Young Kim loses bid for 4th term, calls congressional service 'greatest honor'

Young Kim (Korean name Kim Young-ok), a Korean American congresswoman, lost her bid for a fourth term in the election held Nov. 3 (local time).

With 71 percent of ballots counted in California's 40th Congressional District, Kim received 46.4 percent of the vote against fellow Republican Ken Calvert, who took 53.6 percent, the Associated Press reported Monday (local time).

A Republican, Kim had won three consecutive terms in the 40th District but was forced into a same-party race against Calvert — a 17-term incumbent and senior party figure — after redistricting reshaped the electoral map. Calvert had previously run in the 41st District, but when redistricting made that district more favorable to Democrats, he moved to the 40th.

California uses a "jungle primary" system in which the top two vote-getters advance to the general election regardless of party affiliation, which is what put Kim and Calvert on the same ballot in the same district.

In a statement after the loss, Kim said serving in Congress as an immigrant who came to the United States carrying the American Dream was "the greatest honor of my life." Kim congratulated Calvert on his victory and said she hoped he would represent the community well.

Kim also expressed frustration over the redistricting process while thanking her supporters. "It is unfortunate that due to Gavin Newsom's political redistricting plan, two Republican members had to run against each other in this election," she said, referring to the California governor.

Kim was born in Incheon and moved with her family to Guam, a US territory, in 1975, where she attended middle and high school before graduating from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

After working in finance and the apparel industry, Kim entered politics at her husband's urging, becoming a staffer for former Rep. Ed Royce, a longtime Korea ally. She went on to win a seat in the California state legislature in 2014 and entered the US House of Representatives in 2020, where she served as chair of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Indo-Pacific.