Asian American Los Angeles City Councilman David Ryu has decided not to run for the 34th Congressional District after Trump’s election prompted him to consider how he could best serve his community.
Ryu, 40, the first Korean American to ever hold a council seat in Los Angeles, assumed office last year by defeating Carolyn Ramsey, a former aide to Councilman Tom LaBonge.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Ryu first considered running for the 34th District after Gov. Jerry Brown picked Rep. Xavier Becerra, who currently holds the seat, as state attorney general, but decided to say in Los Angeles because he considers it his home.
“After careful thought, it’s even more clear to me that my heart remains here in Los Angeles, in the neighborhoods and schools where I grew up,” Ryu said in a statement released to the press.
“We all must defend the values that makes Los Angeles a beacon of hope for so many and fight for a future that lifts up every single Angeleno. For me personally, that means serving the people of the 4th Council District,” he continued.
Ryu, who came to the United States when he was a child settling in Los Feliz, attended UCLA and worked as a director of development and public affairs at Los Angeles’ Kedren Acute Psychiatric Hospital and Community Health Center, according to the Daily News.
His historic election in 2015 drew praise from Southern California’s Korean American residents, a community of over 100,000 people.
“All Koreans feel proud,” said Porter Ranch resident Alex Kim to the Daily News at the time of Ryu’s victory. “We haven’t had any voice on the council.”
Other candidates who are said to be running for Becerra’s seat so far are state Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez and local activist Wendy Carrillo, both Democrats, and Green Party member Kenneth Mejia, a Filipino American, according to the LA Times.
