From $50 to the State Senate | Faith & the American Dream ft. Senator Steven Choi

0:28He has prepared another door. episode of Coffees. Please welcome Senator Stephen Choi. Thank you, Joseph, for your invitation and the nice introduction. Looks like you have done a little bit of study on me. We did a little bit of study and got to meet you a couple times. Yeah, thank you for the nice words. God bless you and God bless your service. You're a man of faith and a man that continues to help so many countless others. So God bless your service. Thank you. So with the Christmas coming, Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas. Blessings to everybody, all the listeners. Thank you so much. So let's dive into it.

1:09I always like to see like how people start their day. What's your morning routine? I try to vacate my morning time as much as possible. I tell my scheduler, don't book me up anything in the morning because I have some of my personal stuff I need to take care of. But particularly as soon as I get up, my date, I try to get up early, somewhere 5 o 'clock, 5.30. And on the bed itself, I try to open up my day with the vibrant verses. This is my fourth time reading Korean Bible and then English Bible, Korean Bible, English Bible. Now into English Bible right now I'm reading for the fourth time. And a minimum of two chapters of a book.

2:10Right now we're back to Genesis. is quite interesting to read, especially I visited Israel right after session this year in September. It was 14th to June 19th, was eye-opening for me, and some geographic area names that I've been reading in the Bible, and in reality, having seen the location names, Wow. Oh, that's Samaria. It hits me in real time in reading the Bible. So that's my first encounter in the morning. And then I tried to make up a little bit of exercise. I don't have much time. I tried to go to gym and spend a couple hours a day. when I had a slack time between two elections from assembly time and when I was announcing my candidacy for the Senate, I had a little bit of a couple months of time.

3:22During the time, I spent quite a bit of time in the gym, but now I don't have that time. So I live in a very nice neighborhood with the hills, So I walk and jog back for my health and do some stretches and taekwondo-style stretches as well because I have done some taekwondo when I was young. And I try to maintain my body and then take care of some personal stuff. And then get to my office. and usually somewhere, depending upon schedule, I may have to get up earlier, but I try to get to my office if no particular schedule, 11 o 'clock, 12 o 'clock, usually I come there and follow my schedule, whatever I'm scheduled to follow today, and then my staff members will prepare me where to go, what to do.

4:26So that is my routine. I mean, you're keeping so busy at your age. I don't know how old you are. It seems like you're timeless. I'm very old. Speaking of age, I was abandoned by my own party because of my age. You are too old. We're going to recruit some young blood. And that's what they did. And even though with my political background experience on all local levels up to assembly, and they chose somebody else, a younger person, and invested that money on him. And it turned out in the primary election, there were 11 people, seven Democrats and four Republicans, and he was near the bottom. And eventually I bubbled up to number two against sitting incumbent Democrat senators.

5:32And I was a former assembly member. And as you know, California election rule is the top two people who will compete in the general election. and they turned out to be a Democratic candidate and a Republican candidate. And the Republican candidate happened to be me. So they had no choice not to support me because there was a Democratic candidate versus a Republican. So they ended up, they supported me a little bit for the general election. So I made it. And the sitting incumbent by the Republican, sitting incumbent Democrat in the Senate took for the first time in 44 years. Wow. So they called me miracle senator in financial situation at all.

6:40in election, in campaign, that's what they say. Money is everything, right? It is important. You've got to have money to campaign. But I was not a near, near competitor to sitting incumbent because personally I raised less than$100 ,000. And then also$60 ,000 was saved from my assembly raise because I saw the last planned mail campaign, which cost about$40 ,000,$50 ,000. I said, don't spend it. There's no chance. Even if I send another flyer, it's not going to make it. And I saved it, and it became the basis for the Senate race. and one of the interviewers of the endorsement for Republican candidate, which went to endorse by Orange County Republican Party.

7:45And one of the member guys, he was focusing, targeting me. And not general people will know that kind of details. And he attacked me for, why did you not spend your$60 ,000 and you didn't get elected. It didn't make any sense. He didn't know what was going on. So anyway, that was my basis. And less than$50 ,000, I raised a total of less than$100 ,000 against my opponent, Democratic incumbent, had the total in the middle, not even the last,$11 million. Wow. And so money-wise,$100 ,000 versus$11 million, it's not a game. Supposedly, I should be, you know, long-term, you know, so much percentage I should have been defeated.

