Ted Win-Ping Lieu (Chinese: 劉雲平; pinyin: Liú Yúnpíng; LEW; born March 29, 1969) is an American lawyer and politician. He is a member of the Democratic Party and has represented California's 36th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives since 2023. He represented the 33rd congressional district from 2015 to 2023. The district includes South Bay and Westside regions of Los Angeles, as well as Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, the Palos Verdes Peninsula, and Beach Cities.
Born in Taiwan, Lieu who is one of the few members of Congress who are naturalized U.S. citizens. He graduated with two degrees from Stanford University and earned his Juris Doctor degree from Georgetown University. He represented the 28th district in the California State Senate from 2011 to 2014, after being elected to fill the seat of deceased Senator Jenny Oropeza. From 2005 to 2010 he was a California state assemblyman, representing the 53rd district, after being elected to fill the seat of deceased assemblyman Mike Gordon.
Lieu served on active duty with the United States Air Force Judge Advocate General's Corps from 1995 to 1999. From 2000 to 2021 he served in the Air Force Reserve Command, and he attained the rank of colonel in 2015. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi appointed Lieu assistant whip of the 115th Congress in 2017. He has been vice chair of the House Democratic Caucus since 2023.
Lieu was born in 1969 in Taipei, Taiwan. His family immigrated to the United States when he was three years old, settling in Cleveland, Ohio. His paternal family was originally from Hebei, China. His father, Lieu Ten-ching (劉天擎; 1944–2026), was born in Chongqing, China, in 1944, moved to Taiwan in 1949 during the Great Retreat, and graduated from Soochow University and the Cleveland State University College of Law.
In 1987, Lieu graduated from Saint Ignatius High School. In 1991, he graduated from Stanford with a BSc in computer science and a BA in political science. As an undergraduate, he was a columnist for The Stanford Daily and studied under Condoleezza Rice. He then attended the Georgetown University Law Center, where he became the editor-in-chief of the Georgetown Law Journal, and earned his Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, in 1994.
After law school, Lieu served as a law clerk to Judge Thomas Tang of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 1994 to 1995.
Lieu joined the United States Air Force in 1995 and served four years on active duty as a member of the Judge Advocate General's Corps. As a military prosecutor and adviser to commanders, he has received various awards and medals for his service, both abroad and locally, including the Meritorious Service Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster, the Air Force Commendation Medal, and the Humanitarian Service Medal. Lieu continued to serve in the Air Force Reserve from 2000 to 2021; in this capacity, he was promoted to his terminal rank of colonel in December 2015.
On March 5, 2002, Lieu was elected to the Torrance City Council alongside Mike Mauno and Pat McIntyre. On April 9, they were sworn in to replace outgoing members Marcia Cribb, Jack Messerlian, and Dan Walker, who had been elected mayor. Lieu served until his election to the state assembly, and was succeeded by Rod Guyton via appointment.
Lieu won a September 13, 2005, special election to fill the 53rd Assembly district following the death of incumbent Mike Gordon. Lieu defeated three Republicans, including physician Mary Jo Ford and fellow Torrance city councilman Paul Nowatka.
Lieu was reelected in 2006 and again in 2008.
Lieu was chair of the Assembly Rules Committee. He was a member of the Assembly Governmental Organization Committee, Assembly Judiciary Committee and Assembly Veterans Affairs Committee. Lieu was also chair of the Asian Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus and chair of the Assembly Select Committee on Aerospace. In 2014 he joined the newly founded Friends of Wales Caucus.
In 2008, in a surprising turn of events in the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) English language controversy, Lieu and state senator Leland Yee of San Francisco were able to help rescind the LPGA Tour Commission's suspension-penalty policy for players who failed to learn enough English to speak to sponsors and at award ceremonies. Both officials publicly challenged the legality and galvanized community attention to the LPGA's policy in August 2008 when it was released, which resulted in revision of the policy by the end of 2008.
Lieu is a strong supporter of expansion of public transit in West Los Angeles, LAX, and the South Bay.
Lieu coauthored a successful bill to bypass environmental quality regulations to build a football stadium in Los Angeles. The bill was intended to help the efforts of developer Edward P. Roski persuade the National Football League to return to the city, and was controversial among many environmentalists and legislators. Further controversy ensued when it was announced that Roski had given over $500,000 to political campaigns, including $13,000 to Lieu's.
As an assemblyman, Lieu authored laws in the areas of public safety, child sex offenders, domestic violence, the environment, education, health care, veterans' issues and transportation.
Some of his legislative actions include the following:
AB 1900 helps prevent convicted child sex offenders from working with children (Chapter 340, Statutes of 2006)
ABx2 7, the California Foreclosure Prevention Act, requires lenders to operate a comprehensive home loan modification program or face a 90-day foreclosure moratorium. This is the first law of its kind in the nation (Chapter 5, Statutes of 2009)