Phillip Chen (born April 22, 1978) is an American politician and member of the California State Assembly. He is a Republican representing the 59th Assembly District, encompassing parts of North Orange County, and small parts of San Bernardino County. The district includes the cities of Brea, Yorba Linda, Placentia, Villa Park, Orange, North Tustin, Anaheim Hills, Chino, and Chino Hills. Prior to being elected to the state assembly, he was a school board trustee for the Walnut Valley Unified School District.[1]
Phillip Chen | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the California Assembly | |
| Assumed office December 5, 2016 | |
| Preceded by | Ling Ling Chang |
| Constituency | 55th district (2016–2022) 59th district (2022–present) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | April 22, 1978 El Monte, California |
| Political party | Republican |
| Residence | Yorba Linda, California |
| Alma mater | California State University, Fullerton (B.A.) |
| Occupation | Politician |
| Chinese name | |
| Traditional Chinese | 陳立德 |
| Simplified Chinese | 陈立德 |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Chén Lì Dé |
Early life
editChen graduated from Servite High School in Anaheim.
Education
editIn 2002, Chen earned his B.A. in Communications from California State University, Fullerton. In 2005, Chen earned a Master of Public Administration degree from USC. In 2014, Chen earned a Doctoral of Educational Psychology from the USC.[2]
Career
editChen is the owner of a property management company.[2]
In 2013, Chen became an Adjunct Faculty Professor at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy.[2][3]
Chen is a former Los Angeles County Reserve Sheriff’s Deputy.[3] Chen was appointed by former California Governor Pete Wilson to the Governor’s Office of Criminal Justice Planning, overseeing California’s juvenile justice programs. He was a member of the State Advisory Group, Juvenile Justice Legislative Committee and Juvenile Justice Native American Committee.[4]
Chen was appointed to serve as a Board Member for the California Physical Therapy Board and worked as a health deputy to former Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich.[5]
Chen also served as adjunct faculty at California State Fullerton from 2007-2008[3] and at California State University, Los Angeles in 2016.[6]
Political career
editChen was elected in November 2011 to the Walnut Valley Unified School Board and re-elected to a second term in 2015.[7]
In 2014, Chen ran for the California State Assembly. He lost the jungle primary with a third place finish. Diamond Bar City Councilwoman Ling Ling Chang went on to easily win the general election.[8]
Chen was elected to the California State Assembly in November 2016, when Chang left the State Assembly in an unsuccessful run for the California State Senate. H e was appointed to serve in leadership as Deputy Whip to the Assembly Republican Caucus. His committee membership consists of the Banking and Finance Committee (where he serves as Vice-Chair), the Business and Professions Committee, the Insurance Committee, the Jobs, Economic Development and the Economy Committee, and the Utilities and Energy Committee.[9]
In 2018, in the wake of California's growing mental health and homeless epidemic, Chen authored Assembly Bill 2156, to clarify and fine tune the definition of “gravely disabled”.[10] Chen later pulled that bill from consideration by the Assembly's Health Committee.[11] That same year, Chen also introduced AB 3005 which aimed to protect the sensitive personal information of children in foster care.[12] Like his other bill, Chen also requested this bill to be pulled from consideration by the relevant committee.[13]
In 2019, Chen introduced AB 517 to create a Property Crime Task Force in Orange County to prevent crimes as well as identify and arrest criminals who participate in property crimes.[14] Chen's bill died after clearing the public safety committee.[15]
To address the growing number of homeless encampments, Chen introduced AB 1908, the Homeless Encampment and Litter Program (HELP), putting more accountability on Caltrans in coordinating access to housing and supportive services for those who need it most.[16] The bill died in committee with no action taken.[17] A few days after introducing AB 1908, Chen introduced AB 2021 in an effort to preserve open space in Southern California. The bill would have required the California Department of Parks and Recreation to seek opportunities for acquiring land to expand Chino Hills State Park.[18] The bill unanimously passed the Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee, but then died in the Appropriations Committee.[19][20]
In 2021 Chen helped secure funds for the Titan Gateway Pedestrian Bridge at Cal State Fullerton. Chen, a graduate of the school, said that although the school is outside his district, many students are constituents in his district, and the bridge would be a great investment in the students.[21][22]
Wushu career
edit| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men's wushu taolu | ||
Representing  United States
| ||
| Pan American Championships | ||
 |
2000 Manaus | Nandao |
 |
2000 Manaus | Nanquan |
| |
2000 Manaus | Nangun |
Chen founded the CSUF Wushu Club in 1997 as president and coach.[23] The team competed in the Collegiate Wushu Tournament for the first time in 1999.[24] During this time, the club grew in its standing in the university and became a for-credit course.[23] Chen was the tournament director of the 2001 Collegiate Wushu Tournament hosted at CSUF.[25]
Chen was an A-team member of the 1999 US Wushu Team and competed at the 1999 World Wushu Championships in Hong Kong, where he finished seventh in nanquan and tenth in nandao.[26] A year later at the 2000 Pan American Wushu Championships, he was the Pan American champion in nandao and additionally won silver medals in nanquan and nangun.[27] The following year, Chen was again an A-team member of both the Berkeley and Baltimore US Wushu Teams but did not compete in the following World or Pan American championships.
