Entrepreneur David Kim, famous for founding C2 Education for students preparing for the SATs, has announced plans to run in the 2018 election to represent Georgia’s 7th District.
Kim visited Los Angeles on July 10 to rally support for his campaign as he eyes the House seat.
With more than 180 locations, C2 Education has thrived since Kim founded the institution. However, Kim has eased off from his leadership role at C2 Education to focus on his budding career as a politician in the coming years.“My expertise is education over anything else,” Kim said.
“My expertise is education over anything else,” Kim said. “I’ve made up my mind to get involved in politics to contribute to the community by solving the problems we face with education.”
Kim added that his priority, if he were to win the House seat, is to lower the cost of the college education as he feels that tuition has risen out of control for many young Americans.
However, Kim’s challenge will not be an easy one. Republican Rob Woodall has won re-election in Georgia’s 7th District since 2011. Kathleen Allen, a longtime community leader who dedicated 20 years of her career to nonprofit organizations, is also one of Kim’s competitors.
On top of that, the state of Georgia is traditionally conservative, which could burden Kim, who is a Democrat. However, Kim is remaining confident.
Kim pointed to fellow Democrat Jon Ossof’s plausible campaign in the 6th District as the sign of things to come throughout the rest of Georgia. Despite losing to Newt Gingrich, Ossof garnered a respectable 48.1 percent of the vote in a district that has been dominated by Republicans for nearly 40 years.
Georgia’s 7th District consists of 17 percent African-Americans, 17 percent Latin-Americans and 16.5 percent Asian-Americans. The mission for Kim’s campaign is to amplify the voices of racial minorities.
“My life as a Korean immigrant has greatly influenced by the decision to become a politician,” Kim said. “We need more Korean-Americans to challenge our government. We would need at least 10 of them in the federal government to be able to reflect our community’s voice properly.”
By Wonhee Cho
