Robert Lee Ahn
Robert Lee Ahn
Robert Lee Ahn is a public interest attorney, community activist, environmentalist, and entrepreneur. He is also a former planning commisioner. He is running as a candidate in aspecial election to the U.S. House of Representatives to represent California's 34th congressional district. The seat is currently vacant, as it was previously held by new California Attorney General Xavier Becerra in Congress. If elected, he would be the only Korean-American in Congress.
Early & Personal Life
Robert Lee Ahn was born to South Korean immigrants James and Jain Ahn in 1975 at USC County Hospital in Los Angeles. His parents immigrated from South Korea shortly before he was born.
He has younger sister named Christine.
They both spent most of their time with their grandparents while their parents worked long hours and numerous jobs.
He took art classes, played Little League baseball, and spent time at youth camps. He was a regular at the Westside YMCA, taking competitive swimming and Jujitsu classes. He also excelled in basketball: he played point guard with future NBA stars Jason and Jarron Collins.
Education
Robert earned a law degree at the USC Gould School of Law. Before that, he attended Emory University where he earned his Bachelor's in Business Administration.
Growing up, Ahn attended local public schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District until he was accepted into the Harvard School for Boys in San Fernando Valley.
Public Service
While studying at Emory, Robert Lee Ahn tutored at-risk high school children in Math and English.
He also volunteered at Habitat for Humanity and buildt houses for the underprivileged.
He also served on the Board of Directors of the Pacific American Volunteer Association (PAVA), which promotes volunteerism and organizes large scale clean-up events for California's beaches, coasts and the Los Angeles River.
Politics
Robert is one of the current 23 candidates running for the vacant U.S.
House of Representatives seat in a special election to represent California's 34th congressional district.
Funding
Ahn made headline news in Los Angeles county when it was revealed that he raised more than $100,000 more than any of the political candidates running for California's 34th congressional district from January 1 - March 15, 2017.
This placed him third in the overall funding, behind Jimmy Gomez (who is currently serving in the California State Assembly) and Sara Hernandez (a former teacher and L.A. City Hall aide).
Themes
Rober Lee Ahn speaks to the following issues on his website:
Health Care: President Donald Trump and extremists in Congress seek to strip the elderly and our children’s access to quality, affordable health care. Robert Lee Ahn will stand up to the Republican-led attacks on the Affordable Care Act. Robert Lee Ahn will lead the fight to expand health care access for every American!
Education: Robert Lee Ahn believes every child deserves a quality education. Robert will fight to ensure that our most vulnerable and at-risk children have tools to thrive in today’s economy and skills to compete in tomorrow’s economy. Robert understands that for our children to have any chance of competing in a complex and rapidly changing global economy, a college education must be affordable.
Environment: Robert Lee Ahn understands that climate change is an urgent threat to our economy and our children’s future. Robert will defend the pledge we made at the Paris Climate Conference to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and put the United States on a path to reduce American oil consumption. On day one, Robert Lee Ahn will call on Congress to invest in clean energy infrastructure and innovation.
Immigration: It is our moral obligation to treat every person with dignity. It is essential to our national security that we fix the visa backlog. Robert Lee Ahn will make it a priority to introduce legislation for comprehensive humane immigration reform. Robert will fight to end family detention and close detention centers.
Foreign Policy: Robert Lee Ahn will ensure that America pursues a foreign policy that is sane, just and maintains our strong support for the under attack democracies of South Korea and Israel. Robert is firmly and unequivocally committed to the State of Israel and will speak out for our friend, the one true democracy in the Middle East.
See Also:
California's 34th Congressional District special election list of Candidates, 2017