{{short description|American politician (born 1969)}}

{{Use American English|date=January 2019}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = {{ubl|Mee Moua<br>{{script|Hmng|𖬂𖬦 𖬑𖬲𖬦}}}} | image = Mee Moua Oct 30 2008.jpg | state_senate = Minnesota | district = 67th | term_start = February 4, 2002 | term_end = January 3, 2011 | predecessor = Randy Kelly | successor = John Harrington | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1969|6|30}} | birth_place = Xiangkhouang, Laos | death_date = | death_place = | party = Democratic | spouse = Yee Chang | children = 3 | education = Brown University (BA)<br>University of Texas, Austin (MPA)<br>University of Minnesota (JD) }} '''Mee Moua''' (RPA: ''Mim Muas'', Pahawh: ''{{script|Hmng|𖬂𖬦 𖬑𖬲𖬦}}''; born June 30, 1969), is an American politician, and is the former president and executive director of the Asian Americans Advancing Justice -AAJC (Advancing Justice-AAJC)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.advancingjustice-aajc.org/news-media/news/former-minnesota-state-senator-mee-moua-lead-aajc|title=Former Minnesota State Senator Mee Moua to Lead AAJC {{!}} Asian Americans Advancing Justice {{!}} AAJC|website=www.advancingjustice-aajc.org|access-date=2016-03-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310150300/http://www.advancingjustice-aajc.org/news-media/news/former-minnesota-state-senator-mee-moua-lead-aajc|archive-date=March 10, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> She served as the vice president for strategic impact initiatives at the Asian & Islander American Health Forum (APIAHF) from 2011–12,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.apiahf.org/press-room/press-releases/apiahf-announces-vice-presidents-strategy-and-impact|title=APIAHF Announces Vice Presidents for Strategy and Impact: APIAHF|last=Forum|first=Asian & Pacific Islander American Health|website=www.apiahf.org|access-date=2016-03-10}}</ref> and as a member of the Minnesota state senate from 2002 to 2011.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/200201/29_wilcoxenw_moua/|title=MPR: New senator makes history|last=Radio|first=Minnesota Public|website=news.minnesota.publicradio.org|access-date=2016-03-10}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.twincities.com/2010/05/17/moua-wont-seek-re-election-in-senate/|title=Moua won't seek re-election in Senate – Twin Cities|last=Press|first=Pioneer|date=May 17, 2010 |access-date=2016-03-10}}</ref> On February 3, 2017, Moua announced her departure from AAJC to "spend more time with her family, for her children and their future, and being the right kind of mom for them."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://advancingjustice-aajc.org/news-media/press-releases|title=Press Releases - Asian Americans Advancing Justice|website=advancingjustice-aajc.org|accessdate=27 November 2018}}</ref>

== Early life and education == Moua's father was a medic in the Vietnam War. At the end of the war, her family fled to Thailand when Moua was five years old. In 1978 her family, along with other Hmong refugees, moved to the United States.<ref name="mspmag1">{{cite web |last=Swanson |first=William |url=http://www.mspmag.com/features/features/144166.asp |title=Mee Moua in the Age of Obama &#124; Features &#124; Mpls.St.Paul Magazine + |publisher=Mspmag.com |accessdate=2010-07-20 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614113637/http://www.mspmag.com/features/features/144166.asp |archivedate=2011-06-14 }}</ref> Moua graduated from Xavier High School, Appleton, Wisconsin, in 1988.<ref>[https://thecompassnews.org/2010/10/xavier-high-school-selected-as-a-top-50-us-catholic-high-school/ Xavier High School selected as a top 50 US Catholic high school]</ref>

Moua obtained an undergraduate degree from Brown University, a master's degree in public policy from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, and a Juris Doctor from the University of Minnesota Law School.