Electoral history
edit2014
edit| Primary election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
| Republican | Ling Ling Chang | 13,242 | 28.7 | |
| Democratic | Gregg D. Fritchle | 12,243 | 26.5 | |
| Republican | Phillip Chen | 10,659 | 23.1 | |
| Republican | Steve Tye | 9,987 | 21.6 | |
| Total votes | 46,131 | 100.0 | ||
Ling Ling Chang went on to win the general election.
2016
edit| Primary election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
| Democratic | Gregg D. Fritchle | 32,439 | 35.9 | |
| Republican | Phillip Chen | 19,684 | 21.8 | |
| Republican | Mike Spence | 18,737 | 20.7 | |
| Republican | Ray Marquez | 10,881 | 12.0 | |
| Republican | Steven M. Tye | 8,600 | 9.5 | |
| Total votes | 90,341 | 100.0 | ||
| General election | ||||
| Republican | Phillip Chen | 98,960 | 57.7 | |
| Democratic | Gregg D. Fritchle | 72,471 | 42.3 | |
| Total votes | 171,431 | 100.0 | ||
| Republican hold | ||||
2018
edit| Primary election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
| Republican | Phillip Chen (incumbent) | 42,664 | 47.2 | |
| Democratic | Gregg D. Fritchle | 20,441 | 22.6 | |
| Democratic | Melissa Fazli | 14,016 | 15.5 | |
| Republican | James G. Gerbus | 9,731 | 10.8 | |
| Republican | Scott Lebda | 3,571 | 3.9 | |
| Total votes | 90,423 | 100.0 | ||
| General election | ||||
| Republican | Phillip Chen (incumbent) | 87,928 | 54.9 | |
| Democratic | Gregg D. Fritchle | 72,256 | 45.1 | |
| Total votes | 160,184 | 100.0 | ||
| Republican hold | ||||
2020
edit| Primary election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
| Republican | Phillip Chen (incumbent) | 64,785 | 56.2 | |
| Democratic | Andrew E. Rodriguez | 50,458 | 43.8 | |
| Total votes | 115,243 | 100.0 | ||
| General election | ||||
| Republican | Phillip Chen (incumbent) | 125,212 | 54.9 | |
| Democratic | Andrew E. Rodriguez | 102,683 | 45.1 | |
| Total votes | 227,895 | 100.0 | ||
| Republican hold | ||||
2022
edit| Primary election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
| Republican | Phillip Chen (incumbent) | 75,555 | 99.2 | |
| No party preference | Leon Sit (write-in) | 551 | 0.7 | |
| Libertarian | David Naranjo (write-in) | 58 | 0.1 | |
| Total votes | 76,164 | 100.0 | ||
| General election | ||||
| Republican | Phillip Chen (incumbent) | 113,363 | 70.0 | |
| No party preference | Leon Q. Sit | 48,602 | 30.0 | |
| Total votes | 161,965 | 100.0 | ||
| Republican hold | ||||
Personal life
editChen and his mother are small business owners who own and operate a property management company. Chen's brother, David, is a Deputy District Attorney with the Orange County District Attorney's office.[28]
References
edit- ^ "Chen for Assembly". The Orange County Register. September 29, 2016.
- ^ a b c "Assembly Member Phillip Chen's Biography". Vote Smart. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
- ^ a b c "LinkedIn Profile".
- ^ "Governor Pete Wilson endorses Phillip Chen for State Assembly".
- ^ "2015 Bio information for Walnut Valley Unified School District" (PDF). wvusd.k12.can.us.
- ^ "CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, LOS ANGELES Department of POLITICAL SCIENCE FALL 2016 PART TIME Faculty Office Hours" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-04-06.
- ^ "Walnut Valley Unified School District post on November 2012 election".
- ^ "Search Results for "phillip chen"".
- ^ "Rendon Announces Assembly Committee Assignments".
- ^ "Bill Text - AB-2156 Mental health services: gravely disabled". leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
- ^ "Bill Text - AB-2156 Mental health services: gravely disabled". leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
- ^ "Bill Text -". leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
- ^ "AB-3005 Juvenile case files: inspection". leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
- ^ "Bill Text -". leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
- ^ "Bill Text -". leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
- ^ "Bill Text -". leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
- ^ "Bill Text -". leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
- ^ "Bill Text -". leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
- ^ "Bill Text -". leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
- ^ "Bill Text -". leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
- ^ "CSUF celebrates receiving $2 million in funding".
- ^ "CSUF honors support for pedestrian bridge, arboretum funding". 29 September 2021.
- ^ a b Ramos, Michelle (2007-05-01). "Wushu Club Strikes Campus". Daily Titan. pp. 1, 3. Retrieved 2024-11-01.
- ^ "CSUF's Wushu team competes at tournament". Daily Titan. 2020-08-12 [1999-02-15]. Retrieved 2024-11-01.
- ^ Kalamian, Raffi (2001-02-10). "2001 Collegiate Wushu Championship". beijingwushuteam.com. Retrieved 2024-11-01.
- ^ Kalamian, Raffi (1999-11-20). "1999 World Wushu Games Results". beijingwushuteam.com. Retrieved 2024-11-01.
- ^ Kalamian, Raffi (2000-07-27). "2000 Pan Am Games in Brazil". beijingwushuteam.com. Retrieved 2024-11-01.
- ^ "State Bar of CA :: David P. Chen".