8:45Yeah, you should have been wiped out. But I beat him, so nobody supported me. No organizations, not even my party, as I said, and no lobbyists, etc. So people were surprised, shocked. What do you think the catalyst was for you to win that election? If you didn't have the support from your party, you didn't have money to win, what is it that allowed you to win by a landslide? I'm glad you asked that question as a fellow Christian, as I understand you are also Christian. God has nothing that is impossible. As a person of faith, the only tool I had was that I was praying to your will not to be afraid and to be brave.

9:48And then I prayed and he delivered that miracle. To me, that was a miracle. One of the, you know, miracles that people may not believe in. Yeah. Now, I want to go back. I want to go back to when you came to America. I mean, a lot of people say they came to America with five bucks in their pocket. You came to America with 50 bucks in your pocket. It could have been 100, but the story goes$50. Now, what do you remember about those early days that really drove you forward when you came to America? What is it that really inspired you as an immigrant? Yeah. My story of$50, I went up on arrival here because I started out with that story, which was true.

10:34And in fact, I left my country of South Korea right after my military service, right after college. And I was an artillery officer. And they didn't pay us much, so I didn't have much money to save. And leaving for America, I had to just clean up my bank account. And that turned out to be$100. dollars. So I took a hundred dollars and then at that time there was no even direct flight from Korea to at that time my destination was Hawaii because that was the place where my first job started that the market gave me. But there was no direct flight to Hawaii from Korea. So we had to go to Japan and spend the night and fly to Hawaii by Pan Am.

11:35And my friends went to a shop and everybody was buying a camera. And he says, oh, you're going to have a camera to take pictures to have some memories. And so I invested my$50 to buy a camera. That's the reason by the time I arrived in Hawaii, I had only$50 left. That was the story, you know, where it began. So from there, my journey began in America. It was remarkable how I survived and my education for my master's degree and a PhD and ended up being a professor. From there, I was led into politics, and here I am. So you were a professor. What did you teach? My degree was Library and Information Science from the University of Pittsburgh.

12:31Okay. And so USC dean, I met her, Dr. Mata Bowles, was in the American Library Association Convention in Chicago. And my dean was introducing me as a doctoral student. And I don't know why the dean was impressed by me. And after several months, she called me, I come to USC and teach for us. So that led my way to Southern California. And when did your career in politics start? That was after teaching in USC for five years, I moved to Orange County and taught UCI for about three years. At the time, the subject changed because originally my job to America was a Korean language instructor and cultural instructor for Peace Corps members who were assigned to Korea.

13:39Korea. So teaching Korean language was my interest and became a vocation. Wherever I go, I started a Korean language school. And so I proposed to UCI to open up a Korean language class. And that idea didn't go anywhere. He asked me to bring a million dollars to start a program. and if you guarantee my teaching position after I set the class up, and no, we cannot guarantee, then why should I try to raise a million dollars? Anyway, I stopped at that foot, and about three years later, somebody called me and come and teach. Oh, there's a Korean language class, and learned that one professor who was a visiting professor from several national universities, and he returned, and they suddenly had no professor to teach.

14:44So they thought about me and called me to teach, so I took there. So because of that teaching experience at UCI and USC, including my landlord, the people around me kept on asking me, to run for school board in Irvine. And that was about for two years. No, I don't know anything about what the school board is about, what they do, no politics I'm not interested in. And I was studying my own business called the Dr. Choice Academy. And then I resisted for two years and eventually ended up becoming a candidate because I was misled. Oh, there are two positions nobody's applying. Put your name in and you may get elected without having to go through any campaign in a real election.

