Santa Ana College professor announces bid for California’s 37th Senate District

An international business and marketing professor at Santa Ana College has announced his intention to enter the race for a seat in California’s 37th Senate District, where he hopes to focus on common-sense solutions to constituents’ issues.

Ali Kowsari last week kicked off his campaign for the office currently held by state Sen. Dave Min (D-Irvine), who’s seeking election to California’s 47th Congressional District in 2024.

Running on a conservative platform of supporting small businesses, enhancing public safety and advocating for parent choice in education, the Irvine resident said Thursday his personal experience of moving to the United States from Iran in 1995, of studying, working and then teaching to make a difference for future generations, inspired him to run.

“I had to explore everything, adapt to the culture and learn how to converse in English,” recalled Kowsari, born in America to immigrant parents who returned to Iran four years later. “It was difficult, but it was very eye opening. There were so many more opportunities.

“This is part of the reason, 20 odd years later, I’m running now — I want [the younger generation] to have the same sense of wonder and enthusiasm for their future, the feeling that they can do anything.”

Kowsari, 51, earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Tehran and later went on to earn a master’s degree in electronic commerce, an MBA from UC Irvine and his doctor of education degree from Pepperdine University.

He said living through Iran’s Islamic Revolution, a time in which personal liberties were curtailed, instilled in him an appreciation for freedom of religion, speech and expression.

“I thought maybe one day I can be in a place where I can do what I want, say what I want and pray to whomever I want,” he recalled. “Now, many years later [in America] I feel like, step by step, little by little, those freedoms are being chipped away at. That also inspired me to run.”

A firm believer in the principles of capitalism, Kowsari said he’d prefer the role of government to be limited to providing for the basic needs of its citizens, rather than weighing in too strongly on how businesses should operate.

The parent of two teenage sons with wife Yasi, Kowsari also believes local school boards should work harder to earn the trust of parents and families by listening to their needs and experiences.

He said he would also favor a balanced, common-sense approach to issues surrounding public safety that included providing training and needed resources to law enforcement, rather than defunding police and easing punishments for property crimes.

“We need to empower law enforcement to do their jobs better,” he said. “And let’s make crime illegal again — if somebody is robbing you or breaking into your house, they need to be punished.”

The 37th Senate District includes the cities of Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Laguna Beach and Newport Beach, as well as portions of Tustin, Orange and Santa Ana.