Jay Kim (born March 27, 1939) is a politician from the U.S. state of California. Kim was born in Seoul, South Korea. During the Korean War, his home was destroyed. He immigrated to the United States in 1961. Kim was elected to the city council of Diamond Bar, a newly incorporated suburb of Los Angeles, in 1990 and elected mayor the next year. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1992 as a Republican from the newly-created 41st District, making him the first Korean-American elected to the United States Congress.
Kim came under scrutiny for campaign donations, eventually pleading guilty to accepting $250,000 in illegal donations including one-third of all donations to his 1992 campaign and was sentenced to two months of house arrest. At the time, it was a record for campaign violations. He kept his seat but lost the primary election in 1998 to Gary Miller, with whom he had once served on the Diamond Bar city council. Miller won the general election and still holds the seat.
Kim failed at his bid to win election in the 42nd District in 2000 after he was defeated in the primary by Elia Pirozzi, who in turn was defeated by incumbent Joe Baca.
