| State Rep. Mai Xiong is serving the remaining term of the 102nd Legislature representing the 13th House District, which encompasses parts of Warren and Detroit.
Xiong was born in the Ban Vinai Refugee Camp in Thailand in 1984. Her parents were part of a Hmong tribe in Laos that aided the U.S. as allies during the Vietnam War era. As a result, her family had to flee their home country. They escaped to Thailand, where they were placed in refugee camps. Xiong's parents sought asylum in the U.S., and when she was 3, they were accepted.
In 1987, Xiong and her family arrived in Akron, Ohio. Her father found work as a machine operator, while her mother sewed from home for a local warehouse. Xiong and her family became naturalized citizens of the United States in 1997.
After graduating high school in 2003, Xiong moved to Warren to attend the College for Creative Studies in Detroit. She also took courses at Macomb Community College. In 2007, Xiong received her bachelor's of fine arts in graphic design, and began working at an advertising agency.
Xiong met her husband, Adam Kue, in 2008, and they married in 2011. They decided to start a family and bought their first home in Warren. Xiong put her career on hold so that she could be home with their four children.
In 2018, Xiong started sewing and shipping women's clothing that she designed out of their home. The business quickly grew, and in 2019, they opened a store in town. As a parent and small business owner, Xiong wanted to give back to the community that had given her and her family so much. She decided to run for office and was elected to serve on the Macomb County Board of Commissioners in 2020.
As a commissioner, Xiong helped connect small business owners to public resources, fought to keep public transportation running in Macomb and voted to fund critical services for seniors, veterans and families. In 2021, Xiong was chosen as a Taubman Fellow where she attended Harvard Kennedy School's Senior Executives in State and Local Government program.
During the same time, she participated in the Michigan State University's Michigan Political Leadership Program (MPLP), a bipartisan program that identifies individuals from across the state committed to community service and brings them together to engage in a public policy and leadership curriculum.
Now as a member of the Michigan House of Representatives, Xiong is committed to supporting small businesses, fighting for living wages, cutting taxes for working families and investing in our public schools to ensure that all children receive a quality education. |