John is a Democratic politician and has been California State Controller since January 8, 2007. He previously served as Chair of the California Board of Equalization and represented the Fourth District, primarily serving southern Los Angeles County. Chiang is the son of immigrants from Taiwan. He was born in New York City and grew up in Chicago. He graduated with honors with a degree in Finance from the University of South Florida and has a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center. He came to Los Angeles in 1987 where he got involved with the Democratic Party of the San Fernando Valley (DP/SFV). Chiang began his career as a tax law specialist for the IRS. He worked as an attorney for then California State Controller Gray Davis, and also worked on the staff of California Senator Barbara Boxer. He was first elected to office as Member of the Board of Equalization in 1998 and elected to a second four-year term in 2002. Not only is he the highest elected Taiwanese American official, but he is the highest elected Asian American in the United States. He was TAP's 2006 Taiwanese American Achievement Award recipient for Pioneer in Public Service.