Mark Keam

Democrat Mark Keam on Tuesday became the first Korean American to be elected a member of the Virginia legislature, winning the seat of the 35th district in the U.S. state's House of Delegates over Republican candidate James Hyland.

In a press conference after the election results were announced, Keam said that his victory would help change the way mainstream American society views Korean Americans. He promised to work to improve traffic, the economy and education.

Born in Seoul, Keam settled in California in 1978 after having lived in Vietnam and Australia where his Presbyterian minister father established small churches. He majored in political science at the University of California at Irvine and entered politics after witnessing the unfair treatment of minorities by police during the 1992 Los Angeles riots.

Keam gained political experience as the chief counsel of Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, a political patron of current U.S. President Barack Obama, for six years. The Washington Post called him "one of the most promising new faces in local politics and an American success story."