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David Wu (Chinese: 吳振偉; pinyin: Wú Zhènwěi; born April 8, 1955) is a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives for Oregon, representing the state's 1st Congressional District (map). The district represents includes a small section of western Multnomah County, Oregon and all of Yamhill, Columbia, Clatsop and Washington counties. Wu is the first and only Taiwanese American to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Background

Wu was born in Taiwan and moved to the United States with his family in 1961. He received a bachelor of science degree from Stanford University in 1977, and attended Harvard Medical School, but dropped out. Wu also received a Juris Doctor degree from Yale in 1982. Wu is the first and only Taiwanese American to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. He is married to Michelle Wu, and has one son, Matthew, and a daughter, Sarah.

Prior to being elected a U.S. Representative, Wu served as a clerk for a federal judge and co-founded a law firm, Cohen & Wu, which primarily served the high tech sector in Oregon's "Silicon Forest."

Congressman

Wu was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1998, replacing fellow Democrat Elizabeth Furse, and began serving in 1999 with the 106th Congress. He is currently serving on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, as well as the House Committee on Science. Wu also serves as the Ranking Minority Member of the Science Subcommittee on Environment Technology and Standards as well as the Space Subcommittee.

He currently is a member of the Executive Board for the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus and served as Chair from January 2001 to January 2004. Congressman Wu is also a member of the New Democrat Coalition (NDC), a group of moderate Democrats in the House.

In May 2006, Wu won the Democratic primary against three low-profile challengers with 87% of the vote, and, in November, will face state Rep. Derrick Kitts of Hillsboro, who was unopposed in the GOP primary.

Controversy

On October 12, 2004, The Oregonian, a state-wide Oregon newspaper, reported that during the summer of 1976, Wu, who had just completed his junior year at Stanford University, was accused of attempting to force an ex-girlfriend to have sex with him. According to the article, which appeared on the front page of the paper, Wu, then 21, was questioned by Capt. Raoul K. Niemeyer after the incident, who described Wu as having scratches on his face and neck and donning a stretched T-shirt. Wu was not arrested and the woman declined to press charges.

The story broke in the midst of a contentious 2004 race to represent Oregon's 1st Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives. Wu's opponent, Republican Goli Ameri, integrated the story into her campaign in the waning days of the election. Wu won the 2004 general election with 58% of the vote, compared to Ameri's 38%, and 4% for Deal Wolf, the Constitution Party candidate.

References

• 2004 General Election Results
• "Ameri pummels Wu over incident" Portland Tribune, October 22, 2004
• "Wu faces rare primary fight but is expected to win easily. "The Oregonian", March 27, 2006

External links

• Official website
• Campaign Website
• Voting record maintained by the Washington Post

• 1955 births
• Foreign-born American politicians
• Living people
• Members of the United States House of Representatives from Oregon
• Oregon politicians
• Taiwanese Americans