15:43And is that what happened? And it ended up with 10 candidates for two positions. One incumbent going after her own seat and one open seat. And one open seat, nine of us competing and I was the only non-Caucasian, only Asian with the accent and different I guess the point of views, you know, visual

16:16minority in the language, minority with the accent, everything as an adversarial situation. But surprisingly enough, I didn't know how to campaign or anything, but I got elected. That was 1998 for the first time. That was my door opening. Into politics. Into politics. You've been in politics for a long time. Ever since 1998. Yeah, we're going on almost three decades. Yes, close to about 27 years right now. And that is probably one of the records as well. Very few defeats as a continuous election. So I joke, and also plus reality, I'm still treading the water to get up the political pond. And people keep on pushing me back.

17:17That means people keep on electing me. when I run, if you don't win, I mean, you are forced to retire from the politics, right? But they keep on re-electing me. So still, I am happily serving my supporters and the constituents. You know, I always wondered, you're in a position financially where you don't need to work. And obviously, politics probably doesn't pay much. What is it that drew you to politics? Why are you putting yourself through all this hassle at your age, in your financial position, and not having to do it? What is it that draws you to climbing the political ladder? I think you are making a good point.

18:09Nobody will try to become a politician for money. because when I started, what's it, about$300 or$400 for the school board after insurance deduction or whatever deductions, sometimes I deposited$4.90. So it's not big pay. No, no. Even Irvine City Council and mayors are much better off than other places. That was a little bit better than in comparison to other cities. It was decent enough, but I served in the school board for six years before I started as a city council, which was 2004 for the first time I ran. I served eight years on the city council. and then you can serve only two terms consecutively at that time the law the ordinance of the city and then I ran for mayor and then I got elected the re-election I got re-elected so I served as a mayor 2012 to 2016 until I got elected to State Assembly in the 68th District.

19:38So it was not intended, but it turned out to be every step of local government, the school board, city council, mayor, assembly, and senate. I think this has been a long record for anyone, either minority or non-minority, even professional politicians who, like in Congress, with no term limitations, they forever serve until over 90 years old. I never intended to serve this long. But as you can see, my memory is sharp, and I'm physically unfit, and people still desire me to serve them, and keep on electing me. So if this condition continues, so why not? And your question, so why are we serving in that difficult process of becoming a politician?

20:45It is very difficult. This year is the only comfortable time I'm not campaigning for re-election. Up to assembly, every two years you have to run two times, primary and the general election. But the Senate is for four years, and right now, four years, after four years, if I have served until 2028, I would have served for 10 years. And the state regulation is that I shall serve only up to 12 years. So I will have two years left to serve in the state legislature, but the Senate term is four years. So they would not let me run to serve two years because it's less than four years. But anyway, that's a different story.

21:48Having served as a minority and serving my city and entire region for assembly was about roughly 50 ,000 people in the Senate. I have over a million people in my district. That's a double because senators are 40 members and this assembly is 80 members. and in there now all kinds of background people come and quite a few now minorities I do see now but when I started everything that I did was for the first time you're the first minority got elected to school board to the city etc etc as Asian as a Korean you know background background Looking back, this is for the first generation immigrants particularly, because the first generation means that you are over 18 years old by the time you arrive.

23:02That's the category we term them as the first generation. My children who were born here would be second generation. What if you came up when you were five? You will become 1.5 generation. So if you came when you're five, then you become 1.5, almost native, but you have a deeper parental relationship in the root in the country of parents. so my children will be second generation but they tend to I guess saturate it and acquainted with the Korean culture what we do like eating kimchi and Korean food Korean bulgogi well everybody likes bulgogi and kimchi now and that's those staple foods and mini diets 100 days of the baby 100 days survival celebration, we call it , and so looking back, you, whether you, nobody will plan, hey, I'm gonna be a model, role model for my Korean Americans or immigrants, but you turn out to be role model for that group, not only for Korean Americans, but for Asians, for the wider spectrum for immigrants.

24:38Oh, look at Stephen Choi, who is supposedly first-generation American with an even different shape and a different accent. He keeps on, you know, running and keeps on winning and keeps on serving the community for a long time. So I send the unspoken message to children and immigration population that once you have chosen America as your home country, become assimilated and contribute. okay don't stay outside in the periphery and complain and looking up what that's what they are doing and that they should be involved become the builder you pay you can become the leader of the community contributor of the community rather than standing outside and complain about it and living in your own bubble as, for example, Korean-American bubble.

