Dave Min— Dem Running To Replace Katie Porter— Talks Background, Campaign & Learning From DUI Arrest

5 months ago

Dave Min, a member of the California State Senate who is now running for Congress, joined Cat Oriel on "Forbes Newsroom" to discuss his background and run for Congress.

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Transcript

00:00Hello, everyone. My name is Kat Oriel with Forbes Breaking News, and today I'm here with Dave Min,

00:07a current member of the California State Senate, who's now running for Congress in California's

00:12District, 47th District in the House. Thanks so much for joining me today, Dave.

00:16Thanks for having me, Kat.

00:18Of course. So can you talk to me about your background and what led you to today running

00:22for Congress?

00:24Yeah. So, you know, I had a career before politics, and I'll be honest, I was not one of

00:28these kids who like did model UN or debate club and ever really thought I'd be in politics. And

00:35what I like to tell people is when I was a kid, I was terrible selling those magazines they make

00:39you sell. My first job ever in life was selling cut code knives, and I sold only two sets. One

00:47was to my parents and the other was their good friends. And that's a long way of saying like

00:51the last thing I ever thought I'd be doing is like, you know, getting out in front of audiences,

00:56calling people and asking them for campaign donations and all the things that make a

00:59politician. But, you know, I have spent my career in public service in my very first job at a law

01:05school was at the Securities and Exchange Commission. And this was right after Enron,

01:10right after WorldCom and right after 9-11. And so I wanted to serve my country, wanted to put my

01:16legal skills to use. I was a warden undergrad. I'd gone to Harvard Law School and felt like the

01:23place to go was cracking down on securities fraud. And from there, I continued on in public

01:28service. I worked as a Capitol Hill staffer to Senator Schumer, and then as a policy director

01:34at the Center for American Progress before coming back home to UC Irvine to teach at what was then a

01:39brand new law school. And I'll just say, you know, in 2016, you know, I testified six times

01:48for Congress. I was on TV a fair amount on like CNBC, Fox Business, things like that. And, you

01:55know, I followed politics closely as a former staffer, but really saw myself on the policy

01:59side of things. And then after Trump actually got elected and did the unthinkable, I found

02:05myself catalyzed. And I think honestly, it's because I'm Asian American. I grew up in this

02:10country in California in a time and place when there were not a lot of Asians around. I was the

02:15only Korean, Korean American kid in my class. And, you know, for me, I think when Trump started

02:21going after a lot of different marginalized communities, whether that was different LGBT

02:26communities, undocumented immigrants, or Muslims, you know, I know what it's like to feel marginalized

02:32to feel picked on because of who you are. And I think the instinct in me these days as an adult is

02:36to want to stand up and fight back. And that is really how I ended up becoming much more politically

02:42active than I'd ever been in my life. And somehow ended up running for political office. And I

02:48flipped this state senate seat that I now hold blue in 2020. I won this same area by five

02:55percentage points that I'm now running in for the Congress and the first Democrat in modern times to

03:00hold this seat. So I think we're in strong position to win. And I know that for me personally, the

03:05motivation to be in politics right now is to put this country back on the right track. I'm a father

03:10three young kids, Teddy 13, Emmy 11, Paxton's eight. And, you know, I want them to grow up in

03:17the America that I got to grow up in an America where we have opportunity, we value things like

03:22diversity and inclusion, and democracy. And those are not the values I see this country headed

03:28towards right now. Yeah, and you use the word unthinkable. So I was curious, you did expand

03:34upon it a little bit. And at first, I thought January 6, when you said use that word, but it's

03:38and I was wondering if, you know, watching what happened unfold on January 6, was that the turning

03:42point? But it sounds like it actually was a bit, you know, starting in 2016. Just ever seeing

03:48everything going on in the state of the federal government, that sort of was a catalyst. But

03:53is that a fair assessment? Or was there actually like a turning point? I'm always curious, what

03:57is the moment where you take a look, and you're like, I want to do this, I want to run for Congress.

04:03You know, so I'm running for political office is obviously, obviously the first step. And I

04:08did run for Congress in 2018. I lost in a narrow primary to Katie Porter that year.

04:13For me, the catalyst for running was, was, I think it was the Muslim ban back in 2017,

04:18when Trump took office. And that had come around the same time as the trans ban.

