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WASHINGTON–As candidates and as kingmakers, Asian Americans knew the stakes in the November 7 midterm elections were high–given the issues and the impact on the 2008 presidential elections–and they scored double victories.

            First, majority of Asian American incumbents and first-time candidates won on the national, state and local levels. Some of them, particularly newcomer Congresswoman-elect Mazie Hirono (D-HI), even won by double-digit margins over their nearest rivals.

Second, the community gained further political clout as kingmakers and swing voters. Forging coalitions with Asian American advocacy groups, they worked tirelessly in many campaigns and mobilized a high voter turn-out on Election Day – not just for Asian American candidates, but also for others who supported their education, health care, civil rights, immigration and veterans’ concerns, as well as local issues. Most of these candidates won.

Majority of the winning Asian American candidates are Democrats. An exception was Congressman-elect Bobby Jindal (LA), the only Republican in the House. Victors got help from this year’s political earthquake that brought Democrats back to power in the US Congress for the first time in 12 years. Corruption, the war in Iraq, and President’s low approval rating contributed to the Republicans’ defeat.

Congressman-elect David Wu (D-OR), re-elected to his fifth term, praised the return of checks and balances with a Democratic Congress. Democrats needed to hold their seats and win 15 Republican seats to retake the House. They retained all seats and won 32 for a 234-201 majority. Senate Democrats prevailed in close races, winning a razor-thin 51-49 majority. Wu said: "I am deeply honored by Oregonian’s continued support. My success comes from their energy; energy mirrored across this country; energy that has restored checks and balances to our nation."

He added: "Not only will we have a more accountable government, we will work harder on the issues that matter most...education, health care, energy independence, protecting civil liberties and bringing an end to the war in Iraq so our troops can come home."

In a November 13 news story by Will Tubbs for Leesville Daily Leader, he quoted Jindal as saying, "the people spoke loudly," and their message was, "We want our elected leadership in our country to work for us and not for themselves."

Area winners

Congressman-elect Bobby Cortez Scott (D-VA), won an eighth term in Virginia’s 3rd district. In the 110th Congress which begins next month, he joins Jindal, Wu; Congressman-elect Mike Honda (D-CA), chair of the Asian Pacific American Congressional Caucus; Congresswoman-elect Doris Matsui (D-CA); Congressman-elect Eni Faleomavaega (D-America Samoa), and newcomer Hirono.

Ms. Leong-Hong was equally elated over the victories of Asian American Democrats in her own state of Maryland. "I’m proud to say that our Delegates Kumar Barve and Susan C. Lee were re-elected as delegates to the House of Delegates in Maryland. Saqib Ali and Kris Valderrama were elected to the House of Delegates." Kris, who placed third in the primary, climbed to the second spot in the general elections.

On November 9, Montgomery County House of Delegates elected Delegate Lee as Vice Chair of the Montgomery County Delegation, a move that one advocacy leader said "was not only a great accomplishment on the part of Delegate Susan Lee, but also a major recognition of our community."

Making a difference

A jubilant Bel Leong-Hong, chair of the Democratic National Committee APIA Caucus, said the day after the elections: "We made a difference!!! Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (APIA) gave money, held fund raisers, knocked on doors, dropped leaflets, phone-banked, served as poll watchers, gave rides to those who couldn’t go to the polls."

            "We were surrogate speakers, we wrote editorials, built PR campaigns, joined campaigns, we went without sleep or food in the last few days before Election Day," she added. "We did all we could for our candidates, for coordinated campaigns, for the (Democratic) party."

            In the closely-contested race in Virginia between candidate Jim Webb (D) and Senator George Allen (R), Asian Americans probably made it possible for Webb to win. Area Asian American Democrats went all-out in supporting Senator-elect Webb, a Vietnam veteran whose son is serving in Iraq, and whose wife Hong Le is Asian American. Allen graciously conceded defeat and decided not to ask for a recount.

Armando Heredia, executive director of the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA), which lobbies Filipino WWII veterans benefits, welcomed Webb’s win. The two were "in the same company when we were both midshipmen at the US Naval Academy in the class of 1968" in Annapolis, Maryland. When Webb became Secretary of the Navy during President Ronald Reagan’s time, he happened to visit the Philippines. He asked the admiral of the Philippine Navy to allow Heredia, then a captain, to come to the US on a fellowship grant at the US Naval War College in 1989.

In phone and email interviews, Amy Agbayani, NaFFAA vice chair in Hawaii, told Asian Fortune: "At the federal level, Filipinos supported the winning Democratic congressional team...Senator Dan Akaka, Congressman Neil Abercrombie and freshman Congresswoman-elect Mazie Hirono," who will now join the powerful Senator Daniel Inouye who won last time.

She added: "All four had Filipino community leaders in their campaigns and are advocates for issues of importance to the community: World War II veterans equity, fair immigration, civil rights, college affordability, raised minimum wage, as well as changing direction on the war in Iraq."

List of winners

In June 2001, Norman Ornstein, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank based in the nation’s capital, and also a TV network and PBS political consultant, told this writer in an email interview: "Despite the numbers, Asian voters are less significant than Hispanics, because of the geographical concentration in California... One other reason: Asian-Americans have not been very active in the political process, including Indians who have numbers and resources, as well as others. Once they become active, they will be more important."

Elections since then had proved him right, and resoundingly so in the recently concluded midterm elections. The Asian American Action Fund, which supported 24 Democratic candidates (at press time 20 had won) issued a list. (See Irene Bueno’s analysis elsewhere in this issue).

NaFFAA provided a limited list, and gave the phone numbers of its regional officers. In California, incumbent Milpitas Mayor Jose Esteves (R) won over fellow Filipino American Henry Manayam (D). In Florida, Jess Santamaria (D) won the County Commission seat in Palm Beach County with bipartisan support. He’s that state’s first FilAm elected official. State Senator-elect Willy Espero (D) headed the list of FilAm winners from both parties in Hawaii. Democrats who won as state delegates to the House were Roland Sagum, Lyla Berg, Della Au Belatti, Joey Manahan, Alex Sonson, Rida Cabanilla-Arakawa and Mike Magaoay. FilAm Republicans who also won House seats were Kyberly Pine and Lyn Finnigan.

NaFFAA national capital region chair Bing Cardenas Branigin said leaders held a teleconference two days after the elections to assess the community’s role in the midterm elections. "The community had a high standard, simply being Filipino was not enough criterion for support. It also expanded its political clout by supporting Asian Americans and American candidates who support our issues, which are after all, mostly mainstream America issues."

South Asian American Leaders of Tomorrow (SAALT) issued a report that South Asians "participated in the elections by running for office, and prevailing in many local, state-level, and federal races." But it did not provide a complete list at press time.

SAALT "also participated in a coalition of organizations that assisted with the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund's (AALDEF) Election Protection project. Over 600 volunteers, including SAALT members, engaged in exit polling of Asian American voters in Washington DC, Maryland, Virginia, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, and ensured they were not facing problems at polling sites. Remarked Arefa Vohra, SAALT's Advocate for Community Empowerment: "Engaging in poll monitoring and voter surveying was an empowering experience for many volunteers."