Ted Win-Ping Lieu is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. Representative for California's 36th Congressional District since 2023, having previously represented the 33rd district from 2015 to 2023. His district encompasses the South Bay and Westside regions of Los Angeles, including Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, the Palos Verdes Peninsula, and the Beach Cities. Born on March 29, 1969, in Taipei, Taiwan, Lieu immigrated to the United States at age three, settling in Cleveland, Ohio. He is one of the few members of Congress who are naturalized U.S. citizens and is a Taiwanese American. He earned a Bachelor of Science in computer science and a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Stanford University, then a Juris Doctor magna cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center, where he served as editor-in-chief of the Georgetown Law Journal.
Lieu served on active duty with the United States Air Force Judge Advocate General's Corps from 1995 to 1999, then in the Air Force Reserve Command from 2000 to 2021, attaining the rank of colonel in 2015. Before entering Congress, he served on the Torrance City Council beginning in 2002 and in the California State Assembly from 2005 to 2011, where he authored landmark legislation including California's first statewide ban on conversion therapy for minors, the California Foreclosure Prevention Act, and multiple consumer protection and public safety bills. He subsequently served in the California State Senate from 2011 to 2014, representing the 28th district after winning a special election to fill the seat of deceased Senator Jenny Oropeza. He ran for California Attorney General in 2010, finishing fourth in the primary behind Kamala Harris.
In Congress, Lieu serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the House Judiciary Committee and has been Vice Chair of the House Democratic Caucus since 2023. He was named an impeachment manager for the second impeachment trial of President Trump in January 2021. He is known for aggressive oversight messaging, technology and AI policy work, and a progressive agenda spanning climate action, reproductive rights, LGBTQ equality, and civil rights. In 2023, he authored a New York Times op-ed calling for federal regulation of artificial intelligence and signed an open letter from the Center for AI Safety warning that AI extinction risk should be treated as a global priority alongside pandemics and nuclear war.
Lieu's legislative record includes the Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act, bipartisan encryption protection legislation, the Therapeutic Fraud Prevention Act targeting federal conversion therapy, and securing $35 million for West Los Angeles VA seismic retrofits. He voted in favor of military aid supplementals for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan in April 2024. He and his wife Betty, a former California deputy attorney general, reside in Torrance with their two sons, Brennan and Austin. In 2023, Lieu was honored with the Carnegie Corporation of New York's Great Immigrants Award.
Progressive
Committee Assignments
Caucus Memberships
Achievements
- Authored California's first statewide ban on conversion therapy for minors in 2012 as a state assemblyman, making California the first U.S. state to enact such a law and establishing a legislative template that has since been adopted by multiple states and the District of Columbia, a legacy that preceded his congressional career and represents one of the most consequential LGBTQ civil rights bills authored by a current member of Congress during their state legislative service.
- Served as an impeachment manager for the second impeachment trial of President Trump in January 2021, one of a small group of House members selected by Speaker Nancy Pelosi to prosecute the case before the Senate following the January 6 Capitol attack, a role that placed him at the center of one of the most consequential constitutional proceedings in recent American history and that reflected his Judiciary Committee background and his profile as one of the Democratic caucus's most effective public communicators.
- Attained the rank of colonel in the United States Air Force Reserve after more than two decades of combined active duty and reserve service, having served as a military prosecutor and judge advocate from 1995 to 2021 and received multiple commendations including the Meritorious Service Medal and the Air Force Commendation Medal, making him one of the more senior military veterans in the House Democratic caucus and lending credibility to his national security committee work on Foreign Affairs and his votes on military aid supplementals for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan.
- Elevated to Vice Chair of the House Democratic Caucus in 2023, placing him in a formal House Democratic leadership position alongside Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a role that combines responsibility for member coordination and messaging strategy with Lieu's existing profile as one of the most followed and media-visible members of the California delegation, particularly on technology, democracy, and oversight issues.
- Introduced the Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act in 2017, which would require a declaration of war from Congress before any president could authorize a first-use nuclear strike, a significant arms control bill that reflected his Foreign Affairs Committee work and that drew bipartisan attention given the heightened concerns about executive nuclear authority during the early Trump administration, and authored a New York Times op-ed in 2023 calling for federal AI regulation that became one of the most cited congressional statements on artificial intelligence governance in the 118th Congress.
Controversies
- From 2016 to 2018, Lieu made four campaign account donations totaling $51,046 to Stanford University, his alma mater, drawing scrutiny from National Review and The Washington Examiner when Stanford admitted his eldest son Brennan in 2020. An opinion writer noted that Lieu's total was the second-largest contribution on record from an active congressional candidate to a university, though former FEC chairman Bradley Smith stated that such donations were not improper and were relatively common among senior members with large campaign reserves, and Stanford noted that parental donations needed to reach at least $500,000 before appearing on lists provided to the admissions office.
