City Councilor Sam Yoon Running for Mayor of Boston

By John | Thursday, February 12, 2009 | 2 Comments

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sam yoon City Councilor Sam Yoon Running for Mayor of Boston Boston’s very first Asian-American city councilor Sam Yoon, elected just four years ago, has made it official and is running for mayor of Boston. I had the chance to meet Yoon for the first time back in April 2006 at the first AAPI Democratic Leadership Summit as well as a Bay Area fund raising dinner. Yoon had been making the rounds around the country raising money and discussing the possibility of being mayor, but made it official this past weekend as reported by The Boston Globe:

Yoon’s candidacy will face significant obstacles, not least of which is fund-raising. Yoon had $140,000 on hand at the end of January, campaign finance reports show while [current] Menino commands a war chest of about $1.4 million … But the ground-breaking potential for his run is likely to give more attention to his campaign than would normally be afforded to a two-term councilor seeking the job. Yoon would be the city’s first non-white mayor. Several black candidates have run unsuccessfully for the office.”

As far as I know, if Yoon is elected he will be the first Asian American mayor of a major U.S. city in the continental United States (former Governor of Washington state Gary Locke was never a mayor of a city.) Just by running, Yoon will be making history as he did when he was the first Asian American to run for Boston city council and later winning. Best of luck to Yoon – he’ll need it, given the current mayor’s war chest. If you’d like to support Yoon’s bid, please visit his campaign site. (Disclaimer: I’ve contributed to Yoon’s campaigns in the past.)

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8Asians.com » Boston Mayoral Candidate Sam Yoon Thanks Asian American Community, Still Needs You says:

September 9, 2009 at 10:04 am

[...] City Councilmember Sam Yoon has been running for the mayor of Boston. With the primary election on September 22nd, The Boston Globe did a nice profile of Yoon and his campaign, highlighting his background and breakthrough election in 2005: “In a city long dominated by pols of Irish and Italian descent, the first Asian-American elected official in Boston history is an exotic presence. Yoon, a boyish-looking 39, uses it to his advantage with his elderly audience… On the campaign trail, Yoon uses his ethnicity as a calling card and a symbol of Boston’s transformation. Indeed, he views his breakthrough election in 2005 to one of four at-large City Council seats as a harbinger. He defeated four Irish-American candidates, including a son of a former mayor, the daughter of another, and the son of a former secretary of state.” [...]
Former Boston Mayoral Candidate Sam Yoon Moves to Washington DC | Current Events | 8Asians.com says:

June 30, 2010 at 8:22 am

[...] 2009, Sam Yoon made a historic run to be mayor of Boston. Unfortunately, Yoon fell short in the Democratic primary and the incumbent mayor of 16 years, Tom [...]