04:23You know, obviously, the attacks on women, the attacks on undocumented immigrants,

04:27but seeing that turned into action, using the really incredible powers of the executive branch.

04:34I, you know, I just, I have to say, like, for me, again, growing up as an as a son of immigrants,

04:40you know, I have a certain vision of what America stands for. It's something that I've grown up with

04:45that I love deeply, right. And I think one of the things about Orange County, and this part

04:50of Orange County, in particular, that is really unique, maybe not unique, but I think important,

04:54one of the reasons it's switched so purple is that there are a lot of immigrants and children

04:58of immigrants in that live in this district. And so, you know, it's 20% Asian, about 15% Latino,

05:05we have a lot of people that you would describe as new Americans, that is to say,

05:08they came to this country or their parents or their grandparents. But, you know, we have a

05:13lot of people out here who really embody the American dream. And I would consider myself in

05:18that category. And I think for those of us who feel so grateful to this country for what is

05:23offered, to see a person, Donald Trump, and a movement, the MAGA movement, that so fundamentally

05:31is opposed to the values I grew up thinking this country stands on, which includes democracy,

05:36which includes the rule of law, which includes a value for diversity and inclusion, you know,

05:42boundless economic opportunity. These are the things that, you know, America has stood for,

05:47for countless generations, that has drawn so many millions of immigrants to this country.

05:52And I believe fervently in these values. And that, I think, is why I was so offended by what

05:58Donald Trump did early on, what catalyzed me to action. And of course, January 6 was a horrific

06:04event as well. But let's be honest, that is not that surprising, given where we've seen Donald

06:11Trump take a good part of the Republican Party. This is not the Republican Party from 15 years

06:15ago. This is a Republican Party today that has zero respect for the rule of law, zero respect

06:21for democracy. And this is a party that once embraced immigrants like my parents, and is now

06:27turning their back on them, not worse than turning their back on them. They are actively saying you

06:32are not welcome here. And that is a message that I fundamentally oppose. And it's something I tell

06:36everybody in my communities here in Orange County is you are welcome here, that diversity is a

06:42touchstone, and that the diversity and pluralism that we represent here in Orange County is the

06:48American dream. It is the bedrock of America. And anyone who tries to tell you differently is

06:52un-American. I do want to touch more on your district. What do you think is the greatest

06:57challenge facing your district? And what are you hearing the most from your constituents?

07:01Oh, we have a ton of challenges. But again, my district, it tends to be wealthier and more

07:06educated. And so one of the biggest things we're facing right now is around rising homelessness

07:12and the high cost of housing. And so here, like if you're a single family starter home probably

07:18runs $1.5 million. And that just makes home ownership out of reach for so many young people.

07:26Seniors are being priced out of this area. And the number one driver for homelessness in California,

07:31and particularly in Orange County, is the high cost of housing. So that is something I hear all

07:35the time. And having worked in housing finance policy before, I have a lot of wonky answers I

07:40could give. But I think it starts with recognizing there is a role for government to play in providing

07:46access, facilitating a greater supply of housing production, greater inputs into affordable housing,

07:54particularly at the low and very low income levels, but also around workforce housing,

07:58and to try to address that. Two other topics I hear a lot about are gun violence and women's

08:04reproductive rights these days. I think people, even in California, are deeply concerned that

08:09Congress and or the courts might continue what we a lot of people see as a war on women's

08:15health care and women's reproductive rights, and keep going further. I mean, the thought a few

08:20years ago was that Roe v. Wade was sacrosanct. In fact, I will say, I think three of the justices

08:25that voted to overturn Roe v. Wade explicitly said before the Senate Judiciary Committee under oath,

08:31that if appointed, they would uphold Roe v. Wade, they sought to settle law. And so I think people

08:37across the country, but women in Orange County, many even Republicans were very surprised and

08:41shocked by that. And I think now we're seeing like a secondary effect of that where so many women and

08:48men are just like, I'm odd. I'm very shocked and dismayed by the pace at which so many Republican

08:55legislatures around the country are not just going after like, early term abortions, but they're now

09:03implementing blanket bans, they're criminalizing abortion, even for the health of the mother.

09:07And we're just reading these headlines and seeing, I think, a very dystopian America. And,

09:15and, you know, a lot of people watch The Handmaid's Tale or read that book, I remember

09:20reading in college, and thought, okay, this is a like a long way, not realistic, dystopian future.