- Lieu voted against the Iran nuclear deal in 2015, a position that placed him at odds with the Obama administration and with the bulk of the House Progressive Caucus, whose members generally supported the agreement, and that drew criticism from progressive and anti-war advocates who argued it reflected excessive hawkishness inconsistent with his otherwise dovish foreign policy record, while supporters of the vote cited concerns about verification mechanisms and the deal's sunset provisions rather than opposition to diplomacy itself.
- Lieu coauthored legislation as a California state assemblyman to bypass California Environmental Quality Act review for a proposed NFL stadium in Los Angeles, a bill intended to support developer Edward Roski's efforts to attract an NFL franchise. The bill drew criticism from environmentalists and fellow legislators, and controversy deepened when it was reported that Roski had donated over $500,000 to political campaigns including $13,000 to Lieu's, raising questions about the connection between the donation and his authorship of legislation directly beneficial to Roski's business interests.
- In January 2014, Lieu voted in favor of California Senate Constitutional Amendment 5, which proposed repealing Proposition 209 and allowing state universities to consider race, ethnicity, and national origin in admissions decisions. After the Asian-American community mounted strong opposition to the bill, Lieu joined two other senators who had also supported it in issuing a statement calling for the bill to be withheld pending further consultations, a reversal that critics from both directions argued reflected political pressure rather than principled reconsideration and that highlighted the difficult terrain affirmative action policy presents for Asian-American elected officials.
Top Donors
| # | Donor | Total |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | American Israel Public Affairs Committee | $44,987 |
| 2 | Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy | $26,450 |
| 3 | Seville Classics | $26,400 |
| 4 | Google Inc | $19,445 |
| 5 | Stanford University | $17,050 |
Lieu's donor profile reflects the affluent, technology-oriented, and professionally credentialed character of his coastal Los Angeles district. AIPAC is his largest organizational contributor at $44,987, a figure that is notable but proportionally smaller relative to his overall fundraising than AIPAC's role for some California colleagues, reflecting both the district's large Jewish constituency and his consistent pro-Israel voting record on military aid packages. Cotchett, Pitre and McCarthy, a prominent plaintiff's litigation firm, reflects the substantial trial lawyer contribution stream common to Judiciary Committee members with consumer protection and civil litigation portfolios. Seville Classics, a consumer products company, represents individual donor bundling from the district's business community. Google's contribution connects directly to Lieu's role as one of Congress's most prominent voices on technology regulation, artificial intelligence governance, and digital privacy, where his Judiciary subcommittee assignment on courts and intellectual property gives him direct relevance to Silicon Valley's legislative interests. Stanford University's appearance in the top five reflects alumni-network donor bundling and is notable given the scrutiny Lieu received over his own campaign donations to Stanford from 2016 to 2018.
Recent Elections
2018 General Election (CA-33)
Won D +40.1%Primary Election
| Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| [D]Ted Lieu (incumbent)✓ Advanced | 100,581 | 61.7% |
| [R]Kenneth Wright | 48,985 | 30.1% |
| [D]Emory Rodgers | 13,435 | 8.2% |
General Election
| Candidate | Results | |
|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | |
| [D]Ted Lieu (incumbent)✓ Winner | 219,091 | 70.0% |
| [R]Kenneth Wright | 93,769 | 30.0% |
Lieu won his third term by 40 points against Republican Kenneth Wright, who had also appeared in the primary, where he finished second. The primary field included a second Democrat, Emory Rodgers, who drew 8.2 percent but did not advance under the top-two system, leaving Lieu and Wright as the general election finalists. The 70.0 percent general election result placed Lieu among California's most comfortably situated incumbents in the 2018 midterm cycle, reflecting the 33rd district's concentration of highly educated, affluent coastal Los Angeles voters in communities including Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, and the South Bay. The result came in a favorable national environment for Democrats and in a district that had never been meaningfully competitive since Lieu first won it in 2014.
