Roy Cho stays on course for House seat

June 4, 2014
(Roycho.com screen capture)

(Roycho.com screen capture)

Roy Cho is one step closer to becoming the second Korean American member of U.S. Congress, winning the Democratic primary for New Jersey’s 5th District.

Cho, a Korea-born lawyer, handily defeated Diane Sare in the race Tuesday night, and became a Democratic candidate for the November elections.

He will face seven-term incumbent Republican Scott Garrett.

If Cho wins, he will be the second-ever Korean American congressman after Jay ChangJoon Kim, who served from 1993 to 1999.

During high school, Cho was class president, a state-ranked wrestling champion and a taekwondo black belt, according to his Facebook page.

The son of Korean immigrants earned his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, where he served as the editor in chief of the Georgetown Immigration Law Journal.

While studying at Georgetown as an evening student, he worked full-time as correspondence director for U.S. Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND).

He is on a leave of absence as an attorney with the New York office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP.