Ling Ling Chang (born July 24, 1976) is an American politician who formerly served in the

California State Senate The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature (the lower house being the California State Assembly). The state senate convenes, along with the state assembly, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. ...

, representing the 29th district, encompassing parts of

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...

, and

San Bernardino San Bernardino ( ) is a city in and the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 census, making it the List of ...

counties. Prior to being elected to the state Senate, she was a

Diamond Bar Diamond Bar is a city in eastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. The 2020 census listed a population of 55,072. It is one of a few cities in California with a majority Asian population (59.24% as of 2020). It is named after the ...

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woman and a state Assemblywoman for the 55th district. Chang is a Republican. She was also the first Taiwanese-born American elected to the state Assembly, and was the only Asian American woman in the California Legislature during her terms in office. In 2016, Chang was a candidate for

California's 29th State Senate district California's 29th senatorial district is one of 40 California California State Senate, State Senate districts. It is currently represented by of . District profile The district straddles the intersection of three counties: Los Angeles Coun ...

, losing the general election very narrowly to Democrat Josh Newman. After Newman was recalled by voters in 2018, Chang won a plurality of votes on the recall ballot and became the state Senator for California's 29th district. Chang narrowly lost re-election to Josh Newman in the 2020 election.

Early life and education

Born in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

, Chang and her family emigrated to the United States when she was three years old. She was raised in

and graduated from

Diamond Bar High School Diamond Bar High School (DBHS) is a public high school located in Diamond Bar, California, as part of the Walnut Valley Unified School District. Diamond Bar High School's mascot is the Brahma, and the school colors are purple and gold. Diamond ...

. She studied biology at

UC Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public land-grant research university in Riverside, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The main campus sits on in ...

but did not graduate. She was criticized during her 2014 campaign for claims that she attended

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

when she was in fact taking online classes through

Harvard Extension School Harvard Extension School (HES) is the Continuing education, continuing education School of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1910, it is o ...

, the university's online extension program which is open to the general public.

Career

Chang worked at Strategy Insights Group. In 2005, she was elected to the

Walnut Valley A walnut is the edible seed of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, ''Juglans regia''. They are accessory fruit because the outer covering of the fruit is technically an invol ...

Water District Board and was then elected twice to the

California State Assembly

Chang was elected to the

California Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature (the upper house being the California State Senate). The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. Neithe ...

in the 55th district in 2014 and had five bills signed into law in her first seven months in office. She also proposed bills seeking to cut business regulations.

2016 State Senate run

Chang was the Republican candidate for

in the 2016 election. She ran against two Democrats, former

Irvine Irvine may refer to: Places On Earth Antarctica *Irvine Glacier * Mount Irvine (Antarctica) Australia * Irvine Island * Mount Irvine, New South Wales Canada * Irvine, Alberta * Irvine Inlet, Nunavut Scotland *Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotlan ...

Mayor

Sukhee Kang Sukhee Kang (; born 15 September 1952) is an American Democratic Party politician from Orange County, California. From 2008 to 2012, Kang served as Mayor of Irvine, California, the first Korean American to serve as mayor of a major American cit ...

and veteran Josh Newman to succeed

Bob Huff Robert S. Huff (born September 9, 1953) is an American businessman and politician who was the California State Senate minority leader and Senate Republican leader from January 5, 2012, until August 27, 2015. He represented the Senate's 29th D ...

in 2016 due to term limits. As of October 2016, Chang had raised more than $4 million. She made public comments distancing herself from Republican presidential nominee

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

. In November 2016, with 49.6% of the vote, Chang lost the general election to Democrat Josh Newman.

2018 State Senate special recall election

On June 5, 2018, Chang won a recall election for the same State Senate seat that she had lost to Josh Newman two years earlier. Newman was targeted for recall by the Republican Party of California in an attempt to break the Democratic super majority in the Senate, though the campaign also emphasized Newman's vote to increase gas and vehicle taxes to fund infrastructure improvements.

2020 State Senate election

In 2020 Chang lost the election to serve a full term in the State Senate. She lost the 2020 rematch to Josh Newman by a margin about three times larger than she had lost in 2016.

Personal life

Chang is married to Andrew Wong, an attorney.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chang, Ling Ling American politicians of Taiwanese descent American women of Taiwanese descent in politics Asian American and Pacific Islander state legislators in California California politicians of Chinese descent Republican Party California state senators Republican Party members of the California State Assembly Living people Taiwanese emigrants to the United States 1976 births 21st-century American women politicians Women state legislators in California Harvard Extension School alumni Asian conservatism in the United States 21st-century members of the California State Legislature