LAWTON - Once crowned “Third Grade Multiplication King,” Oklahoma’s youngest current state representative, Daniel Pae (District 62), chuckled at the memory of his coronation.
“I have the crown at my house,” the 24-year-old laughed.
LAWTON - Once crowned “Third Grade Multiplication King,” Oklahoma’s youngest current state representative, Daniel Pae (District 62), chuckled at the memory of his coronation.
“I have the crown at my house,” the 24-year-old laughed. Not only crowned by Mrs. Donna Cothren for his proficiency with the times tables, Pae went on to win the National Handwriting Contest in the fourth grade for cursive handwriting. The Lawton native has actually received countless accolades, including being accepted into the National Honor Society. Pae was active in student council, elected junior class president and was the unofficial ‘history guy’ for the Academic Quiz Bowl team.
Growing up, “one teacher I looked up to was Dr. Terence “Doc” Freeman,” he said. “He taught me a lot about what it means to be an effective public speaker because we had to read poems like “The Road Not Taken” and recite them. “He drilled down what it meant to write quality essays and what the format should be. He would occasionally read our essays aloud and critique them on the spot. He read one of my essays and praised it, which was pretty rare. He is really a fantastic teacher and mentor.”
During his senior year (2013) at Lawton High, he joined a friend who was volunteering for the Comanche County Teen Court. Pae became interested in the program and began volunteering as a prosecuting attorney, meeting with juvenile first-time offenders and learning their stories. By “working on real cases, Teen Court allowed me to get a glimpse of other people’s situations,” he explained. Pae is currently working on an interim study to help with Oklahoma’s incarceration rate.
EXAMPLE OF THE AMERICAN DREAM
“My parents, I think, are a great example of the American Dream,” said Pae. “The fact is that it’s still possible to work hard and play by the rules to make a successful living here in this country.” Tae Pae and his wife Myung emigrated from South Korea in 1983. “They came without a lot of money or any real connections but wanted to make a better life for themselves,” said Pae. “My dad worked for Dolese for a while.
They looked around Lawton and noticed a lot of dry cleaners here because of Fort Sill; but with all the soldiers on base, they decided ‘why not?’ They didn’t have an MBA or prior business experience, but they asked around, read material on what it takes to run a successful business and opened up Class A Cleaners in 1989.” “So, I grew up helping them at the cleaners, meeting some great people along the way,” he said. “It was really a great experience for me talking to people and learning what it takes to really serve others, even in that capacity.”
SUPPORTING LAWTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS
In 2017, media productions teacher, Lynn Cordes now media productions director for Lawton Public Schools called on Pae to help with the social media campaign to get the $99.5 million school bond passed. Pae monitored Facebook for any misinformation being spread about the bond and responded with the correct information as well as answering questions. “Helping the school district was a great experience,” he said. “I was also in charge of posting the informational graphics on the bond - what it does, what it does not do – and then some of the historical context previous ambassadors of the school district had made.”
Pae still supports Lawton Public Schools, volunteering in the interim as a substitute teacher. “I’ve substituted the elementary level and one high school at this point,” he said. “I feel as though it’s a valuable experience to know what’s happening in the classroom myself, as opposed to reading about it or listening to hearsay.” With the high number of emergency certified teachers,” legislators are looking at “how we can get them fully certified and make that process easier,” Pae continued. “I saw a headline that read, ‘It’s not that we have a teacher shortage, we have a teacher exodus happening.’ There are a lot of teachers leaving the profession. And after being in the classroom a few times now, I’m beginning to understand firsthand the hardships and challenges teachers face. We’ve got to make sure we provide ample support for them.”
DECIDING ON A CAREER
“After volunteering at Comanche County Memorial Hospital, I genuinely wanted to become a physician; I was pre-med,” said Pae. “After taking a couple of classes with math and science - I passed them - but I just didn’t feel passionate about it.” Like many college freshmen, Pae became an undecided major but soon was interested in political science and economics. While attending college at the University of Oklahoma, Pae was able to study abroad and spent four weeks at the Arezzo campus in Italy, visiting Florence, Rome, Milan, and Pisa. “As a freshman, I knew to study abroad was something I wanted to do, and the timing worked out perfectly,” he said.
