Meet My-Linh Thai

My-Linh Thai is the first refugee elected to serve in the Washington State House of Representatives. She immigrated to Washington state at the age of 15 with her family as a Vietnamese refugee. After graduating from the University of Washington School of Pharmacy, she worked as a King County patient health advocate and medical interpreter. My-Linh and her husband Don built a successful pediatric neurology practice in Casper, Wyoming from the ground up. She later worked as a practicing pharmacist and co-taught Vietnam’s first nursing graduate program. She has lived in the district with her family for over a decade. Her two children have recently graduated college and her husband, Don, is a neurologist at Valley Medical Center. 

In her role as Director and Board President of Bellevue Schools, My-Linh utilized her skills in listening, consensus-building, and goal achievement to ensure all children could reach their full potential. She prioritized parent and community engagement, established rigorous curricula, aimed to close the Opportunity Gap, and improved services for students with special needs. My-Linh also served as Vice President of the Washington State School Board Directors Association. On the Association’s Legislative and Equity Committees, she championed statewide education investments and reforms for equitable access to educational opportunities. 

As State Representative, My-Linh has championed and sponsored legislation to:

• Guarantee access to quality local schools, prioritize food access and stability for students
• Expand abortion rights focus to include people of all genders
• Establish state level civil cause of action (accountability) for unlawful use of force by law enforcement 
• Protect renters from landlords unjustly withholding their security deposits
• Ensure that courts are accessible for all regardless of immigration status
• Require clinical trials to adopt a policy of recruiting participants from underrepresented demographics to widen the lived experiences of participants
• Recognize Lunar New Year as a legislative holiday in Washington State

Notably, she was the prime sponsor of the Working Families Tax Exemption, a tax refund that puts money back into the pockets of Washington families who need it most.