With the November 6, 2007, elections, Asian Americans were elected and re-elected to local, city and statewide office from Las Cruces, New Mexico to Louisiana to Fitchburg, Massachusetts.

APIAVote Executive Director Christine Chen stated, “Asian-American candidates serve as the greatest galvanizing force in increasing voter registration in our community and turning out the vote.  They also are the most effective catalyst in getting our community actively engaged in the political process from volunteering as phone bankers, door knockers, fundraisers, etc.”

Editor’s Note: ABC Unified School District Member Armin Reyes, who easily won re-election in the City of Cerritos, Los Angeles County, purposely did not ask much help from the Filipino-American community for the School-District election. Armin Reyes, who served recently in Iraq and Kuwait with the U.S. Military, said that he would be approaching soon Filipino- and Asian-American community leaders for support, as he is now lining up a run for a California Assembly seat perhaps as early as November 2008. If Mr. Reyes wins, he would become the first Filipino-American member of the State Assembly.Newly elected officials outside of California include:
o    Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal (R) – elected on October 20 becoming the first South Asian to be elected governor in the United States.
o    Fitchburg, Massachusetts Mayor Lisa Wong (D) – winning 75% of the vote and defeating a 4-term incumbent becoming the first female and first minority mayor of a former mill town.
o    Las Cruces, New Mexico Mayor Ken Miyagishima – won by 74 votes in his third run for Mayor.
o    Edison, New Jersey City Councilmember Sudhanshu Prasad
o    Newton, Massachusetts City Councilmember Greer Tan Swiston
o    Houston Community College Board of Trustees Neeta Sane
o    Spring, Texas Independent School District Trustee Calvin Tang

In California, newly electeds include:
o    Cupertino City Councilmember Gilbert Wong
o    Marin Community College District Member Carole Hayashino
o    Millbrae City Councilmember Paul Seto
o    Palo Alto City Councilmember Yiaway Yeh
o    Patterson Joint Unified School District Member Bobby Yamamoto
o    Diamond Bar City Councilmember Jack Tanaka
o    El Monte City Councilmember Emily Ishigaki
o    ABC Unified School District Member Sophia Tse
o    Cerritos Community College Member Tina Cho
o    Garvey School District Member Janet Chin
o    Hacienda La Puente Unified School District Member Jay F. Chen
o    Monrovia Unified School District Member Bryan Wong
o    Temple City Unified School District Member Janet Rhee

Non-California Re-elected Officials include:
o    New Jersey Assemblymember Upendra Chivikula (D)
o    Boston City Councilmember Sam Yoon (D)
o    Newton City Councilmember Amy Mah Sangiolo
o    St. Paul, Minnesota School Board Member Kazoua Kong-Thao
o    Houston City Councilmember M.J. Khan (D)
o    Fairfax, Virginia School Board Member Ilryong Moon

California Re-elected Officials include:
o    Cupertino City Councilmember Kris Wang
o    Larkspur City Councilmember Larry Chu
o    San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris
o    Sunnyvale City Councilmember Otto Lee
o    ABC Unified School District Member Armin Reyes
o    Azusa Unified School District Member Ilean Ochoa
o    Duarte Unified School District Member Pamela Kawasaki
o    Garvey School District Member Henry Lo
o    Hacienda La Puente Unified School District Member Norman Hsu
o    Rowland Unified School District Member Judy Nieh
o    South Pasadena Unified School District Member Joseph Loo

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The Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVote) is a national non-partisan, nonprofit organization that encourages and promotes civic participation of Asian Pacific Islander Americans in the electoral and public policy processes at the national, state and local levels.

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