Wednesday, May 1, 2024

Celebrating Asian American Heritage Month: Ervin Yen, first Asian American in Oklahoma legislature


Ervin Yen, born in Taipei, Taiwan in 1954, moved to northwest Oklahoma City in 1959, where he graduated from Putnam City High School and then a BS in zoology from University of Oklahoma.  He went on to get a medical degree from OU College of Medicine.

He changed his party affiliation to Republican in 2009 and ran for the District 40 state senate seat in 2014.  He won the election in the general election, becoming the first Asian American in the Oklahoma legislature history.

He lost his re-election bid in the primaries to an anti-vaxxer in 2018.  Yen changed his affiliation to Independent to run for governor in the 2022 election, citing the rise of COVID-19 misinformation, Trump's election lies, and the GOP's lack of response to COVID-19.


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