== Minnesota State Senate ==

Moua was first elected to the Minnesota State Senate with 51 percent of the vote in a special election held in January 2002.<ref name="h486">{{cite web | title=Index | website=Election Results | date=2002-01-29 | url=https://electionresults.sos.mn.gov/results/Index?ErsElectionId=27&scenario=StateSenate&DistrictId=555&show=Go | access-date=2025-02-21}}</ref> She succeeded Senator Randy Kelly, who resigned after being elected mayor of Saint Paul. She was re-elected in November 2002 and, again, in November 2006.<ref name="state1"/>

[[File:Congressman Ellison with Minnesota State Senator Mee Moua (768961137).jpg|thumb|left|Moua with Keith Ellison in 2007]] Moua became the first Hmong American woman elected to a state legislature, where she served as a member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. At the time, District 67 included portions of the city of Saint Paul in Ramsey County<ref name="state1">{{cite web|url=http://www.leg.state.mn.us/legdb/fulldetail.asp?ID=10744 |title=Minnesota Legislators Past & Present - Legislator Record - Moua, Mee |publisher=Leg.state.mn.us |date= |accessdate=2010-07-20}}</ref>

Moua chaired the Judiciary Committee and held the highest office of any Hmong American politician. She also served on the senate's Taxes and Transportation committees, and was a member of the Finance subcommittee for the Public Safety Budget Division and the Transportation Budget and Policy Division, of the Judiciary Subcommittee for Data Practices, and of the Taxes Subcommittee for the Property Tax Division.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.leg.state.mn.us/legdb/fulldetail?id=10744|title=Moua, Mee - Legislator Record - Minnesota Legislators Past & Present|website=www.leg.state.mn.us|access-date=2016-03-10}}</ref>

In May 2010, Moua announced that she would not seek re-election.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.mprnews.org/story/2010/05/17/legislative-retirements|title = 21 lawmakers not seeking re-election in Minn. Legislature|last = Nelson|first = Tim|website = www.mprnews.org| date=May 17, 2010 |access-date = 2016-03-10}}</ref> She said "My decision not to run was about my children and their future, and being the right kind of mom for them."<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://www.minnpost.com/political-agenda/2010/09/state-sen-mee-moua-caught-housing-crisis-when-parents-home-foreclosed|title = State Sen. Mee Moua caught in housing crisis when parents' home is foreclosed|website = MinnPost| date=September 17, 2010 |access-date = 2016-03-10}}</ref>

=== Campaign finance === In 2002, Moua spent $45,852 on her campaign, including $11,200 in campaign matching funds.<ref name="followthemoney.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.followthemoney.org/show-me?c-t-eid=13012483&c-t-id=82374#%5B%7B1%7Cgro=y,d-eid|title=Show Me - FollowTheMoney.org|website=www.followthemoney.org|accessdate=27 November 2018}}</ref> Her opponent in the 2002 race for MN Senate district 67, David Racer (R), received matching funds in the amount of $7,706.<ref name="followthemoney.org"/><ref>{{cite web|title=MN Campaign Finance Board report of 2002 subsidy payments|url=http://www.cfboard.state.mn.us/publicsubsidy/2002PubSubpay.pdf|website=MN Campaign Finance Board}}</ref> In order to receive matching funds a candidate must also raise a specified amount in individual contributions and agree to campaign spending limits.<ref>{{cite web|title=2006 MN Campaign Finance Summary Report|url=http://www.cfboard.state.mn.us/publicsubsidy/2006_Final_Pubsub_Pymt.pdf|website=MN Campaign Finance Board}}</ref> Moua received individual donor contributions in the amount of $21,599 in 2006.<ref>{{cite web|title=2006 Campaign Finance filings|url=http://reports.cfb.mn.gov/rptViewer/viewRptsCan.php#searchType=Candidate&office=&year=06&regnum=15504&letter=&name=Moua%2C%20Mee&dist=&alpha=0|website=MN Campaign Finance Board}}</ref> In 2006 she only had a single donor who contributed the $500 maximum under Minnesota campaign finance laws.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.followthemoney.org/entity-details?eid=9257121&default=contributor|title=MANTZ, KRISTINE - FollowTheMoney.org|website=www.followthemoney.org|accessdate=27 November 2018}}</ref> The majority, $18,899 of her $21,599 in individual contributions, were from individual contributors donating $100 or less.<ref name="auto">{{cite web|title=2006 Campaign Finance Report|url=http://reports.cfb.mn.gov/rptViewer/viewRptsCan.php#searchType=Candidate&office=&year=06&regnum=15504&letter=&name=Moua%2C%20Mee&dist=&alpha=0|website=MN Campaign Finance Board}}</ref> She received matching funds in the amount of $15,794.<ref name="auto1">{{cite web|url=http://www.followthemoney.org/show-me?c-t-eid=13012483&y=2006#%5B%7B1%7Cgro=d-eid,y%7B1%7C|title=Show Me - FollowTheMoney.org|website=www.followthemoney.org|accessdate=27 November 2018}}</ref> Her Republican challenger, Richard Mulkern, received $9,982 in matching funds.<ref name="auto1"/><ref name="auto"/>

