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Evan Low is proud of all the barriers he broke through on his way to Sacramento.
Even before he was sworn into the state Assembly a decade ago — becoming the youngest Asian American legislator in the history of that august body — he had been racking up “firsts.” His campaign biography notes that he was the first openly gay person to get elected to the Campbell City Council (2006) and then the youngest Asian American lawmaker and LGBTQ mayor in the nation (2009).
Now, he is seeking another first. He noted in an interview that there has never been an openly gay person or an Asian American elected to Congress from the Bay Area.
“The Republican party has become the party of Trump, and we have one of the most homophobic speakers of the House in generations,” Low said. “The best way to combat that is to send more gays to Congress.”
Low, 40, believes his experiences as an Asian American, an openly gay politician and a millennial give him a unique perspective in the crowded race to succeed Anna Eshoo in Congress. So does his experience as a tech-savvy legislator whose bills helped shape state regulations around everything from ride-sharing companies and child abuse to health screenings for underserved communities and the posting of mugshots by police departments on social media (a 2021 bill authored by Low outlaws this practice for nonviolent suspects).
The Sacramento Bee in 2018 dubbed him the state’s most prolific lawmaker (he had 34 bills move to the governor’s desk that year, more than any other Assembly member).
For Low, whose Assembly district includes Cupertino, Sunnyvale and a portion of San Jose, there is a clear link between his personal story and his policy priorities. In June, he was part of a group of lawmakers who proposed a constitutional amendment that would enshrine the right to same-sex marriage — a change that will appear on the November 2024 ballot. In a June hearing on the Assembly Constitutional Amendment 5, he called the proposal “very personal” and recalled 2008, when 52% of the voters approved Proposition 8, which rejected same-sex marriage.
“As a 20-something-year-old at the time, I remember the painful experience it caused not just to me but to countless Californians who were left wondering: What did we do wrong? Why would our rights be eliminated? Why would the majority of Californians vote to eliminate a fundamental basic human right?” Low said. “This proposal helps ensure that marriage is a fundamental human right.”
His campaign, somewhat paradoxically, embraces both continuity and change. He credits Eshoo with demonstrating “the importance of tenure and seniority in Congress to delivering to our district” and for helping to maintain the global competitiveness of Silicon Valley when it comes to technology and innovation. But as someone who has worked to combat xenophobia, he wants to do more to defend the nation’s LGBTQ residents against the recent onslaught of Republican legislation.
“We know that there’s been over 475 pieces of anti-LGBT legislation introduced, targeting members of my community just for trying to survive being authentic to ourselves. That’s why it’s important to have representation,” Low said.
Similarly, he believes the U.S. Congress could use more millennial voices. Many people in his generation are concerned about issues like high housing costs. Low can relate, he said. Along with public safety, his campaign priorities include addressing climate change and lowering the cost of living for middle-class families, topics that resonate acutely with young voters.
“I cannot afford to purchase a single-family home in the Congressional district that I hope to represent. …When we talk about the lived experience, that will be the key core issue for this generation,” Low said.
Low believes his legislative record, as well as his background, make him well-suited to finding compromise even in a deeply divided Congress.
“I’ve always run toward the challenge,” Low said. “No one ever said governing is supposed to be easy.”
