Michelle Steel | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromCalifornia | |
| In office January 3, 2021 – January 3, 2025 | |
| Preceded by | Harley Rouda |
| Succeeded by | Derek Tran |
| Constituency | 48th district (2021–2023) 45th district (2023–2025) |
| Chair of theOrange County Board of Supervisors | |
| In office January 14, 2020 – January 3, 2021 | |
| Preceded by | Lisa Bartlett |
| Succeeded by | Andrew Do |
| In office January 10, 2017 – January 9, 2018 | |
| Preceded by | Lisa Bartlett |
| Succeeded by | Andrew Do |
| Member of theOrange County Board of Supervisors from the 2nd district | |
| In office January 5, 2015 – January 3, 2021 | |
| Preceded by | John Moorlach |
| Succeeded by | Katrina Foley |
| Member of theCalifornia State Board of Equalization from the 3rd district | |
| In office January 5, 2007 – January 5, 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Claude Parrish |
| Succeeded by | Diane Harkey |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Michelle Eunjoo Park (1955-06-21)June 21, 1955 (age 70) Seoul, South Korea |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | Pepperdine University (BA) University of Southern California (MBA) |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 박은주 [1] |
| Hanja | 朴銀珠 |
| RR | Bak Eunju |
| MR | Pak Ŭnju |
Steel commemorating the 35th anniversary ofLittle Saigon, Orange County. Recorded June 6, 2023 | |
Michelle Eunjoo Steel (néePark, born June 21, 1955)[2] is an American politician who served as theU.S. representative forCalifornia's 45th congressional district from 2023 to 2025, previously representing the48th congressional district from 2021 to 2023.[3] A member of theRepublican Party, she concurrently served as a member ofHouse minority whipSteve Scalise's Whip Team for the117th Congress.[4] Steel ran for re-election to a third term in 2024, but she was defeated in the general election by Democratic challengerDerek Tran.[5]
Steel served as the member of theOrange CountyBoard of Supervisors from the 2nd district from 2015 to 2021 and of theCalifornia State Board of Equalization from the 3rd district from 2007 to 2015.[6][7][2] Steel, fellow California RepublicanYoung Kim and DemocratMarilyn Strickland ofWashington are the firstKorean-American women to serve in Congress.
Steel was born inSeoul, South Korea.[2] Her father was born inShanghai toKorean expatriate parents. Steel was educated in South Korea,Japan, and the United States. She holds a degree in business fromPepperdine University and an MBA from theUniversity of Southern California. She can speak Korean, Japanese, and English.[7]
Steel has been active in Republican Party politics and served on various commissions in theGeorge W. Bush administration.[8]
Steel was elected to theCalifornia State Board of Equalization in 2006 when Republican incumbent Claude Parrish ran unsuccessfully forstate treasurer. Throughout her tenure, she served as the country's highest-rankingKorean American officeholder, and California's highest-ranking Republican woman.[6] She represented more than eight million people in the 3rd district, which then included all ofImperial,Orange,Riverside andSan Diego counties and parts ofLos Angeles andSan Bernardino counties.[citation needed] In 2011, she was elected vice chair of the Board of Equalization.[9]
In 2014, Steel was elected to theOrange County Board of Supervisors representing the 2nd district, defeatingstate assemblymanAllan Mansoor.[10]
In March 2018, Steel was the only elected official to greet PresidentDonald Trump when he landed atLAX on his first official visit to California as president.[11] In 2019, Trump appointed her to thePresident's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.[12]
Steel chaired the Orange County Board of Supervisors in 2017 and again in 2020. During theCOVID-19 pandemic, she opposedmandatory face masks in Orange County.[13][14] She voted against requiring face coverings for retail employees[15] and opposed mask mandates in public schools. She questioned masks' efficacy in preventing the virus spread.[16]
On September 15, 2020, the Orange County Board of Supervisors approved plans that could lead to increased private jet traffic atJohn 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.[17][18]
Steel and her husbandShawn supportedthe 2020–21 recall initiative against California governorGavin Newsom[19] and endorsedLarry Elder to replace him.[20]
In 2024, Steel was criticized for her management of $1.2 million allocated for food aid during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. With funds from the federal governmentCoronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, each Supervisor contracted to provide meals for needy senior citizens in their district. Steel awarded the contract to a marketing company she was using for her campaign, a company that reportedly had no prior experience with this type of government funding. An audit revealed that the meals had been considerably more costly than in other Orange County districts.[21]
In 2020, Steel ran for the U.S. House of Representatives inCalifornia's 48th congressional district.[22] She received 34.9% of the vote to advance from the primary and defeatedincumbentDemocratHarley Rouda in the November 3 general election with 51.1% of the vote.[23] Steel raised $200,000 more than Rouda.[24]
During her campaign, Steel spoke out against COVID-19 mask mandates.[14] Her platform included opposition toabortion,same-sex marriage, and the creation of a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.[14][25] A conservative, she aligned herself with PresidentDonald Trump.[26]
On December 23, 2021, Steel announced that she would run inCalifornia's 45th congressional district in 2022 due to redistricting. She was endorsed byKevin McCarthy,Young Kim,Ken Calvert,Mimi Walters,Andrew Do, and the Republican Party of Orange County.[27]
During the campaign, Steel faced protests over her campaign ads aiming to portray her Democratic rival, Naval reserve officer and Taiwanese-American Jay Chen, as a Chinese Communist Party sympathizer.[28]
Steel defeated Democratic nominee Jay Chen in the November 8, 2022, general election.[29]