2020 General Election (CA-33)
Won D +35.2%Primary Election
| Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| [D]Ted Lieu (incumbent)✓ Advanced | 130,063 | 60.5% |
| [R]James Bradley | 37,531 | 17.5% |
| [D]Liz Barris | 15,180 | 7.1% |
| [R]Sarah Sun Liew | 13,601 | 6.3% |
| [I]Kenneth Wright | 9,673 | 4.5% |
| [D]Albert Maxwell Goldberg | 9,032 | 4.2% |
General Election
| Candidate | Results | |
|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | |
| [D]Ted Lieu (incumbent)✓ Winner | 257,094 | 67.6% |
| [R]James Bradley | 123,334 | 32.4% |
Lieu won his fourth term by 35.2 points against Republican James Bradley in a presidential year that brought expanded turnout across the Los Angeles coastal corridor. The primary field was the most crowded of Lieu's career to that point, with six candidates including two Republicans, two additional Democrats, and Kenneth Wright running without party preference, but Lieu captured 60.5 percent to advance comfortably alongside Bradley under the top-two system. The 67.6 to 32.4 percent general election result was modestly tighter than 2018 in percentage terms but still represented a dominant win, reflecting both the district's structural lean and Bradley's limited ability to break through in a coastal Los Angeles electorate that had trended sharply against Republicans in the Trump era.
2022 General Election (CA-36)
Won D +39.5%Primary Election
| Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| [D]Ted Lieu (incumbent)✓ Advanced | 122,969 | 67.1% |
| [R]Joe Collins III | 24,553 | 13.4% |
| [R]Derrick Gates | 10,263 | 5.6% |
| [R]Ariana Hakami | 9,760 | 5.3% |
| [R]Claire Ragge | 7,351 | 4.0% |
| [D]Colin Obrien | 6,221 | 3.4% |
| [I]Steve Williams | 1,180 | 0.6% |
| [I]Matthew Jesuele | 976 | 0.5% |
General Election
| Candidate | Results | |
|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | |
| [D]Ted Lieu (incumbent)✓ Winner | 194,299 | 69.8% |
| [R]Joe Collins III | 84,264 | 30.3% |
Lieu won his first term representing the newly numbered 36th district by 39.5 points against Republican Joe Collins III following the post-2020 census redistricting cycle, which renumbered but did not dramatically reshape his coastal Los Angeles seat. The primary field was the largest of Lieu's career with eight candidates, including four Republicans whose combined primary vote was fragmented across Collins, Derrick Gates, Ariana Hakami, and Claire Ragge, allowing Lieu to dominate the primary with 67.1 percent. Collins, a Navy veteran who had previously challenged Maxine Waters in a different district, consolidated the Republican primary vote to appear in the general election but was unable to significantly expand beyond the district's limited Republican base. Lieu was simultaneously elevated to Vice Chair of the House Democratic Caucus, adding a formal leadership title to his existing role as one of the party's most prominent media communicators.
2024 General Election (CA-36)
Won D +37.4%Primary Election
| Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| [D]Ted Lieu (incumbent)✓ Advanced | 125,858 | 68.5% |
| [R]Melissa Toomim | 27,440 | 14.9% |
| [R]Ariana Hakami | 25,823 | 14.1% |
| [I]Claire Anderson | 4,509 | 2.5% |
General Election
| Candidate | Results | |
|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | |
| [D]Ted Lieu (incumbent)✓ Winner | 246,002 | 68.7% |
| [R]Melissa Toomim | 111,985 | 31.3% |
Lieu won his sixth term by 37.4 points against Republican Melissa Toomim in a presidential year that produced larger absolute turnout across the 36th district's coastal Los Angeles communities. The primary featured a narrower field than 2022, with two Republicans splitting the non-Democratic primary vote between Toomim and returning candidate Ariana Hakami before Toomim consolidated Republican support in the general. Lieu's 68.7 percent general election share was essentially identical to his 2022 result, reflecting the district's consistent structural composition rather than any meaningful shift in partisan alignment. He remained in his dual committee portfolio on Foreign Affairs and Judiciary and continued as Vice Chair of the House Democratic Caucus, a role that combined national media visibility with a formal position in House Democratic leadership infrastructure.
CA-36 covers the South Bay and Westside regions of Los Angeles, including Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Malibu, the Palos Verdes Peninsula, Torrance, Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, El Segundo, and adjoining communities. The district was previously numbered the 33rd before the post-2020 census redistricting cycle, though its geographic core and electoral character remained largely consistent through the renumbering. It is one of the most reliably Democratic districts in Southern California, anchored by highly educated, affluent coastal voters with strong environmental, civil rights, and technology sector professional concentrations. Lieu has won every general election since 2014 by at least 35 points, and Republican candidates have consistently been unable to mount credible challenges in a district where Democratic registration advantages, high donor capacity, and Lieu's name recognition as one of California's most media-visible members make the seat structurally impregnable in competitive terms. His closest competition has consistently come in primaries rather than general elections, though even his primary margins have remained above 60 percent in every cycle from 2018 through 2024.