Shawn Kumagai

Shawn Kumagai
Member of the Dublin City Council
Incumbent
Assumed office December 18, 2018
Preceded by	Abe Gupta
Personal details
Born	Shawn Nao Kumagai (1977-04-21) April 21, 1977 Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Alexis Rafael (m. 2020)
Residence	Dublin, California, U.S.
Education	Arizona State University Defense Language Institute (AA) Excelsior College (BS) California State University, East Bay (GradCert) California State University, Monterey Bay (MS)
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Navy
Years of service	2001–2011 (active) 2011–present (reserve)
Rank	Master chief petty officer

Shawn Nao Kumagai (born April 21, 1977) is an American politician and military officer who has served on the Dublin City Council since 2018. He is a member of the Democratic Party.

Kumagai is a Democratic candidate for California's 20th State Assembly district in 2022 to replace retiring assemblymember Bill Quirk. He placed second in the primary election and advanced to the general election with labor organizer Liz Ortega.

Early life, education, and career

Kumagai was born in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1977. He is a first-generation immigrant; his father immigrated to the United States from Japan for his education. His mother, an Army nurse, came from a military family; her father served in the Army Air Corps during World War II, and her brother was a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy. Kumagai spent his early childhood in the San Francisco Bay Area until his parents divorced when he was 10, after which he returned to Phoenix with his mother. He was a bartender and attended college at Arizona State University before enlisting in the United States Navy.

After enlisting in the Navy, Kumagai enrolled at the Defense Language Institute, where he received an associate degree in Mandarin Chinese in 2002. While on active duty in the Navy, he received a Bachelor of Science in liberal arts from Excelsior College, an online university, in 2007. He later received a graduate certificate in teaching Chinese as a foreign language from California State University, East Bay in 2009, and a Master of Science in instructional science and technology from California State University, Monterey Bay in 2013.

Military service

Kumagai enlisted in the Navy in 2001 and began his career after receiving his associate degree. He was a cryptologic language analyst at Misawa Air Base and became a military language instructor at the Defense Language Institute in 2007. He ended his active duty service and entered the Navy Reserve in 2011. In 2014, Kumagai briefly re-entered active duty service for a mandatory training mobilization at Fort Gordon in Augusta, Georgia.

Kumagai served under the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy until its repeal in 2011. Upon enlisting in the Navy, Kumagai came out in order to serve and did not disclose the details of his personal life to Navy leadership.

Kumagai holds the rank of master chief petty officer and is assigned to an intelligence unit at Parks Reserve Forces Training Area. He has received multiple awards throughout his service, including the Joint Service Commendation Medal, the Navy Commendation Medal, the Joint Service Achievement Medal, and the Navy Expert Pistol and Rifle Medals.

Early career

After leaving active duty service in 2011, Kumagai co-founded Lingua Brava, a language acquisition firm. He left Lingua Brava in 2018 to become an instructional design consultant for Mosaic, a consulting firm that works with utility companies on workplace performance. In 2019, he became the district director for state assemblywoman Rebecca Bauer-Kahan.

Kumagai became a delegate to the California Democratic State Central Committee in 2017 and also serves as treasurer of the California Democratic Party Asian Pacific Islander Caucus He is also a board member and the secretary-treasurer of the California League of Cities Asian Pacific Islander Caucus.

Political career

Dublin City Council

Kumagai was elected to a four-year term on the Dublin City Council in 2018, winning 20.77% of the vote. The election was officially nonpartisan and held at-large. He was sworn in on December 18, 2018, and is the first openly LGBTQ+ city councilmember of any Tri-Valley city.

Kumagai has focused on affordable housing and transit as a city councilmember, the former due to his personal experiences with affordable housing. In 2021, the city council approved a 573-unit affordable housing development in eastern Dublin.

In 2019, Kumagai requested to fly the Pride flag at the Dublin City Hall in honor of Pride Month. The request was met with discriminatory public comments and failed in a 2-3 vote. Three weeks later, a special meeting of the city council was called, during which the motion to fly the Pride Flag at city hall was reintroduced and unanimously approved.

The city council unanimously voted to appoint Kumagai to a one-year stint as vice mayor on December 15, 2020.

2022 California State Assembly election

Kumagai is a candidate for the California State Assembly in 2022 to replace retiring assemblymember Bill Quirk in the 20th district. The district was redrawn following the 2020 census and is now located entirely in the East Bay. Kumagai was one of three Democratic candidates for the seat and also faced one Republican opponent.

Kumagai placed second in the June 7 primary election, winning 24% of the vote. He advanced to the general election with labor organizer Liz Ortega.

Personal life

Kumagai is openly gay. He met Alexis Rafael in Washington, D.C. in 2011, and they remained friends until they began their romantic relationship in 2016. They married in 2020 at a winery in Pleasanton, California.

Following his mother's death in 2015, Kumagai assumed legal guardianship of his younger brother, Kevin. They moved to Dublin, California, in 2016; Kumagai was attracted to Dublin because of the city's community orientation and good schools. He has rented and owned homes in Dublin.

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