=== Per diem criticism === In 2008, Minnesota public records indicated that Moua claimed $21,954 in per diem, the most of any senator, and effectively increased her compensation by 71 percent.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://postbulletin.typepad.com/political_party/2008/01/sen-day-boasts.html|title = Political Notebook: Sen. Day boasts lowest per diem|website = postbulletin.typepad.com|access-date = 2016-03-10|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160310082023/http://postbulletin.typepad.com/political_party/2008/01/sen-day-boasts.html|archive-date = March 10, 2016|url-status = dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.twincities.com/2008/02/11/lawmaker-per-diems-challenged/|title = Lawmaker per diems challenged – Twin Cities| date=February 11, 2008 |access-date = 2016-03-10}}</ref> In response to Moua leading the senate with her per diem claims, Republican Senator Dick Day stated "I don't know how someone like Sen. Moua who lives a few miles from the Capitol can justify to her constituents spending taxpayer dollars so recklessly."<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://postbulletin.typepad.com/political_party/2008/01/sen-day-boasts.html |title=Political Notebook: Sen. Day boasts lowest per diem |access-date=March 10, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310082023/http://postbulletin.typepad.com/political_party/2008/01/sen-day-boasts.html |archive-date=March 10, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> A study looking at per diem claims from 2009 to 2010, Moua topped the list at $35,136.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://politicsinminnesota.com/2010/12/per-diems-a-bipartisan-affair/|title = Per diems a bipartisan affair|last = Grovum|first = Jake|website = Politics in Minnesota|language = en-us|access-date = 2016-03-10}}</ref> Also in 2010, CBS News noted that Moua as the top per diem taker.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2011/01/12/reality-check-2010-senate-house-per-diems/|title = Reality Check: 2010 Senate, House Per Diems|last = Kessler|first = Pat| date=January 12, 2011 |access-date = 2016-03-10}}</ref>

== Personal ==

She is married to Yee Chang, with whom she has three children.

==See also== {{Portal|United States|Biography|Politics}} * History of the Hmong in Minneapolis–Saint Paul * Asian Americans Advancing Justice

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20070312103149/http://www.asianamerican.net/bios/Moua-Mee.html Who's Who of Asian Americans: Mee Moua Biography]}} * [http://www.mnopedia.org/event/election-mee-moua-minnesota-senate-2002 Election of Mee Moua to the Minnesota Senate, 2002] in MNopedia, the Minnesota Encyclopedia

=== Additional coverage === * {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110614113637/http://www.mspmag.com/features/features/144166.asp Mpls-St. Paul Magazine Article: Mee Moua in the Age of Obama (February 2009)]}} * [http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/200201/29_wilcoxenw_moua/ Minnesota Public Radio: New senator makes history (January 30, 2002)]

=== Archival resources === {{MN-legdb|10744}} * [https://beacon.schneidercorp.com/Application.aspx?AppID=1245&LayerID=41266&PageTypeID=4&PageID=15278&Q=1258383918&KeyValue=LL2017.58.66 Mee Moua biography] at Ramsey County Historical Society * {{cite web | title=Mee Moua for Senate | website=Calisphere | date=January 5, 2002 | url=https://calisphere.org/item/ark:/13030/hb0j49n6mh/ | access-date=March 24, 2025}}

{{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{succession box | title=Member of the Minnesota Senate from the 67th District | before=Randy Kelly | after=John Harrington | years=2002 &ndash; 2011}} {{s-end}} {{Hmong topics in Minnesota}} {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moua, Mee}} Category:1969 births Category:Living people Category:Politicians from Saint Paul, Minnesota Category:American politicians of Hmong descent Category:Brown University alumni Category:Democratic Party Minnesota state senators Category:Women state legislators in Minnesota Category:University of Minnesota Law School alumni Category:21st-century American women politicians Category:People from Xiangkhouang province Category:Laotian emigrants to the United States Category:Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs alumni Category:Xavier High School (Appleton, Wisconsin) alumni Category:21st-century members of the Minnesota Legislature Category:Hmong women Category:Hmong American people from Minneapolis–Saint Paul Category:Hmong American state legislators in Minnesota