Michelle Steel

Michelle Eunjoo Steel ( Park, born June 21, 1955) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for California's 45th congressional district since 2023, previously representing the 48th congressional district from 2021 to 2023.

Steel and Kim, along with David Valadao, also became the first Republican congressional candidates since 1994 to unseat incumbent House Democrats in California.

Steel was born in Seoul, South Korea.

Her father was born in Shanghai to Korean expatriate parents.

Steel was educated in South Korea, Japan, and the United States.

She holds a degree in business from Pepperdine University and an MBA from the University of Southern California.

She is fluent in Korean and Japanese.

Steel has been active in Republican Party politics and served on various commissions in the George W. Bush administration.

Steel was elected to the California State Board of Equalization in 2006 when Republican incumbent Claude Parrish ran unsuccessfully for state Treasurer.

Throughout her tenure, she served as the country's highest-ranking Korean American officeholder, and California's highest-ranking Republican woman.

She represented more than eight million people in the 3rd district, which then included all of Imperial, Orange, Riverside and San Diego Counties and parts of Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties.

A member of the Republican Party, she concurrently served as a member of House Minority Whip Steve Scalise's Whip Team for the 117th Congress.

In 2011, she was elected vice chair of the Board of Equalization.

In 2014, Steel was elected to the Orange County Board of Supervisors representing the 2nd district, defeating state Assemblyman Allan Mansoor.

Steel served as the member of the Orange County Board of Supervisors from the 2nd district from 2015 to 2021 and of the California State Board of Equalization from the 3rd district from 2007 to 2015.

Steel, fellow California Republican Young Kim and Democrat Marilyn Strickland of Washington are the first Korean-American women to serve in Congress.

Steel chaired the Orange County Board of Supervisors in 2017 and again in 2020.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, she opposed mandatory face masks in Orange County.

She voted against requiring face coverings for retail employees and opposed mask mandates in public schools.

She questioned masks' efficacy in preventing the virus spread.

In March 2018, Steel was the only elected official to greet President Donald Trump when he landed at LAX on his first official visit to California as president.

In 2019, Trump appointed her to the President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

On September 15, 2020, the Orange County Board of Supervisors approved plans that could lead to increased private jet traffic at John Wayne Airport.

Steel was criticized by her Democratic opponent, Harley Rouda, for taking campaign contributions from ACI Jet, the corporation that was awarded the contract.

Steel and her husband Shawn supported the 2020-21 recall initiative against California Governor Gavin Newsom and endorsed Larry Elder to replace him.

In 2020, Steel ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in California's 48th congressional district.

She received 34.9% of the vote to advance from the primary and defeated incumbent Democrat Harley Rouda in the November 3 general election with 51.1% of the vote.

Steel raised $200,000 more than Rouda.

During her campaign, Steel spoke out against COVID-19 mask mandates.

Her platform included opposition to abortion, same-sex marriage, and the creation of a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.

A conservative, she aligned herself with President Donald Trump.

On December 23, 2021, Steel announced that she would run in California's 45th congressional district in 2022 due to redistricting.

She was endorsed by Kevin McCarthy, Young Kim, Ken Calvert, Mimi Walters, Andrew Do, and the Republican Party of Orange County.

Steel defeated Democratic nominee Jay Chen in the November 8, 2022, general election.

Steel has filed paperwork to run for reelection in the district in 2024.

Along with several other Republican U.S. House freshmen, Steel is a member of the Freedom Force, an informal group styled as a Republican counterpart to the Democratic group The Squad.

Steel tested positive for COVID-19 in January 2021.

She referenced her own mild symptoms from her bout with COVID to advocate for opening up schools and businesses.

Due to her COVID-19 quarantine, Steel missed voting on the certification of Joe Biden's Electoral College victory.

She voted against the second impeachment of Donald Trump on January 13, 2021.