Steel ran for reelection in the district in2024.[30] During the campaign, Steel sought to characterize her Democratic opponentDerek Tran as a communist sympathizer by sending mailers of Tran alongsideMao Zedong and ahammer and sickle.[31][32][33] Tran is a second-generation Vietnamese American. During the campaign, Steel, who is Korean-born, said "I am more Vietnamese than my opponent."[31]
Tran defeated Steel in the November 5, 2024, general election.[34]
Along with several other Republican U.S. House freshmen, Steel was a member of the Freedom Force, an informal group styled as a Republican counterpart to the Democratic groupThe Squad.[35]
Steel tested positive forCOVID-19 in January 2021.[36] She referenced her own mild symptoms from her bout with COVID to advocate for opening up schools and businesses.[37]
Steel did not vote on thecertification of Joe Biden's Electoral College victory.[38] She voted against thesecond impeachment of Donald Trump on January 13, 2021.[39]
In early February 2021, Steel called for the reopening of schools in California.[40][41][42]
On February 25, 2021, Steel voted against the Equality Act, a bill that would prohibit discrimination based ongender identity and sexual orientation by amending the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Fair Housing Act to explicitly include new protections.[43]
On February 27, 2021, Steel voted against theAmerican Rescue Plan Act of 2021, a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief and stimulus bill.[44][45]
In March 2021, Steel introduced a bill that would block federal funding from being used to supportCalifornia's high-speed rail project, which she called a "failure."[46]
In June 2021, Steel was one of 49 House Republicans to vote to repeal theAUMF against Iraq.[47]
In 2021, Steel joined a majority of Republican representatives in signing onto anamicus brief to overturnRoe v. Wade.[48]
In July 2022, Steel voted against theRespect for Marriage Act, which would require the U.S. federal government to recognize the validity ofsame-sex marriages.[49][50]
As of December 2022, Steel had voted in line with PresidentJoe Biden's stated position 21% of the time.[51]
In September 2023, Steel was among a bipartisan group of eight U.S. House members who co-sponsored a mental health focused bill aimed at integrating behavioral health services for Medicare beneficiaries in primary care settings.[52]
Steel was a co-sponsor of the Life at Conception Act introduced in January 2023 during the 118th Congress.[53] After a 2024Alabama court ruling made clear that the bill's language could endanger the ability to administer in-vitro fertilization, Steel said "I do not support federal restrictions on IVF." She added further, "As someone who struggled to get pregnant, I believe all life is a gift. IVF allowed me, as it has so many others, to start my family. I believe there is nothing more pro-life than helping families have children."[53] In March 2024, Steel rescinded her co-sponsorship of the bill due to her support for IVF.[54]
For the118th Congress:[55]
In February 2025, Steel was appointed by Speaker of the HouseMike Johnson to a bipartisan commission designed to study the feasibility of establishing a new national museum dedicated to the history and culture ofAsian Americans and Pacific Islanders.[58]
In 1981, Steel marriedShawn Steel, who was theCalifornia Republican Party chairman from 2001 to 2003 and has been theRepublican National Committeeman from California since 2008. They have two daughters and live inSeal Beach, California.[59] She is a ProtestantChristian.[60]
| Primary election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
| Republican | Michelle Steel (incumbent) | 78,022 | 54.9 | |
| Democratic | Derek Tran | 22,546 | 15.9 | |
| Democratic | Kim Bernice Nguyen-Penaloza | 22,179 | 15.6 | |
| Democratic | Cheyenne Hunt | 11,973 | 8.4 | |
| Democratic | Aditya Pai | 7,399 | 5.2 | |
| Total votes | 142,119 | 100.0 | ||
| General election | ||||
| Democratic | Derek Tran | 158,264 | 50.1 | |
| Republican | Michelle Steel (incumbent) | 157,611 | 49.9 | |
| Total votes | 315,875 | 100.0 | ||
| Democraticgain fromRepublican | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Michelle Steel (incumbent) | 113,163 | 52.4 | |
| Democratic | Jay Chen | 102,802 | 47.6 | |
| Total votes | 215,965 | 100 | ||
| Republicanhold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Michelle Steel | 201,738 | 51.1 | |||
| Democratic | Harley Rouda (incumbent) | 193,362 | 48.9 | |||
| Total votes | 395,100 | 100 | ||||
| Republicangain fromDemocratic | ||||||
| Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Michelle Steel (incumbent) | 80,854 | 63.4 | |
| Brendon Perkins | 31,387 | 24.6 | |
| Michael Mahony | 15,281 | 12.0 | |
| Total votes | 127,522 | 100.0 | |
| Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Michelle Steel | 62.5 | ||
| Allan Mansoor (incumbent) | 37.5 | ||
| Total votes | 100.0 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Michelle Steel (incumbent) | 1,325,538 | 54.9 | |
| Democratic | Mary Christian Heising | 836,057 | 34.6 | |
| Libertarian | Jerry L. Dixon | 117,783 | 4.8 | |
| Peace and Freedom | Mary Lou Finley | 79,870 | 3.3 | |
| American Independent | Terri Lussenheide | 59,513 | 2.4 | |
| Total votes | 2,418,761 | 100.0 | ||
| Republicanhold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Michelle Steel | 1,147,514 | 56.99 | |
| Democratic | Mary Christian-Heising | 774,499 | 38.47 | |
| Peace and Freedom | Mary Finley | 91,467 | 4.54 | |
| Total votes | 2,013,480 | 100.00 | ||
| Republicanhold | ||||
Media related toMichelle Steel at Wikimedia Commons
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromCalifornia's 48th congressional district 2021–2023 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromCalifornia's 45th congressional district 2023–2025 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded byas Former U.S. Representative | Order of precedence of the United States as Former U.S. Representative | Succeeded byas Former U.S. Representative |
| People | |
|---|---|
| Other | |
