Hornet Media and the Fullerton Observer interviewed Steven Choi, running for the California State Senate District 37, at a candidate forum at Fullerton College on Oct. 7, 2024. The Fullerton Observer reached out to all candidates running for this office for the opportunity to take part in a video interview at the forum and interviewed those who responded.
This video series is a joint production of the Fullerton Observer, a volunteer-run community newspaper, and Hornet Media, the student-run media outlets housed in the Fullerton College journalism program.
Interviews have been edited for length and clarity but have not been independently fact-checked.
View live coverage of local elections returns on Nov. 5, 2024, at 7 p.m. on Hornet Media’s YouTube channel @fchornetmedia
Video Transcript:
Hornet Media / Fullerton Observer
What are your top three priorities, if elected?
Steven Choi
Top priorities, obviously, would be the economy as of right now. A big problem is a rising living cost and inflation. When I go to supermarkets, any markets, any place is a price is shocking me and so many people are also feeling the same. Gas prices are still highest in California, in the nation, and we need to control those prices, inflation, gas prices, so that we can stabilize rising costs, so that the people can afford and be able to share their disposable income in recreational areas that right now people are not even going out because it’s just too expensive. So economy will be number one. Number two will be, obviously, public safety is concerned everywhere. My cities in the district are relatively affluent and in Orange County safer. However, this safer home. So you cannot say anymore, because so many burglaries imported out of town and even out of the country are coming to Orange County and burglarizing our homes. So I think public safety is very important that involves. Also the homelessness situation, because homelessness situation is right now everywhere in Orange County, cities are struggling with that because of children being afraid of and drug addicted people. So, we cannot live in our community with the homeless people roaming around. So, we need to control them. That is a part. It’s a totally different area of homelessness situation, but it’s in essence a part of the public safety that I’m talking about. And we need to have sensible parental rights right now. We have a lot of issues right now with the children that the gender change, sex change issues that even teachers know about it. Some bills right now, AB, or was it 1955 is trying to strip the parental rights not to notify parents what their children are doing at schools, even the teachers may know so integrity of the family and our ethics that’s very that’s protecting our children. What do the little children know about there has to be parental guide, and the parents have a full right to understand what’s going on with their children, rather than taking over the parental rights. And there are so many issues we can talk about, but those are top three ones we can talk about.
Hornet Media / Fullerton Observer
What is your notable endorsement?
Steven Choi
My notable endorsement, I think I would say the Orange County Register recently endorsed me. That is a bipartisan press. Sometimes people consider that as a more left lenient, but I’m a Republican, and I think that is a big honor when they do that, they go through very rigorous questionnaires, and then also board panel interviews and going through the experience, and then Also the policies we have which bills we have voted on that tells you who you are, which policies you will be advocating once I get to the State Senate, because they could easily see my track record and where I stand because I served in the Assembly last six years. I served on the California State Assembly for three terms. So each term is for two years, so six years. So that gives them very good understanding what policies I stand on, what bills I supported and how I voted as a rigorous process, so you can see when neutral, major press endorses endorses me, that tells credible the endorsing of a candidate that the people should honor and vote for me and among all the organizations, but I would rather emphasize so many individuals have voted, have endorsed me, and you can go to my website, Stevenchoi.org will list a partial list of endorsements and individual names in there, rather than me going through the names.
Hornet Media / Fullerton Observer
What would you do differently than the person currently in this position?
Steven Choi
The problem Californians need to understand is that Sacramento is way out of whack in terms of balance of power. One supermajority Democratic Party is a ruling party right now, Both houses, State Senate and then also assembly, most of them, 80% supermajority Democrats are right now ruling party, and that is a cause of California’s problem, because Right now, the number is 18 assembly members are out of 80 positions, and eight senators out of 40, but one Democratic member converted to Republicans, so right now, so nine senators are out of 40, but the Still is balance is way above 2/3 because the 2/3 is a very important threshold to pass very important regular bills will lead only 51% in a half like 40 people both and one more person 41% will pass the regular bills, and then also in the Senate, will be 20, will be half, and one more person will be 21 but they are occupying 80% so the bills introduced, they are not being debated. No discussion is they don’t need votes from the Republican Party, all the Democratic Party members, they will go along together and vote for on the bill. Introduced by their colleague, Democratic Party members, instead of studying the bills, merits of the bills, whether the bills are good for the citizens of California or not, but simply they are introducing and they are passing, and many of them are tax increases pro criminal bills such as early release of criminals, JJ and jailed. And have you heard about shoplifters, up to $950 you can grab and go, grab and smash, smash and grab and the $950 they are not only ticketed Mr. Mina instead of being prosecuted, and that’s horrendous. Think about it. Even grocery store $950 a lot of money. Even go to regular department stores, $950 will be a lot of dollars. So we need to repeal that kind of bad bills, but such pro criminal bills, and so much regulations for the businesses and rising cost of all the food right now we are experiencing is due to the minimum wage they raised like $20 for The workers right now you see McDonald’s anywhere you go. So those are the contributors for the inflation, and we need to have a good balance of power so that we have the breaking power to stop those bad bills. So all the Californians, regardless of your partisanship, need to realize where the problem stem from, and vote for Republican candidates to state and assembly.