Hawaii Governor-Elect David Ige
By Staff
Northwest Asian Weekly
An unprecedented 159 Asian American and Pacific Islander candidates were running for a local elected office in 26 states this year. 39 AAPI candidates launched a campaign for Congressional office compared to 29 in 2012 and only eight in 2010. 22 AAPI candidates made it past their primary races compared to only 13 two years ago. Four AAPIs were running in a gubernatorial race with an additional three competing for the Lt. Governor’s office in Hawaii.
There are now three AAPI state governors currently in office: Nikki Haley (South Carolina), David Ige (Hawaii) and Bobby Jindal (Louisiana). In Hawaii, State Senator David Ige defeated Republican Duke Aiona and won the state’s governor’s race by 13 percent. Ige will be joined by current lieutenant governor Shan Tsutui. In South Carolina, Republican AAPI governor Nikki Haley was re-elected by a strong majority.
Of the 22 candidates running for Congressional seats last night, most AAPI incumbents retained their seats, including Illinois’ Tammy Duckworth; California’s Doris Matsui, Judy Chu, and Mark Takano; and Hawaii’s Tulsi Gabbard. Grace Meng of New York was also re-elected in New York, where she ran unopposed. In California’s 17th district, Representative Mike Honda defeated Democrat Ro Khanna. In California’s 7th district, incumbent Ami Bera lost to Republican challenger Doug Ose. Mark Takai of Hawaii’s 1st District won the seat vacated by Rep. Colleen Hanabusa. In California’s 33rd District, State Representative Ted Lieu, was elected by a 17-percent margin to replace Democrat Henry Waxman.
According to Reappropriate.co, In 2012, AAPIs were approximately 2.4 percent of the nation’s registered voters, and this year, AAPIs were approximately 2.9 percent of registered voters. (end)
Staff can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.