09:25And now we're seeing that play out very rapidly. And so I know that's very alarming to a lot of

09:31people I represent. And then climate, you know, we're on the front lines here in California,

09:35particularly in a coastal community like mine, which also has a lot of wildfire risk.

09:40We're seeing the effects. I know people are worried about rising sea levels around the

09:46unusual weather patterns we're experiencing. And I'll just say like, I've got kind of an aging

09:51population. And so we have a lot of parents and grandparents out here. And I know that I hear all

09:56the time, two things. One is around the cost of housing, I mentioned, how can my kids afford to

10:01live here? And the other is what kind of planet are we leaving behind for the next generation?

10:06You know, and the way I think about it is, if you've got someone that you love, and in my case,

10:10I've got three kids. If you have someone you love, who's going to be alive in the year 2050, or 2075.

10:17Given the science that we know right now, we have a duty to act with urgency around what is clearly

10:24a climate crisis, both to try to move quickly to decarbonized economy, but also to adapt to

10:30the changes we know are coming. Well, that leads to a question that I wanted to ask you

10:36to conclude. But since you're bringing it up, I really loved reading that quote on your website

10:40about one of your basic philosophies being about long-termism. And I'll read the quote that you

10:45had on there. A civilization is great when its elders plant trees, whose shade they know they

10:49will never sit in. So I think that kind of speaks to your whole philosophy. Where do you think you

10:53got that from, that philosophy? Yeah, so you know, I remember I used to work in financial markets

10:59policy, right? And I had a chance to go to Wall Street. I chose the other path. And you can

11:04question my judgment because I make a lot less money than a lot of your viewers. But for me,

11:09I think where America got off track is that we increasingly emphasize short-term gains or

11:15long-term returns. And that, you know, we've had different terms for it. We call it financialization

11:21of the economy, rewarding speculation. But I think in some ways, we got off track because

11:27the economic incentives that we put in place really started to emphasize the short-term gain.

11:33And I see that, and by the way, in legislation and policy. One of the laments I have in being

11:38a state legislature, as a legislator, is that there's a lot of incentives for legislators and

11:45policymakers to try to get that short-term headline. But there's not as much incentive

11:50to follow through and make sure that your laws are working the way that you want them to work.

11:55And we lost that. And I think that in America, when I was growing up, there was a long-term

12:00emphasis. You know, investments in things like education or climate, these don't necessarily

12:05pay off right away, but they have long-term benefits. And we remember seeing that from

12:11some of the infrastructure investments we had in the 1930s and 1940s that paid off, you know,

12:16massive ROI there. And I think we have to get back to that philosophy, which, you know,

12:21is an Asian-American philosophy. That quote is Greek, so it's also a Greek philosophy.

12:25And it used to be an American philosophy. And we got to get back to that. I think if we

12:30want to return to sustained economic prosperity to a world and a country that, you know, is,

12:36was, and hopefully will continue to be the greatest country in the history of the planet,

12:42we've got to start re-embracing that long-term philosophy that I think that quote gives to.

12:47I'm curious about the topics that you touched on. There were four key things there. And so,

12:52if elected to the House, what would your style be in terms of implementing those things? You know,

12:56you would have very big shoes to fill replacing Katie Porter, who has always been incredibly

13:01outspoken during hearings on those issues and more. So especially if we are to continue with

13:06a Republican majority in the House, would you be willing to reach across the aisle to

13:10work on those priorities, which, you know, I think many Democrats are aligned on,

13:14or would you only be willing to work with Democrats to push more progressive side?

13:17Yeah. So to answer your first question first, or last question first, of course,

13:22I want to be bipartisan. And in the state legislature, I have worked with Republicans

13:28on leading legislation around small business regulatory reform. Unsuccessfully, I should add,

13:35but I've tried. And I've tried to reach across the aisle in places where it makes sense.

13:39That being said, I have a little bit of a distaste for what I call performative bipartisanship,

13:44which is just being bipartisan. So you can say you're bipartisan. It should be around actual

13:48tangible results. And so there's probably certain Republicans that I'm not going to ever work with,

13:53because I don't, you know, I'm not looking to just partner with somebody for the sake of partnering.

