Alex Lee

**Alex Lee: California State Assemblymember, District 24**

Alex Lee is one of the most historic and progressive figures in the California Legislature — a trailblazing young lawmaker from the heart of Silicon Valley who has packed an extraordinary amount of legislative achievement into just a few years in office. He represents California's 24th Assembly District, which includes the Alameda County communities of Fremont, Newark, and Sunol, and the Santa Clara County communities of Milpitas and San José.

Lee was born on July 11, 1995, in San José, California, to parents who had immigrated to the United States from Hong Kong — his father an engineer and his mother a nurse. He has been a Bay Area resident since birth and called both San José and Milpitas home throughout his life. He is a graduate of Milpitas High School and the University of California, Davis, where he served as Student Body President. He pursued dual degrees in political science and communications, graduating in 2017. While at Davis, he was deeply involved in campus life — founding the Davis Filmmaking Society and interning for multiple elected officials including Mike Honda, Evan Low, and Kansen Chu, who would later become his predecessor in the Assembly. After graduating, he delivered food and lived with his mother due to the high cost of living in his district — an experience that made his advocacy for housing affordability deeply personal rather than merely political.

After earning his degrees, he served as a legislative policy advisor in the California State Senate and Assembly, crafting legislation to combat climate change, improve schools, and protect seniors — working specifically for State Senator Henry Stern and Assemblymember Evan Low.

In November 2020, Lee beat his Republican challenger by a more than 2-to-1 margin in the race for the then-District 25 seat — despite being massively outspent and widely counted out as an underdog. Taking office at age 25, he became the youngest Asian American legislator ever elected to the California Legislature and the first openly bisexual state legislator in California history. On his very first day in office, he introduced a bill to ban corporate donations to political candidates — a bold opening statement that signaled the kind of insurgent, people-powered politics he intended to pursue. After redistricting, he ran for the District 24 seat in the November 2022 election, winning with 68.1% of the vote. He won reelection again in the November 2024 general election, with his current term ending in December 2026.

In Sacramento, Lee has built a reputation as one of the Legislature's most prolific and unapologetically progressive voices. He currently serves as Chair of the Committee on Human Services and Chair of the Legislative Progressive Caucus. He has been described by YIMBY Action as a strong supporter of every major pro-housing bill, championing social housing models and land-value taxes as structural solutions to California's affordability crisis. He has also secured $2.5 million in funding for bicycle infrastructure and services for unhoused people in Milpitas.

Among his most notable legislative achievements: he secured a historic $36 million investment to relaunch the CalFresh Fruit and Vegetable EBT Program, making fresh produce more affordable for tens of thousands of Californians. He also authored AB 867, which was signed into law banning cat declawing in California — a measure he championed with characteristic enthusiasm, noting that he owns two cats named Udon and Soba. He has introduced legislation on workers' rights, telework transparency for state employees, anti-hunger funding, and civil rights.

In his first year in office alone, Lee was named "Legislator of the Year" by both the Golden State Manufactured Home Owners League and the California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, and was recognized by the Council of State Governments as one of the nation's top "20 Under 40" officials. His blend of personal authenticity, historic firsts, and aggressive progressive policymaking have made him one of the most closely watched young legislators in California.