2002
Mee Moua

On January 29, 2002, Mee Moua became the first Hmong woman to be elected to the Minnesota Senate. She holds the highest office of any Hmong American politician and has served as a majority whip.

Born in Laos, her family moved to Thailand when Mee was five years old. In 1978, the Moua family fled a refugee camp in Thailand and came to the United States. She spent several years in Providence, Rhode Island before moving to Appleton, Wisconsin, where she spent most of her childhood. She attended Brown University, the University of Texas, and the University of Minnesota Law School. At the age of 32, Mee ran as a Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor party candidate and won the senate seat with 60 percent of the vote. She is considered by many to be a “political pioneer among Asian women.”