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WASHINGTON–New and incumbent Asian American candidates handily won races on the national level, and in California, Assembly Member Carol Liu (D, 44th district) made history as the nation’s first Asian American female elected as state senator.

When the 111th US Congress opens during the first week of January 2009, it will have a new Asian American in the person of Congressman-elect Steve Austria, Republican from Ohio, among its 435 members.

Austria, 50, will be the second Filipino American to get elected to the US Congress. US Rep. Bob Cortez Scott (D, 3rd district, VA) will be serving his ninth term starting next year.

Congressman-elect Austria said in a press statement, “The No. 1 issue we’ve got to work on is the economy,” adding the priority is to create new jobs and bring new business to the district. He also vowed to “keep government spending under control.”

Austria, who served as state representative and ran as a state senator, obtained 168,666 votes, or 58.7 percent of the total votes cast, according to a report by Joseph G. Lariosa of GMA News7. He won the open seat in Ohio’s 7th district, defeating Democrat Sharen Neuhardt, who posted 118,680 votes, or 41.3 percent.

Steve is the son of the late Dr. Clement G. Austria and nurse Jean Brockman. He and his wife Eileen have three sons. He’s a member of the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA), based in the nation’s capital. Region Chair Ed Navara announced Austria’s win in a mass email to the community.

“He has been a dedicated official, and he ran in a conservative district,” NaFFAA media and community outreach officer Bing Branigin said, explaining Austria’s win.

US Rep. Mike Honda (D, 15th district, CA), vice chairman of the Democratic National Committee and chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), won his reelection bid. Honda will be serving his fifth term.

Other Democratic incumbents in Congress who won were US Rep. Doris Matsui (CA), US Rep. David Wu (OR), and US Rep. Mazie Hirono (HI).

Liu makes history

In California, Assembly Member Liu has made history as the country’s first Asian American female state senator, according to an interview with a China Press reporter by New American Media (NAM) news anchor Odette Keeley.

The NAM Now Radio interview reported China Press had already called Berkeley-born Liu as the winner in the 21st district, even with absentee and provisional ballots still to be counted. The China Press reporter pointed out Ms. Liu had already obtained 67 percent of the total votes cast, while her Republican opponent had garnered only 25 percent.

According to her campaign website, Ms. Liu’s father emigrated from China before World War II. Ms. Liu was a public schoolteacher in Richmond, California. She served two terms as mayor in Southern California’s La Cañada Flintridge City, after serving in the Council for eight years. She ran for the state assembly in 2000 and won reelection twice. She’s married to businessman Michael Peevey, and they have three children and three grandchildren.

In Nevada, Judge Cheryl Moss won reelection as District Court Judge for Clark County, according to Marily Mondejar, president of the California-based Filipina Women’s Network (FWN), in email interviews with Asian Fortune. FWN (www.fwn.org) listed in its website the Filipino American female candidates who won and lost last Nov. 4. It regularly updates its list of Filipino women achievers in the government, business, nonprofits and advocacy groups and the academe.

Judge Moss was the only winner among seven Filipino American women candidates. In Ohio, Emma Nemecek failed in her bid to become state representative for District 29, Ms. Mondejar said. She also said Myrna Lim, a small business owner in San Francisco, California, lost in the race for Board of Supervisors. Noelani Salings nearly won in Santa Clara County, California, obtaining 24 percent of the votes, or 9,059 votes.

Ms. Mondejar said over the last few years, her group has seen a rise among Filipino women running for office. She remarked: “I hope they don’t give up. Losing does not mean it’s the end. In fact, it is a beginning. It gets you name recognition.”

State winners

Other Democrats posted wins in state legislatures. AAA-Fund named the following winning candidates they had endorsed: William Tong, Connecticut State Assembly; Paul Fong, Warren Furutani and Ted Lieu, California State Assembly; Jay Goyal, Ohio State Assembly; Swati Dandekar, Iowa State Assembly; and Hubert Vo, Texas State Assembly.

In California, home to some 2 million of the total 3 million Filipinos in the US, and where they are most politically active, West Sacramento Mayor Christopher Cabaldon defeated West Sacramento City Council Member Mark Johannessen, according to Monty Martinez, treasurer of the Filipino American Democrats of California.

Martinez said Jim Navarro won re-election to the Union City Council with 97.2 percent of the vote, or 11,840 votes. Incumbent Ed Balico of California’s Hercules City Council won the most votes among four candidates for two available seats.

The Asian American candidates won with the help of their parties, as well as Asian American individual donors and political groups, such as the Asian American Action Fund (AAA-Fund), a political action committee based here which endorsed several candidates, and the new America’s Opportunity Fund, led by former US Commerce and Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta and former Washington State Gov. Gary Locke.

AAA-Fund (www.aaa-fund.org) endorsed nearly 40 Democratic candidates, two-thirds of whom won. Other winning candidates endorsed by AAA-Fund support Asian Pacific American and mainstream issues.

They were: American Samoa, Eni Faleomavaega (US Congress); California, US Rep. Xavier Becerra and US Rep. Jerry McNerney; Guam, Madeleine Bordallo (US Congress); Hawaii, US Sen. Neil Abercrombie; Michigan, US Rep. Gary Peters; Nevada, US Rep. Dina Titus; Oregon, US Sen. Jeff Merkley; Pennsylvania, US Sen. Joe Sestak; Texas, US Rep. Al Green; and Virginia, US Rep. Gerry Connolly and US Rep.Glenn Nye.

The victories of the Asian Pacific American (APA) members of the US Congress, as well as other supportive lawmakers, will help in addressing the APA and mainstream issues of concern to some 15.2 million APAs, such as the economy, the Iraqi war, jobs, health care, education and healthcare.

Immigration was named among the top five issues important to APA voters in pre-election surveys. It played a major role in the defeat of candidates who made it a wedge issue, according to a news report by the New American Media (NAM).

But Asian American and Hispanic advocates agree that as a result of the economic meltdown of the nation’s major financial institutions last September 15, immigration would have to take a backseat in 2009.

NAM reporter Rupa Dev quoted Karen Narasaki, executive director of Asian American Justice Center (AAJC), as saying during a teleconference organized by NAM, “In a weak economy, when people are losing jobs and feeling financially insecure, it’s going to be much more difficult to have a rational discussion about immigration and get the kind of fair, humane, comprehensive policies that we are seeking.”