Kansen Chu


Kansen Chu is an American politician currently serving in the California State Assembly. He is a Democrat representing the 25th Assembly District, which encompasses parts of the South and East Bay regions of the San Francisco Bay Area.
Prior to being elected to the Assembly in 2014, Chu was a San Jose City Councilman representing District 4. He is a member of the California Asian & Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus. He was the first Taiwanese-American elected to the San Jose City Council.

2000 Council

In 2000, Chu was defeated by Chuck Reed for the District 4 council seat.
In his first year on the council, Chu initiated landmark legislation to require citywide green building standards, ban the use of plastic bags, and mandate the installation of automatic heart defibrillators across San Jose.

2002 Berryessa Union School Board

In 2002, Kansen Chu was elected to the Berryessa Union School Board. As a school board member, he championed stronger curricula, better education materials, and improved public access to school board meetings.
Chu has served on the Berryessa Union School Board for 5 years, Santa Clara Valley Metro YMCA, Vietnamese Voluntary Foundation, Shin Shin Education Foundation, and Advisory Board of Californians for Justice. Kansen has also served on the Santa Clara County Mental Health Board, Private Industry Council under Job Training Partnership Act, Neighborhood Accountability Board of Berryessa, the KNTV Channel 11 Community Board, Asian Law Alliance, and many other advisory commissions and boards. He continues to serve on the board of Vision New America, dedicated to advancing youth involvement in civics and government.

2014 California State Assembly

2016 California State Assembly

2018 California State Assembly

Departing the California Assembly

On May 13, 2019, Chu announced that he would be a candidate for the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors in 2020. He will not be seeking reelection to the Assembly.

Personal life

Born in 1952 in Taiwan, Chu moved to the United States in 1976. Professionally, Chu has a Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering from Cal State Northridge, and worked as a microdiagnostics microprogrammer at IBM for 18 years. Kansen and his wife Daisy have been married for 30 years and have two children, Ann and Walt.