8 Asians

Nate Shinagawa winning his race for New York’s 23rd Congressional district Democratic nomination. Well, Shinagawa wasn’t the only Asian American New Yorker who on their primary fight:

>”On Tuesday, Assemblywoman Meng scored a resounding victory in a four-way primary to become the Democratic nominee to represent a House district that includes portions of eastern and central Queens. Much of the area is now represented by Representative Gary S. Ackerman, who is retiring from Congress. … She will face the Republican nominee, Councilman Daniel J. Halloran III, in November. There are many more Democrats than Republicans in the district, and if she prevails, she will become the city’s first Asian-American member of Congress. … Ms. Meng’s nomination is evidence of the growing political strength of the city’s Asian-Americans, who now number more than 1 million of the 8 million residents.”

It’s exciting, especially as an East Coaster, to see more and more Asian Americans running for public office. Although from the statistics, I think there are more Asian Americans in the Northeast than when I was growing up in the 1980s (well, maybe not that much more in Western Massachusetts though).

Meng is currently the only Asian American serving in the New York State assembly, and previously filled the seat that her father, Jimmy K. Meng, previously occupied (and he was the state’s first Asian-American assemblyman, serving in 2005 – 2006). So it’s not surprise Meng finds herself in politics. Given that her district is predominately Democratic, I think it is safe to say that Meng will probably will win in November. But still, until the voters vote in November, there are no guarantees – best of luck to Meng!