25:52Korean-Americans tend to, and I understand. Cling to each other, yeah. Yeah, among themselves and even churches are all Korean-speaking. So that's the reason, as I said a while ago, that my category is a hyphen, the Korean hyphen American. So I go to two churches even. Korean church and American church. Korean church, and then I go to American church. So I got to understand both worlds because I cannot abandon my roots and my culture. So I want to have some relationship also built, and then also they have certain expectations of me. So I try to maintain and continue my relationship. At the same time, I'm an American.

26:43I want to learn what Americans believe in, what Americans talk about. I want to have American friends. So if you, in my church, I go to American church, Marian's church in Irvine in the nearby airport coast. That's the borderline. It's still in the jurisdiction of the Irvine. In there, now I see a lot of non-Anglo-Saxon white people are coming. I've been going there for seven or eight years. Now I see the very rapid change of non-Caucasian minorities starting to attend there. and if you go there, they have a program called Rooted. And they assemble you with the similar background, age group, whatever, and to do Bible study and the introduction to church, your belief discussions and share the relationship.

27:57And then after that, nine-month program. And when that's over, they put you into something called the life group becomes a lifetime friend, and we continue meeting regularly, either every week, every two weeks, depending upon that group. And we keep on doing group studies together, and through the group studies, we share meals, go to restaurants together, so maintain our relationship. So I have more friends, I guess, closer friends, you know, among... So you're in life group? Non-Koreans, and I'm in the non-Korean life group. Nice. And my wife, only two non-Caucasians in there. So I learn and try to assimilate and mingle with non-Korean people as well.

28:56So that's what I try to tell Korean-Americans, my friends, and also especially young people. just to get involved in your community and you are living in the United States and with a lot of good benefits and a lot of difficulties that you have faced in your home country and this is a much better country and now rather than taking advantage of the establishment or whatever the good benefits that America offers, you need to think about how, as an immigrant, you can contribute to make your community better, America better. And so you naturally become a role model, and that's the advice I try to tell my second generation and among people who may have some ambition in politics, because typically that's what they question.

29:58How did you get into politics? Why did you get into politics? So I guess that's the reason I kept on running because I gave good vision and hope to non-Koreans, all the immigrants. I love that. I love that. Being an immigrant myself, I totally relate. I guess I always considered myself a first generation immigrant. I just learned I'm a first generation and a half immigrant. So 1.5 generation. Yeah. Yeah, because I was born there and I came when I was five. That's why I asked you specifically. So what am I considered? You know, it's still imperative. You know, Warren Buffett says the most important real estate you can invest in is the real estate in between your two ears.

30:40So this is the most important real estate to invest in. My mother was a superhero to me. She kept on emphasizing my village where I grew up was a small farming village. But in that village alone, we were a wealthy family with lots of land. What she said was that, I don't plan to inherit my land to you. I would rather sell them and put the knowledge to your brain, which nobody can steal. Yeah. But if you don't have a knowledge, wisdom in your head, then somebody smarter than you are could steal your land. That is very true. Still true to this day. Still true. So my politics was based upon my education background.

31:42If I didn't have a PhD, USD wouldn't have invited me to teach at the graduate school. that was a graduate school. And if I didn't have any teaching experience, nobody around me, including my landlord, where I started my Dr. Shoes Academy, he became a good friend, Waki Ray. I don't know, Waki, you are listening to me or not, but he was one of the visionaries and believing in me kept on encouraging me run for school board i will support you and he turned out to be democrat but he did support me too i don't know if he's still a democrat but you know yeah so so um and all of this my uh educational background teaching background impressed some other people encouraging me to run into politics we need a person like you with an educational background for our school.

32:47And so still, I mean, education committee in the Senate. Your business is in the bedrock of American Dream. We make the American Dream come alive. Exactly, supporting home ownership, affordable home, all kinds of problems that we are facing. I mean, you got to make it happen. The mortgage is available for first-time home buyers. Low credit income? Yeah, and building good credit, which is very important for lenders like you. So that is some message you can tell. To build a good credit, that means you've got to become a good person. Yeah. To become a good person, you've got to respect God. That's right.

