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Joseph Cho
Joseph Cho (Democratic Party) ran for election to the California State Senate to represent District 29. He lost in the primary on March 3, 2020.
Cho completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.
Cho was a Democratic candidate running to replace Josh Newman (D) in a recall election for California State Senate District 29.
Biography
Joseph Cho was born in Kyushu, Japan. He attended Seoul National University, California State University, Northridge, and Yanbian University. Cho’s career experience includes working as a teacher, computer operator, journalist, entrepreneur, and founder of a nonprofit.[1]
Elections
2020
See also: California State Senate elections, 2020
General election
General election for California State Senate District 29
Josh Newman defeated incumbent Ling Ling Chang in the general election for California State Senate District 29 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Josh Newman (D) | 51.3 | 214,456 |
 | Ling Ling Chang (R) | 48.7 | 203,762 | |
| Total votes: 418,218 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for California State Senate District 29
Incumbent Ling Ling Chang and Josh Newman defeated Joseph Cho in the primary for California State Senate District 29 on March 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Ling Ling Chang (R) | 47.4 | 98,687 |
| ✔ | | Josh Newman (D) | 33.5 | 69,732 |
 | Joseph Cho (D) | 19.1 | 39,643 | |
| Total votes: 208,062 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2018
An election to decide whether Josh Newman (D) should be recalled from his position representing California State Senate District 29 was held on June 5, 2018.
The candidates running to replace Newman were Kevin Carr (D), Ling Ling Chang (R), Joseph Cho (D), Josh Ferguson (D), George C. Shen (R), and Bruce Whitaker (R).[2]
Because a majority of voters chose to recall Newman, the replacement candidate with the most votes, Ling Ling Chang, won the seat.
| Josh Newman recall, 2018 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Yes |
58.1% | 91,892 |
| No | 41.9% | 66,197 |
| Total Votes | 158,089 | |
| Source: California Secretary of State | ||
| Josh Newman recall (replacement candidate), 2018 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Kevin Carr | 8.6% | 12,713 | |
| Republican | Ling Ling Chang |
33.8% | 50,215 | |
| Democratic | Joseph Cho | 21.4% | 31,726 | |
| Democratic | Josh Ferguson | 11.9% | 17,745 | |
| Republican | George C. Shen | 5.0% | 7,442 | |
| Republican | Bruce Whitaker | 19.3% | 28,704 | |
| Total Votes | 148,545 | |||
| Source: California Secretary of State | ||||
Campaign themes
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Joseph Cho completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Cho's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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The business was highly successful, but then in 1980 the dictatorship in South Korea committed a massacre in the town of Gwangju in which thousands of activists were killed. In response, I sold my business and started a publication to report from the US about the atrocities of the South Korean dictatorship that the South Korean media was unable to report. My efforts came to fruition in 1987 when Democracy was established in South Korea.
I then started a new business, which was also successful. After retirement, I went back to school to obtain a PhD. degree, ran and won a seat on a city council, and founded a non-profit foundation.
- Fully fund our public education system
- Work to transition our economy from fossil fuels to renewable energy
- Affordable healthcare for all
It's a very intricate book about a very important time period in human history.
In the 1980's, as I was battling the dictatorship ruling over South Korea, I nearly went into bankruptcy. In fact, the only reason I did not file for bankruptcy was that I could not afford the $20,000 filing fee.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2020 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ ’’Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on February 9, 2020’’
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Certified List of Candidates," accessed May 2, 2018
