{{short description|Member of the New Jersey General Assembly}} {{Use American English|date=February 2022}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2022}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Ellen Park | image = NJDOMVA Ellen Park (cropped).jpg | caption = Park in 2025 | predecessor = Valerie Huttle and Gordon M. Johnson | alongside = Shama Haider | party = Democrat | district = 37th | term_start = January 11, 2022 | state_assembly = New Jersey | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1972|3|6}} | spouse = Richard Ma | birth_place = South Korea | website = [https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/legislative-roster/453/assemblywoman-park Legislative webpage] }} '''Ellen J. Park''' (born March 6, 1972) is an American lawyer and Democratic Party politician who was elected in the 2021 New Jersey General Assembly election as an assemblywoman for New Jersey's 37th legislative district, making her the first Korean American woman to be elected to the New Jersey Legislature.
==Political career== Born in South Korea, Park moved to the United States as a child and was raised in the New York City neighborhoods of Sunnyside and Flushing. She attended Bronx High School of Science and New York University.<ref name=Record2021/> She earned a Juris Doctor degree from the Hofstra University Maurice A. Deane School of Law.<ref name=NJLEG/> She was elected in 2016 to serve on the Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey Borough Council. In the November 2021 general election, she was elected together with her running mates, making her the first Korean woman to serve in the state legislature.<ref name=Record2021>Chao, Mary. [https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/politics/elections/2021/11/06/nj-election-results-ellen-park-first-korean-woman-legislature/6299313001/ "Meet Ellen Park: The first Korean woman elected to NJ Legislature"], ''The Record'', November 6, 2021. Accessed November 9, 2021. "It's been a whirlwind week for Ellen Park. The Englewood Cliffs attorney made history Tuesday as the first Korean woman to be elected to the New Jersey Legislature, representing the 37th District Assembly of Bergen County."</ref>
Since 2024, Park has served in the Assembly as Parliamentarian.<ref name=NJLEG/>
In 2024, Park was one of the 14 Democratic Party electors who cast the states 14 electoral votes for Kamala Harris for President and Tim Walz for Vice President.<ref>[https://www.nj.gov/state/elections/assets/pdf/election-results/2024/2024-unofficial-general-candidates-president-electors.pdf 2024 Electors- Presidential Candidates], New Jersey Department of State. Accessed February 26, 2025. "Presidential Candidate: Kamala D. Harris; Vice Presidential Candidate: Tim Walz - Saily M. Avelenda Jacqueline Jones Charles Boddy Philip Kramer John Currie Margaret Martin Dyese Davis David A. Matos, Jr. Parimal Garg Ian D. Mosley Yazminelly Gonzalez Ellen J. Park Robyn Grodner Mildred S. Scott"</ref>
=== Committees === Committee assignments for the 2024—2025 Legislative Session are:<ref name=NJLEG>[https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/legislative-roster/453/assemblywoman-park Assemblywoman Ellen J. Park (D)], New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 29, 2024.</ref> *Judiciary (as chair) *Budget *Commerce, Economic Development and Agriculture
===District 37=== Each of the 40 districts in the New Jersey Legislature has one representative in the New Jersey Senate and two members in the New Jersey General Assembly.<ref>[https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/constitution New Jersey State Constitution 1947 (Updated Through Amendments Adopted in November, 2020): Article IV, Section II], New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 28, 2022.</ref> The representatives from the 37th District for the 2024—2025 Legislative Session are:<ref>[https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/legislative-roster?district=37 Legislative Roster for District 37], New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 29, 2024.</ref> *Senator Gordon M. Johnson <span {{Party shading/Democratic}}> (D)</span> *Assemblywoman Shama Haider <span {{Party shading/Democratic}}> (D)</span> *Assemblywoman Ellen Park <span {{Party shading/Democratic}}> (D)</span>
==Electoral history== {{Election box begin no change |title = 37th Legislative District General Election, 2023<ref name="GeneralResults">{{Cite web |url=https://www.nj.gov/state/elections/assets/pdf/election-results/2023/2023-official-general-results-general-assembly.pdf |title=Candidates for General Assembly - For GENERAL ELECTION 11/07/2023 Election |publisher=New Jersey Department of State |access-date=December 6, 2023}}</ref> }} {{Election box winning candidate with party link no change | party = Democratic Party (United States) | candidate = Ellen J. Park (incumbent) | votes = 26,942 | percentage = 36.4 }} {{Election box winning candidate with party link no change | party = Democratic Party (United States) | candidate = Shama A. Haider (incumbent) | votes = 25,943 | percentage = 35.0 }} {{Election box candidate with party link no change | party = Republican Party (United States) | candidate = Robert Bedoya | votes = 10,673 | percentage = 14.4 }} {{Election box candidate with party link no change | party = Republican Party (United States) | candidate = Katherine Lebovics | votes = 10,526 | percentage = 14.2 }} {{Election box total no change | votes = 74,084 | percentage = 100.0 }} {{Election box hold with party link no change | winner = Democratic Party (United States) }} {{Election box hold with party link no change | winner = Democratic Party (United States) }} {{Election box end}}
{{Election box begin no change |title = 37th legislative district general election, 2021<ref name="GeneralResults2021">{{cite web |title=Official List, Candidates for General Assembly For GENERAL ELECTION 11/02/2021 Election |url=https://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/assets/pdf/election-results/2021/2021-official-general-results-general-assembly.pdf |publisher=Secretary of State of New Jersey |date=November 30, 2021 |access-date=December 12, 2021}}</ref> }} {{Election box winning candidate with party link no change | party = Democratic Party (United States) | candidate = Ellen J. Park | votes = 33,532 | percentage = 33.77% }} {{Election box winning candidate with party link no change | party = Democratic Party (United States) | candidate = Shama A. Haider | votes = 32,797 | percentage = 33.03% }} {{Election box candidate with party link no change | party = Republican Party (United States) | candidate = Edward P. Durfee Jr. | votes = 16,193 | percentage = 16.31% }} {{Election box candidate with party link no change | party = Republican Party (United States) | candidate = Perley V. Patrick | votes = 15,863 | percentage = 15.97% }} {{Election box candidate minor party no change | party = Children&Seniors First | candidate = Natacha M. Pannell | votes = 923 | percentage = 0.93% }} {{Election box total no change | votes = 99,308 | percentage = 100.0 }} {{Election box hold with party link no change | winner = Democratic Party (United States) | loser = Republican Party (United States) }} {{Election box end}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/legislative-roster/453/assemblywoman-park Legislative webpage]
{{New Jersey General Assembly}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Park, Ellen}} Category:1972 births Category:Living people Category:21st-century American lawyers Category:21st-century American women lawyers Category:21st-century American women politicians Category:American politicians of Korean descent Category:American women of Korean descent in politics Category:Maurice A. Deane School of Law alumni Category:The Bronx High School of Science alumni Category:South Korean emigrants to the United States Category:People from Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey Category:People from Flushing, Queens Category:Politicians from Queens, New York Category:People from Sunnyside, Queens Category:Politicians from Bergen County, New Jersey Category:Women city councillors in New Jersey Category:Women state legislators in New Jersey Category:Democratic Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly Category:New Jersey city council members Category:Lawyers from Bergen County, New Jersey Category:New York University alumni Category:Asian-American state legislators in New Jersey Category:21st-century members of the New Jersey Legislature Category:2024 United States presidential electors