PERSON: Mark Takano

U.S. House of Representatives

U.S. Representative for California’s 39th Congressional District

Mark Allan Takano (born December 10, 1960) is an American politician and academic who has served in the United States House of Representatives since 2013, representing California’s 41st congressional district from 2013 to 2023 and the 39th congressional district since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, Takano became the first gay person of Asian descent in Congress upon taking office.

Takano was born in 1960 in Riverside, California. His family was relocated and interned from California to a “War Relocation Camp” during World War II. He is Sansei, that is, the grandson of people born in Japan who immigrated to the United States. He attended La Sierra High School in the Alvord Unified School District, where he graduated as class valedictorian. In high school, he also participated in the Junior State of America, a national student-run organization centered around debate and civic engagement in young people, and was elected lieutenant governor of the Southern California State. He graduated from Harvard University with a B.A. in government in 1983 and from the University of California, Riverside with an MFA in creative writing for the performing arts in 2010.

Takano taught British literature in public schools for 23 years. He was a member of the Republican Party through college, when he became a member of the Democratic Party. In 1990 he was elected to the Riverside Community College Board of Trustees. While on the board, he shepherded a measure that gave college employees domestic partner benefits.

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