13:58But if there's shared interests, yeah, it doesn't matter who you are. I want to work with you to

14:01try to get stuff done that benefits my district and my vision for what America should be. Now,

14:07on the broader question of like, what kind of legislator do I want to be? I often say this,

14:12like Katie and I have similar backgrounds, but we're obviously very different people. And

14:16just as one example, when she taught at UC Irvine, she taught with the whiteboard,

14:20as we all famously know, I taught with PowerPoint. I like those slides. And while her humor is

14:26biting and, you know, you know, very sarcastic and funny, I'm more of a dad joke type guy. So

14:31there are differences between us that I think you'll see play out. Should I get elected to

14:35Congress? You know, I certainly value the oversight that Katie brings to the table.

14:41Given my background in policy development, that's kind of where I want to put my emphasis.

14:46That being said, the one thing I want to copy from Katie, like, you know, just copy completely is her

14:51willingness to be unafraid and speak truth to power. Because I think that's missing from Congress

14:57right now. There's, there's too few people up in Washington, DC who are willing to call a spade a

15:01spade. And that is something Katie Porter brought to the table in spades. And that I want to do as

15:07well. I, you know, I think it's important that when we're elected, we're not wallflowers, that

15:12we understand we're getting elected to right now, fight for our values, fight for the values that

15:18I'm campaigning on. And I think that's really, really important at a time when so many people

15:22have lost trust in government, in public institutions. And our very democracy seems

15:28to be on the precipice right now. I think we need honest brokers who are willing to step up and

15:33fight, fight, fight for the values that they're campaigning on. And you will not see me, you know,

15:38I've made my mistakes in life. I've, you know, people will disagree with me on a lot of what

15:42I've done. But I don't think anyone will ever accuse me of pulling a bait and switch. I am what

15:46I am, I will do what I say I do. And that's the reputation I want to bring to Congress.

15:52It would be very entertaining to watch your dad joke PowerPoints. If we're going to miss

15:56Katie Porter's whiteboard, at least maybe we might have that. So I do want to talk about the,

16:01your opponent right now, your rival, the front runner for the Republican Party right now is

16:05former California State Rep. Scott Baugh. And recent FiveThirtyEight polls are showing Baugh

16:11having a slight upper hand. So I just want you to speak a little bit to what makes you,

16:16in your opinion, the best candidate over him. And I know we touched a bit about how Orange County

16:21and the Orange Curtain is kind of being pulled back a little bit. And you mentioned that,

16:24you know, Orange County in your district is skewing a bit purple, has skewed blue for the

16:29first time in, I think, with Katie Porter ever. So how concerned are you that the district does

16:34want to swing back to the to the red side and the Republicans? Yeah, so a few things. I don't

16:39think there's been any new polling since the primary. So I think most of the analyses I've

16:45seen have this either as a toss up or tilt Democrat. And I think that's about right. Katie

16:50Porter won the seat by three points. And look, I'll be the first to say I'm not Katie Porter.

16:54I don't have her star power. But I think I got a few things going for me. First,

17:00the swing votes right now in this area are Asian American. And we saw that reflected in 2020,

17:05when Michelle Steele, Young Kim and a guy named Dave Min all won in this region. And we all

17:11overperformed our expectations. And that was because we were able to disproportionately perform

17:15well with the API's that make up in my case, 20% of my district. And so that's one thing I have

17:21going for me. I think another thing I have going for me is at a time when Republicans are looking

17:26to attack us on rising crime and homelessness, I have the backing of law enforcement. And I'm proud

17:31to be someone who backs the blue. I'll continue to do that in Congress. And I'm grateful and honored

17:37to have the support of police and public safety behind me in this race. And I think that's going

17:42to be an important distinguishing factor. I think that the distinctions between myself and Scott

17:46Barr are very clear. This is a guy who has spent some of his life in public service, most of it in

17:52the private sector, but all of it trying to exploit government for his personal gain. This is a guy

17:57who was indicted for 22 counts of campaign finance fraud, bribery and related charges during his time

18:03as an assembly member and as a lobbyist thereafter. Again, exploiting his office for personal gain.