33:41The Bible teaches you how to become a good person. So I think your business can be... A vessel for God's truth. Telling such a basis for human beings to be nice, respecting God and providing the means for them, how to build a good credit and I can trust you, I can loan my money, which will be always a basis for home loans. Yeah. Right? And they can buy starting home. My district director, he started his first home, and I don't know whether he got the mortgage from you or somebody else with a good rate or not. I think they are doing wonderful work for achieving American dreams for the boom buyers.

34:38We're doing God's work. That's our number one pillar. Serve and do God's work. First and foremost, the money always follows. I mean, if you know of anything, I know there's a lot of discussion about the portable mortgages from Trump. There's a discussion about the 50-year mortgages from Trump. We were just having a discussion before we got on the podcast. Like, you know, we would need to hit a 50-year mortgage, a portable mortgage, a reduction in housing, a lower interest rate to make housing affordable. I don't know what you know or what tricks, you know, that Sacramento or government has up their sleeve to make housing affordable again.

35:12But it seems like a very daunting task, quite scary and candidly almost borderline impossible. I know everybody looks at the legislators in Sacramento. Unfortunately, I'm a Republican. What I'm saying is that unfortunately means we are in the super minority group. In California. In California. And that means we have no power. We are only 25 % of 40 people, and everything on the bill when we vote is based upon the majority vote. The thing is they keep on talking about affordable housing, meaning that low-cost housing. To build low-cost housing, you've got to encourage builders. Builders are out there not as a charity project.

36:20They are out there to make money. But they need to know the basics of the economy and the business world to encourage them and make money to make them easier to develop homes. It's less regulations. More regulation. is every step they try to get the permission. That costs money under the name of fees they charge. Yeah. You know, the fees. And the fees to build are crazy and the regulations are borderline impossible for a lot of these builders to build within affordable housing. It's impossible because it's so expensive. On my own, years ago, not my data is not updated, but when I was a mayor, I was told to get a permit for one side, it'll cost$54 ,000 from the loan.

37:20And when that is already almost like a house. That's like a house. Affordable means to me$100 ,000,$200 ,000 will be affordable means right now. But right now, that's not the reality. Cost of living goes up, inflation goes up. is what the Southern California average house is, what,$980 ,000? That is not affordable, even average. Yeah, that's about$6 ,500 payment to buy, which means you need to make a couple hundred thousand dollars to break even. Who can make that kind of a monthly payment for housing alone and the leftover? that should be, by your standard, I understand, should be less than one-third, right?

38:09Losing costs should be less than one-third because you have other things, other expenses you've got to live on. So the lessening the regulations. I love to hear that. Lessing regulations, people. You heard it first. We're going to lessen them, especially to build. Yeah. And give the incentives. If you build more homes, we'll give you some incentives, tax deduction, tax credits for certain things. If you develop more than 50 % of your entire building project you are doing, we'll give you 50 % of your expenses, tax credit, such as for developers to be incentivized to build more homes. So rather than charging them more tax after more tax, not what they call a millionaire's tax, if you become richer, they will have to pay more tax.

39:12That's what they are planning to do and developing more tax, more regulations after regulations. That is not the approach. I mean, you have heard about the$26 billion something dollars was spent the last five or seven years under the name of helping reducing reduction of homeless people. But after that huge amount of tax money, is the homeless people getting reduced or increasing? It's increasing. It's increasing every day in Southern California. It's going to increase more because housing is so expensive. Everything is so expensive. So this is a very complicated issue. That's a very simplified comment I'm making.

40:09But if I were the governor, I would start a long range plan. Start from the young ages and the financial education, in how to manage your money and many ways they can become independent and focusing upon education for them to study and stay in schools and become a good person. I love that. I have a couple last questions before we wrap up here. This one's about goals. What's a personal goal that you have for yourself and a family goal that you have for the family as well as a goal that you have while you're state senator? Well, that's a broad question. As far as my American dream is concerned, I think I have already achieved.