Newman, 59, was first elected to the California Senate in 2016, defeating Republican Ling Ling Chang. But his victory in a closely divided district did not hold. Voters recalled Newman in 2018 and replaced him with Chang following a GOP attack over his siding with his fellow Democrats in voting to increase the state’s gas tax.
In 2020, Newman, a U.S. Army veteran, clawed his way back into office to reclaim the seat. He chairs the Senate Education Committee and has written bills signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom that ensure all public school students get 30 minutes of recess and that all swimming pools include drowning prevention features. He also fought for millions of dollars in the latest state budget to help repair a sinkhole that has caused problems in La Habra.
If reelected, Newman said, he will focus on reducing gun violence and protecting reproductive rights.
Choi, 80, served in the state Assembly from 2016 to 2022 and was previously mayor of Irvine, where he made a splash when he fought to display “In God we trust” on a wall in the City Council chambers despite concerns about keeping church and state separate.
An immigrant from South Korea, Choi did not win reelection in 2022 when redistricting pit him against another Assembly incumbent, Democrat Cottie Petrie Norris of Laguna Beach.
He is a former Irvine school board member and college educator and founded a tutoring academy. He has written bills that created laws to support mental health care and crack down on college admissions exceptions, after a scandal that ensnared celebrities came to light in 2019.
Choi’s Senate campaign tenets include opposing any new taxes and exposing “wasteful spending” by the state.