Will history repeat itself?
Who is Eddie Yoon? I found his full-color ad in the Seattle Times. So I called him.
Why are you running for the Washington Supreme Court Justice position?
“My opponent (Justice Charles Johnson) has been there too long,” Yoon said. “You want fresh judges. This is an elective system. I am qualified. I was a prosecutor…”
He went on and on about his qualifications. Johnson ran as an unknown in 1990 and won.
Johnson has received several endorsement from media, including the Northwest Asian Weekly; and the bar association, including King County and Asian judicial evaluation.
Yoon wants history to repeat itself. It might not do so this time.
Chow and the Seahawks
What do Judge Mark Chow and the Seahawks have in common?
Hmm…
My husband got a copy of the Seahawks schedule with a magnet on the back of the flyer, so we put it on our fridge. If you look carefully, you’ll see one line of red ink among the several lines of green-and-black print on the schedule. The line is positioned under one particular date: “November 4: VOTE FOR JUDGE MARK CHOW!”
That’s smart campaigning.
Jayapal vs. Watanabe
On Oct. 3, Pramila Jayapal and Louis Watanabe, candidates for the 37th district senate seat, were debating at the API candidates’ forum at the Asian Counseling and Referral Service.
Both Asian Americans, Pramila is of Indian descent and Louis of Japanese descent. The district is one of the most diverse in the city of Seattle. The debate probably helped many make up their minds about whom to support.
A successful community organizer, Pramila founded OneAmerica after 9/11 (formerly Hate Free Zone) to fight for Muslims who were being discriminated against. Presently, she is one of the strongest advocates on immigration reform. Her resume is listed with achievements that include chairing committees for the city this year and her past involvement with many community projects.
Her endorsement list is much longer than any other 37th district candidates in the primary, and she won 54 percent of the votes.
During the debate, Pramila clearly stood out with the ability to address grass-root level topics, contribute possible solutions, and inspire women and minorities to work together to fight for the common good. Given her experience, Pramila would be a rising star in the Senate if elected and she would be the first Indian American in the Washington state senate.
Watanabe’s background is limited to small businesses and technology. The 37th district needs a leader with broader scope of experience and a larger world view to serve his/her constituency.
Gregerson vs. Burrage
First-time legislators often take years to navigate their way around the system before they can get their first bill passed. But Mia Su-ling Gregerson, who was appointed to be a state representative last December to fill an unexpired term, had demonstrated her ability to pass four bills, including helping homeowners deal with foreclosures and eliminating extensive financial-aid reporting requirements for tuition increases for college students.
Born in Taiwan, Mia was adopted by Americans when she was 2 years old. She is knowledgeable in issues.
Her opponent, Jeanette Burrage, is a familiar face in politics. She has run in other positions and lost. She didn’t express as much passion for the job as Gregerson did during the debate.
Why did the API forum have a low turnout?
The low turnout for the API candidate forum on Oct. 3 wasn’t what the organizers expected, even though 14 Asian organizations were sponsoring the event (including this paper). Attendance for 2014 was about 60. Last year, it was over 150. What could account for the low attendance?
Last year’s election showed several hotly contested city-wide races, including the mayoral race between Mike McGinn and Ed Murray, Albert Shen and Seattle Councilman Mike O’Brien, and Kshama Sawant and Richard Conlin. Supporters of these key races made up most of the attendance.
Socialists for Sawant’s base dominated the response for their candidate’s debate. McGinn’s fans influenced the outcome of the straw poll.
Though this year’s forum featured important gun initiatives in Washington state and city child care initiatives, they were not exciting in the pros and cons presentation. The debates between candidates for state representative for the 33rd and 37th districts were more interesting and lively.
However, most attendees don’t necessarily live in those same districts. Plus the candidates’ debates were placed after the initiatives. Many people left during the second part of the program. Perhaps, on a Friday night, it would be better to schedule a two-hour program to end 30 minutes earlier. (end)