I am the son of Korean immigrants — born and raised in America, the product of New Jersey public schools, public servant, husband, and proud dad to two little troublemaking little boys.
I'm raising my kids just down the road from where I grew up because this community means everything to me and my family.
When my parents came to America 50 years ago, they didn’t know a single person in this entire country. They came here because they wanted to seek a better life for themselves and for their family.
My father suffered as a baby from Polio, and both of my parents struggled with hunger and disease during childhood. My father went on to study in America and became a PhD scientist who dedicated his life to finding a cure for cancer and Alzheimer’s. My mother became a nurse and helped serve thousands of people in New Jersey hospitals.
My parents chose to raise me and my sister in New Jersey because they believed the top-notch public school system would give us the best opportunities to succeed. I did all of K-12 right here, and that education helped me become a Rhodes Scholar and a leading national security expert – working at the Pentagon and in Afghanistan as a civilian advisor to the military.
New Jersey gave my family the opportunity to achieve the American dream, but now, the chaos, dysfunction and extremism in our politics makes me worry those same opportunities won’t be there for my kids. I worry that the community that gave me everything isn’t getting the support and representation it deserves. That’s why I’m stepping up and fighting for my family, for my neighbors, for the community that raised me, and for working families across New Jersey in their pursuit of the American Dream.
I’m so honored to represent in Congress a district where I went to Kindergarten and where my boys are going to school now. Now I’m ready to step up and represent the state of New Jersey.
The corruption charges against Sen. Bob Menendez have shaken the trust of the people in our state and left New Jerseyans feeling more cynical than ever about our government.
I’m running for U.S. Senate to restore that sense of integrity and represent the people of New Jersey with the compassion and trust we all deserve.
