8 Asians

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.)