusations of Lee intentionally excluding a senator from an interview committee that would be screening candidates for sitting senator's replacement. [10] Lee ran for a seat on the student senate at UC Davis in 2014 and served as student body president in 2016. [11] He graduated with a bachelor of arts in 2017.
While attending college,Lee was an intern for several politicians including Mike Honda,Ed Chau,Evan Low,Cecilia Aguiar-Curry,and Kansen Chu. [12] He began working for Henry Stern as a full-time legislative aide after graduating college. [8] Prior to running for office,Lee delivered food,and lived with his mother due to the high cost of living in his district. [13] [14]
In June 2019,Lee announced he would run to succeed Chu in the 25th district upon Chu's retirement from the State Assembly. [15] [16] He ran as a democratic socialist and was endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America. [17] In March 2020,Lee finished second in a field of nine candidates in the nonpartisan blanket primary;he split the vote with seven other Democrats and finished behind Republican Bob Brunton. [18] Lee defeated Brunton in the general election. [19]
Lee was sworn into the State Assembly on December 7,2020. Taking office at age 25,he was the Assembly's youngest member,the first born in the 1990s,and the first openly bisexual member. [12] [8]
On his first day in office,Lee introduced a bill that would ban corporate donations to political candidates. [20] Lee has since introduced legislation in favor of increasing social housing in California. [2] [21] [22] Lee has expressed support for a land-value tax as a potential way to increase housing supply and reduce inequality. [1] YIMBY Action,a pro-housing advocacy group,described Lee "as a strong supporter of every major pro-housing bill." [23] He has also secured $2.5 million in funding for bicycle infrastructure and services for unhoused people in Milpitas. [24]
In 2022,Lee was redrawn into the 24th district. [25] He placed first in the nonpartisan blanket primary ahead of Brunton,Chu,and two other Democrats,and defeated Brunton in a rematch in the general election. [26] He was sworn into his second term on December 5,2022.
Lee is the chair of the California Legislative Progressive Caucus. [27]
Primary election | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
Republican | Bob Brunton | 19,612 | 20.8 | |
Democratic | Alex Lee | 14,542 | 15.4 | |
Democratic | Anne Kepner | 12,823 | 13.6 | |
Democratic | Anna Song | 11,992 | 12.7 | |
Democratic | Natasha Gupta | 9,778 | 10.4 | |
Democratic | Carmen Montano | 9,672 | 10.2 | |
Democratic | Anthony Phan | 6,780 | 7.2 | |
Democratic | Roman Reed | 5,549 | 5.9 | |
Democratic | Jim Canova | 3,623 | 3.8 | |
Total votes | 94,371 | 100.0 | ||
General election | ||||
Democratic | Alex Lee | 135,733 | 70.5 | |
Republican | Bob Brunton | 56,775 | 29.5 | |
Total votes | 192,508 | 100.0 | ||
Democratic hold |
Primary election | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
Democratic | Alex Lee | 26,531 | 38.5 | |
Republican | Bob Brunton | 14,730 | 21.4 | |
Democratic | Kansen Chu | 12,683 | 18.4 | |
Democratic | Teresa Keng | 9,721 | 14.1 | |
Democratic | Lan Diep | 5,308 | 7.7 | |
General election | ||||
Democratic | Alex Lee | 75,232 | 69.1 | |
Republican | Bob Brunton | 33,662 | 30.9 | |
Total votes | 108,894 | 100.0 | ||
Democratic hold |