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Lake County resident to challenge McGuire in State Senate race
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — A Lake County resident said he is joining the race for the State Senate seat in District 2.
Former internet executive Gene Yoon has officially filed his candidacy for State Senate District 2, known as the North Coast district, which Yoon calls “the most American district in the United States.”
He will challenge Sen. Mike McGuire, who was elected in 2014 and named Senate majority leader in January.
“We have everything in this district," Yoon said. “We have a population of over a million people, and an area larger than the state of Maryland. We have more land than nine different states, and more people than six states. We have rural and suburban, agricultural and tech, rich and poor, families from the Mayflower, tribes with a thousand years on this land, and people who just immigrated here yesterday. We have serious issues with water, wildfire and our power grid. We have crime and homelessness and inflation and failing schools. And all of this is on some of the most beautiful landscape in all of the world. No other state district in America includes so much of our country's promise and problems.”
After growing up in New Jersey and working in high finance in New York, Yoon said he became disillusioned with Wall Street games. He moved to California in 1999 to help build the future.
Over a 20 year career in internet technology and business, he said he helped bring WiFi to millions of offices at Airespace, created the business model for the metaverse Second Life, and protected billions of users as the product head of ads integrity at Google.
At the same time, he raised three children, all born in California. With one in middle school, one in college, and one just graduating from college this year, Yoon said he knows firsthand the full cycle of challenges for parents in this state.
"Gene has seen it all," says Second Life founder Philip Rosedale, who also lives in the district. "He can tackle any problem, and he does it with real integrity, ferocious resolve, and a great sense of style that is just plain fun to work with. I would trust him with the hardest job in any company, and would be thrilled to see him represent my family in our state legislature.”
Yoon lives in Lake County, the center of a district that also includes Marin, Sonoma, Humboldt, Mendocino, Trinity, and Del Norte. Besides running for office, his other professional effort is in community interest law, where he puts his skills to use on behalf of the community.
"Cobb Mountain reminds me of the small town where I grew up, even though it's across the country and might look different to some people. Because of the recent wildfires, people here understand that we're all in it together. Whatever differences we have, they're unimportant compared to the fact that we all want to see our community succeed,” Yoon said.