18:09As Republican Party chairman, the party was caught and he was embroiled in criminal charges

18:14of illegally re-registering voters to the Republican Party. You want to talk about voter

18:18fraud, that's voter fraud. Meanwhile, I've spent my career in public service trying to crack down

18:24on the types of corruption and fraud that Scott Barr represents. I'm someone who I think represents

18:28the values of this district. And when we talk about values, I think I mentioned them earlier,

18:32but I believe that most people in my district want a vision that is positive, a vision where

18:39we are trying to restore, rebuild and expand the American dream, where we value diversity and

18:44inclusion. And meanwhile, Scott Barr is the guy who has said the biggest threat America has ever

18:49faced in its history, bigger than 9-11, bigger than World War II, is quote-unquote wokeism,

18:55which I take as him basically describing diversity and inclusion, the values that I think are

18:59sacrosanct in this country. We have two competing visions right now. One of them says that people

19:03that look like me don't belong in this country, that cultures like my Korean culture are not

19:09welcome here. And then we have an inclusive vision that values that same diversity. And I think it's

19:14very clear that voters in Orange County, we're going to go with the guy that has the positive,

19:19inclusive vision for this country and its future, not the guy who represents yesterday's news,

19:24who's trying to take us backward to a time when people like me were not welcome, when women's

19:29reproductive rights were not sacrosanct and upheld, when votes, when we were allowed to

19:35gerrymander and allowed to exclude people from voting, that is not the America that I think

19:40people want to go back to. Well, my last question for you, you know, you did touch on a little bit

19:46the mistakes that you've made throughout your life and your willingness to learn from them.

19:50Almost exactly a year ago, you were cited with a misdemeanor for driving under the influence.

19:54I know you did take full responsibility for that in a Facebook post and expressed your deep sorry

19:59and regret for it. So what should voters take away on what you've learned from this and how

20:03can they trust that it won't distract from your work in California and D.C. if elected?

20:08Yeah. And first, I just want to say I apologize to the people of the 47th

20:13Congressional District, the 37th Senate District I represent for that mistake. And I also just want

20:17to say because there has been a lot of gossiping and otherwise, that mistake was not reflective of

20:25who I am or my career. And I'll just say I'm an Eagle Scout. I'm a dad of three young kids. I

20:29made one very, very dumb mistake in Sacramento one night that will never happen again. And what I

20:36would just say is we all make mistakes. That was a particularly stupid one. But I also want

20:43to say this. I hope that whatever people think of me, they will take away from me the fact that

20:49I'm honest, transparent and will do what I say I will do. And that's been my hallmark as a

20:54legislator. It's something I carry with pride throughout my life and my career. I have fought

20:58the good fight. I will continue to try to do that. And I think that is the thing that voters should

21:04focus on is aside from a single mistake, what are the values this person brings to the table?

21:11What are the characteristics of this person's character? And again, I believe honesty,

21:16transparency, independence from special interests. These are the things I bring to the table. And

21:21I've got a track record to prove it. And I will take that any day over my opponent, Scott Ball,

21:26who, by the way, has not only made one mistake, but many mistakes over his career. And, you know,

21:31you want to talk about mistakes. I would I would submit to you that one mistake of the nature I

21:36made compared to 22 counts, including four felonies for misusing, abusing office campaign

21:43finance, fraud, bribery and related charges. I'll take that comparison any day. Thank you so much

21:50for your time today, Dave. Is there anything else I didn't ask you about that you would like to touch

21:56on before we close out? You know, I just the last thing I just would say is, you know, bringing it

22:03back to the quote, I think right now we are in a battle for the future of this country. And there

22:09are there's local concerns, obviously. You know, what are we going to do around, say, water issues

22:13or rising home prices or homelessness? But there's also clearly national implications for this race.

22:19Many people believe this seat may decide control of Congress. And that I just don't think we can

22:25underemphasize that at this moment in time. We're seeing authoritarianism and hyper nationalism.

22:31The values of exclusion and xenophobia and racism dominate throughout the world. We see this,

22:38whether it's in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and America right now, unfortunately. And I think that

22:44we have a choice to make not just for the local issues that we're discussing, but also for the

22:48future of this country. Where do we want to go as a country? And I hope voters will make the right

22:54decision that they will choose me not only because I think I'm a much stronger candidate, but because

23:00at the end of the day, we're choosing hope, the American dream and democracy over the values that

23:05Donald Trump and the MAGA movement bring to the table. And it is hard to divorce Scott Ball from

23:09Donald Trump. And so I just think that I hope voters will take that into account as well.

23:15Thank you so much for your time today.

23:17And thank you, Kat.

Dave Min— Dem Running To Replace Katie Porter— Talks Background, Campaign & Learning From DUI Arrest

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