By Nick Eskow,Posted September 15, 2025 At 1:48pm
Copyright rollcall
During a contentious House Oversight and Government Reform Committee markup on Wednesday, freshman California Rep. Dave Min was the lone Democrat who sided with Republicans on several proposals that would exert greater federal control over Washington.
Held in the final hours of President Donald Trump’s 30-day takeover of the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department, GOP members advanced a series of bills aimed at codifying changes to policing, sentencing and self-governance in D.C. — a push that critics have viewed as an existential threat to home rule.
Min crossed party lines to support several measures, including one that would lower the age that minors could be tried as adults for certain offenses, legislation that would increase mandatory minimum sentences for violent crimes, and a bill that would repeal a D.C. law that implemented changes to local policing practices that Republicans have frequently criticized.
Getting to Congress: With a law degree from Harvard, Min began his career as a staff attorney for the Securities and Exchange Commission. He spent two years at the agency, followed by three years at the law firm WilmerHale before landing on Capitol Hill. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., hired Min in 2007 as an economic and financial policy adviser on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee.
Next Min moved to the Joint Economic Committee to serve as banking counsel, where Schumer was chairman. In 2009 he joined liberal policy group Center for American Progress, where he rose to become associate director of financial markets. He left CAP to teach at the University of California at Irvine’s law school.
After an unsuccessful 2018 bid for Congress, Min was elected to the California Senate two years later. In 2024 he ran for the open House seat vacated by former Rep. Katie Porter. Min defeated Republican Scott Baugh in November with 51 percent of the vote.
His District: California’s 47th District covers coastal Orange County, including the city of Irvine, home to the University of California at Irvine, a major research institution and employer. The district is wealthy, with an overall median household income of over $123,229 in 2023, significantly higher than the national median household income of $80,610. In upscale communities such as Newport Beach, that figure climbs to nearly $160,000.
Demographically, the district is home to a large Asian population, making up nearly a quarter of the overall population. The area has long been associated with surfing: Huntington Beach brands itself “Surf City USA” after a 1963 song by rock duo Jan and Dean.
Orange County as a whole is politically competitive, but Min’s district would grow more Democratic under a proposed new congressional map that Californians will vote on this November. While Kamala Harris carried Min’s current seat by 4 points in 2024, the redrawn district would have backed her by 10 points, according to calculations by Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales.
What’s New: Although he is new to Congress, Min has returned to familiar territory with a seat of his own on the Joint Economic Committee.
Point of Interest: Min and his predecessor Porter both attended Harvard Law School at the same time, but they didn’t meet until Porter recruited him to teach at Irvine, he said. They got to know each other well enough that she suggested he run for her House seat in 2024. “I wouldn’t say she recruited me,” he said. “She heavily encouraged me.”
Justin Papp and Andrew Menezes contributed to this report.
