Grace Meng

Grace Meng was born in Elmhurst and grew up in several Queens neighborhoods, including Bayside and Flushing.¹ She and her husband, Wayne, are raising two sons in the borough.¹ Her education took her from local schools to Stuyvesant High School, the University of Michigan and Cardozo Law School.¹

Before elected office, Meng worked as a public interest lawyer.¹ She served in the State Assembly from 2009 through 2012 and entered Congress in January 2013.² She became the first Asian American member of Congress from New York.¹ She is now the Democrat seeking another term in the 6th District.³

Meng serves on Appropriations and is the senior Democrat on its Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies subcommittee.¹ Her committee work concerns how federal agencies and programs are funded.¹ She also chairs the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus and cochairs the House bipartisan task force combating antisemitism.¹

Her legislative record includes leading the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act with Senator Mazie Hirono, legislation signed into law in 2021 to strengthen hate crime review and reporting.⁴ Another priority is improving access to menstrual products for people who struggle to afford them.⁵ She reintroduced her Menstrual Equity for All Act in June 2025 as a proposal to address that problem across federal policy.⁵