‘Jeopardy!’ champ Jamie Ding ends 31-game streak, criticizes immigration enforcement

Jamie Ding’s 31-game winning streak on “Jeopardy!” ended April 27 in a runaway loss, closing one of the longest runs in the show’s history. Ding, the son of Chinese immigrants, connected his experience on the show to concerns about immigration enforcement in an interview with People. He said he hopes his run contributed to a more positive view of immigrants.

A naturalized U.S. citizen born in Australia, the 33-year-old champion said viewers told him his streak brought people together. “I kept hearing how it was bringing people together, and I love that very much,” he was quoted as saying. “I’ve heard people say, ‘It’s nice to have something positive on TV!’”

He then linked that response to his identity and the current climate. “As an immigrant and a person of color, I was able to become part of the history of an American institution,” Ding said. “‘Jeopardy!’ really is an institution and America’s turning 250 years old and the federal government is going after immigrants in a way unlike anything that we’ve seen in the recent past. So I hope that immigrants can be seen in a positive light too.”

Ding, who is currently pursuing a law degree at Seton Hall University, works as a multifamily and tax credit program administrator at the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency. He recently appeared with Gov. Mikie Sherrill in Trenton to support an executive order directing state agencies to identify land and property that could be developed for housing.

“I’m tempted to try to say something really profound and esoteric and I guess here it is — housing is good,” Ding said at the event.

Ding also filed a March 6 motion to intervene in a federal case over the Justice Department’s effort to obtain New Jersey’s voter registration database, which contains personal data for more than 6 million residents. In a court certification, he wrote, “I believe this administration views immigrants, including naturalized citizens like me, with disdain and distrust,” and said he feared the information could be used to target them.

Ding entered his final game with 31 consecutive wins and $882,605 in total earnings, placing him fifth in the show’s history for both consecutive games won and regular-season winnings. He finished one win short of tying James Holzhauer’s 32-game streak. Greg Shahade, a chess player from Philadelphia, led Ding $32,600 to $16,000 entering Final Jeopardy, making it impossible for Ding to catch him.

“I think my last game is unusual, because I was a super champ, but I also lost in a runaway,” Ding told People. “It almost makes me feel better about the thing because there wasn’t really one clue or whatever that everything hinged on.”

Ding used his final response screen to write “TTFN,” or “ta-ta for now.” “It being a runaway means that I got to write a goodbye message instead of nothing at all,” he said. “I wouldn’t have done that if there had even been a chance of me coming out with the victory.” He is eligible to compete in a future Tournament of Champions following his run.