Korean American candidates notch a string of U.S. House wins: Strickland wins fourth term, Min reelected, Go wins first seat [U.S. Midterm Elections]

Korean American candidates stood out in the U.S. midterm elections held on the 3rd (local time). That day, Rep. Marilyn Strickland (Kim Sun-ja), a Democrat from Washington, won a fourth term; Rep. Dave Min, a Democrat from California, was reelected; and Democrat Dan Go (Go Won-young) was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives.
According to the U.S. Associated Press, Rep. Strickland, who ran as the Democratic candidate in Washington’s 10th Congressional District, received 64.4% of the vote with 62% counted, comfortably defeating her opponent, who received just 35.1%.
Shortly after her victory, Rep. Strickland said, “The American people rejected President Donald Trump’s cruelty and corruption,” and stressed, “Voters want leaders who will fight for a more livable America and take decisive action to lower the cost of groceries, gas, health care, housing, and utilities. They want responsible governance.”
Born in Seoul to a Korean mother and a father who was a Korean War veteran, Rep. Strickland once drew attention when she described her identity as “a woman who is half Korean and half Black.”
That same day, Go’s victory in the Massachusetts 6th Congressional District race was confirmed. With 14% of the votes counted, Go had already received 62.7%, easily defeating Republican candidate Micah Quiney Jones, who had 37.3%.
Go was born to a father of Korean descent and a Lebanese mother and uses the Jeju Go clan surname, following his father’s lineage. His grandfather, Dr. Go Kwang-rim, who was from Jeju Island, was a diplomat and international law scholar who served as a minister and chargé d’affaires at the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in the United States in the early 1960s. His father, Harvard professor Howard Go (Go Kyung-ju), served as an assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under the Obama administration.
After graduating from Harvard University and Harvard Business School, Go served as chief of staff to former Boston Mayor Marty Walsh. He later built experience in local and federal government, including serving as a senior White House aide in the Biden administration.
Go, who has emphasized the need to check the policies of the Trump administration, also received the backing of former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris during the campaign. His main platform included easing the cost-of-living burden, supporting working- and middle-class people, and defending democracy.
Also that day, Rep. Min won reelection in California’s 47th Congressional District. With 47% of the vote counted, Min had received 59.5%, far ahead of Republican candidate Jenny Rae Le Roux, who had 40.5%.
Meanwhile, Democrat Cindy Munson lost her race in Oklahoma that same day. Born to a Korean mother and a father who served in the U.S. military, Munson sought to become the first Korean American governor in U.S. history, but could not overcome the state’s political landscape as a conservative stronghold.
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