Tommy Gong is the Chief Deputy County Clerk-Recorder for Contra Costa County, located in the San Francisco Bay Area. Completing his 20th year in election administration, Tommy previously served as the elected County Clerk-Recorder for San Luis Obispo County and started his career in Stanislaus County. Tommy is an advisory board member for the Election Official Legal Defense Network, a member of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Task Force on Elections, and a Board of Director for the California Voter Foundation.

Tommy led the effort to form the Coalition of Bay Area Election Officials for neighboring counties to join forces and collaborate on building public trust in elections in shared media markets. The Coalition earned the prestigious Democracy Award for best practice of 2022 by the National Association of Elections Officials – The Election Center.

Earning his B.A. at the University of California at Berkeley and a M.B.A. at the San Francisco State University, Tommy was one of the first graduates of the California Professional Election Administrator Credential (Cal PEAC) in 2005 and completed the national Certified Election Registration Administrator (CERA) program in 2021.

Amongst Tommy’s hobbies is the practicing and teaching of martial arts. His instructor was a student of Bruce Lee, which led to his serving on the board of directors for the Bruce Lee Foundation for many years. His book, Bruce Lee – The Evolution of a Martial Artist was the culmination of a five-year project that chronicles Lee’s development in the martial arts. To commemorate the 50th anniversary of his death, Tommy just completed his second book about Bruce Lee: The Last Disciple.