Democrat comes from behind to beat Young Kim in California congressional race

 CISNEROS FOR CONGRESS

Gil Cisneros, left center, ran an aggressive campaign to win Asian American support, including the endorsement of Congressmember Judy Chu, who represented a neighboring district.

ASAM NEWS

A REPUBLICAN STRONGHOLD in California has fallen to the Democrats.
The Orange County Register reports that Gil Cisneros is now officially the winner over Republican Young Kim in California’s 39th Congressional District.

Kim ended election night with a 3.2 percent lead. Many prematurely proclaimed her the first Korean American women ever elected to Congress., but by Saturday (Nov. 17), Cisneros had increased his lead over Kim to 3020 votes with the help of the remaining provisional ballots that needed to be counted.

With Cisneros’ win, the Democrats have flipped five Congressional seats in Southern California, including all four Republican seats in Orange County.

“The past two years have been hard, but change is coming,” said Cisneros in a statement sent to AsAmNews. "The hard work begins now. The people of this district will receive the representation they deserve. I am honored by their support and humbled by the opportunity to represent them in Congress.”

Cisneros effectively communicated to voters that “The Republican agenda is anti-immigration.” The 39th Congressional District is now one of the most diverse in the country with two-thirds of the voters minorities, according to the OC Register.

Kim called Cisneros late Saturday to offer her congratulations and sent this message via Facebook to her supporters:

Kim had tried to distance herself from Donald Trump’s policies, saying she would protect family-based immigration programs.

According to Politico, the Democrats needed to flip 23 seats to take over Congress and actually picked up 38 seats.

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