“A couple of my Catholic friends were on the trip and they invited me to go to Mass with them in Rome and was able to see Pope Francis at the Vati- can. We saw him from a distance, and I got his picture. “I took American Federal Government, Principles of Macroeconomics and Microeconomics and it was really complimentary because knowing the public policy processes and the implications on the individuals you’re trying to help, that really interests me and led me to student government,” he said.
OU STUDENT BODY PRESIDENT
“My sophomore year, I decided to run for student body president. Michael Lutters and I campaigned grassroots style, going to various organizations, speaking directly to students. The day of the election it was pouring down rain, but we were still out there campaigning. People appreciated the effort and hard work there. We won and I got to serve in that position for a year. “Michael and I were very proud of the fact that we were able to establish a food bank on campus for low-income students,” Pae said.
“Housing and Food Services brought the issue of food insecurity to our attention when we first took office, and that’s a nationwide problem on all our campuses. And we were trying to do our part to help those students, so we formed a partnership with the Food Bank of Norman. The pantry has been very successful. I want to go back later this year to see how it has grown. “As student body president, I represented about 30,000 students on the Norman campus,” said Pae. “As a state representative, I represent about 38,000 people in each House district.”
WON ELECTION TO HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES BY 42 VOTES
After graduating from OU, Pae began working full-time as an administrative assistant in the Lawton City Manager’s Office. He started his journey for the House of Representatives on Sept. 14, 2017, and kept the momentum going throughout his campaign. Pae said he would campaign after work and on weekends. He received 4,122 votes, 50.3% of the vote, defeating Democrat Larry Bush by just 42 votes.
“The first day on the Floor is very surreal,” he stated. “I really felt the gravity of the position on me as I sat down, back straight; it’s very solemn and humbling. Gradually, I became a little more comfortable and started talking to other members. Suddenly being in the arena where everything takes place, it was a little funny that some of the staff confused me as an intern and didn’t realize I was an elected official. So, that also kept me humble.”
But that wasn’t the first time he had been part of the Legislature. “First was with John Michael Montgomery when he was elected to the State House,” said Pae. “Fun fact: we crossed paths in student congress; he was student congress chair before he graduated and ran for the State House that fall,” he said. Pae also interned with the Journal Record Legislative Report. “I had to take my notepad or a laptop and attend a lot of meetings, sit on the floor if necessary and see what happens in the Legislature,” he added.
One summer, Pae worked in Washington, D.C. for Congressman Tom Cole. “That was more from a federal perspective, but it was really cool to be in our nation’s capital.” As a representative, Pae arranged for three Lawton High students to work as pages during a session. “I took them to as many things as I could so they could observe and explain to them the process so they could fully enjoy that experience,” he said. “With my intern from OU, I had them research bills, keep track of some of the legislation. I know what it’s like to be in that position, so I wanted to make sure they had an experience they would remember.”
INTERIM STUDIES
Renewable energy resources and criminal justice reform are two interim studies Pae is also conducting. Oklahoma is currently a Top 10 state when it comes to wind energy, but 46th in the nation when it comes to solar, he said. If “we are looking for ways to increase our ranking for energy, we’ve got to make sure we address those issues,” he said. As for criminal justice, Oklahoma has ranked number one in the world for incarceration, Pae said. The study he is working on specifically looks at ways to lessen the impact on the more than 100,000 children in Oklahoma who have incarcerated parents or guardians.
“Insistently, I’ve been very active in the community in terms of just showing up,” he said. “For a lot of folks, it just means a lot to be present and be attentive to what’s going on”. Pae attended a listening session regarding the Oklahoma Autism Center Foundation where he heard from a parent of a child with autism and learned about the issues involved with persons with autism. “It’s things like that that I believe you should be doing in the interim if you’re in the Legislature, said Pae. “I’m young and single, I don’t have another full-time job and the legislative compensation is sufficient for me, so I can focus on researching the topics, going to events and learning from the constituents. That’s how I can become a better representative.” With House elections conducted every two years, Pae said that before the end of the year he will begin knocking on doors to receive feedback and begin preparing for the next session.