Technicality forces Lindy Li withdrawal from Pennsylvania congressional primary

Congressional candidate Lindy Li ponders her future.

By Louis Chan
Reprinted from AsAm News

Just three weeks before the Pennsylvania primary, the woman largely believed to be the most viable candidate for the Democratic nomination to run in the state’s 6th Congressional District has dropped out of the race following a court defeat.

Lindy Li, 25, would have been the youngest member of Congress if elected.

“I’m truly sorry I couldn’t hold onto our dream. My heart is in pieces,” Li said to her supporters on Facebook.

Her storybook candidacy ended when her Democratic opponent won a court challenge invalidating many of the signatures she gathered to file her candidacy. 1,000 signatures are required for a Congressional candidate to appear on the ballot. She says she collected 2,500.

RELATED: Made in America: Meet Lindy Li

“One of our notaries failed to keep a notary log that is required by law. This oversight disqualified a significant portion of our signatures, placing us below the legal requirement. I take full responsibility for what happened,” said Li.

The court challenge was filed by her opponent Mike Parrish.

That leaves Parrish as the only Democrat left in the race. Li had previously declared her candidacy in the 7th Congressional District near Philadelphia, but she would have faced two other Democratic candidates and if she had won the primary, a 3-term Republican incumbent. The Democratic leadership convinced her to move her candidacy to the 6th District where Parrish has raised only $26,445 for his campaign compared to $389,254 raised by Li in the last campaign filing.

RELATED: Lindy Li switches her district in effort to win seat

“This episode leaves me with no bitterness or resentment — only love. When the court adjourned, I embraced with warmth those who sought to end our campaign. While disappointed, I wish my opponent the very best and will devote my time now to supporting other candidates and serving our community.

“This campaign was a labor of love. I will run for public office again to serve our country and hope you will remain with me. Thank you so much for sharing this journey with me.”

Some of her supporters on Facebook urged her to run as a write-in candidate. In fact, some even pledged to write her name on the ballot.

Li acknowledged that as a possibility, but seemed to douse cold water on the idea.

“I could run as a write-in candidate. Just wondering if it would be better to save our resources for next time, since it would be incredibly expensive.”

Made in America: Lindy Li, 24, seeks to be the youngest member of Congress

Lindy Li has won the endorsements of  

WATCH OUT, Lindy Li is running for Congress because ... why not? She's all of 24 years of age.

"The granddaughter of illiterate Chinese farmers is running for Congress," she exults proudly.

If elected, she would be the youngest representative in Congress. But the minimum age for Congress is 25, you say? Li has perfect timing, She will turn 25 this December and if she makes it to Nov. 2016 and wins, she'll be 26 when she is sworn in in January, 2017. At present, the youngest member of Congress is an ancient 30. That would be New York's Rep. Elise Stefanik. The average age of Congress is 57.

"There is going to be a lot of skepticism because of my age but patriotism, love of country, has no age," she was quoted by Princeton's web portal.

Li is running for a seat in Pennsylvania's 7th District, which includes Delaware County and other Philadelphia suburbs. It is an uphill battle in her bid to unseat 3-term incumbent Rep. Patrick Meehan, a Republican and former U.S. attorney. 


She immigrated to the U.S. with her parents when she was 5-years old. She grew up here.

Her district is not a bastion of Asian/Americans, or even people of color, but that doesn't deter her. On her website, the slogan, "Made In America" blunts any xenophobia that may lurking out there. In a letter she wrote to voters in her district, she says:

America is a land of promise and new beginnings, a beacon for the rest of the world. Arriving with nothing but a suitcase of dreams, my family and I have spent fifteen years in beloved Pennsylvania. I became the woman I am today, walking its soothing slopes and reading beneath its gentle trees. That America welcomed us with nurturing arms is a debt that I can never fully repay, though my bid to serve you is the first step on a lifelong journey: to revive that “government of the people, by the people, for the people.” 

The 7th District is severely gerrymandered.

What does it say about who we are as a nation that the highest bidder so often prevails? We don’t elect our leaders to fundraise all day or to be sucked into the vortex of the perpetual campaign. We don’t elect them to serve special interests at your expense or to strategically posture in front of the hungry camera lens. Nor do we send them to Washington so they can grow rich in office, scaling the ladders of power. Rather, we seek leaders with integrity, moderation, and unwavering confidence, knowing that compromise is necessary in a democracy but unbending ideology is not. Herein lies the difference between a stateswoman and a politician.

I refuse to give up on our country and ask you to join me today as we breathe fresh life into the great American promise ...  I’m thankful that life has not been easy and that I’ve struggled for my American dream. Just as a tree can only grow as tall as its roots, so the measure of my ability is the measure of the challenges that I’ve overcome. ...

Being so young, this is her first try to run for a public office. Her previous experience was  getting elected as the class president, four-years straight, at Princeton University, where she graduated with a major in Philosophy. She quit her job on Wall Street to concentrate on her campaign.

It would be a mistake to discount her on the basis of her age or ethnicity. Li has already received endorsement and support from Democrats politicians, including former vice-president Albert Gore, and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, since she announced the bid. If passion and energy won elections, Li would win in a landslide. But her lack of experience - political and real-life - may be her Achilles heel.

First, there is the Democratic primary in 2016 where she faces In  two other experienced Democrats: Mary Ellen Balchunis, a  political science professor who ran for the seat in 2014, and Dave Naples, a database administrator who was a write-in candidate for governor. 

Even if she is unsuccessful, she told an interviewer from the Washington Post, "Congressional elections are every two years." Lindy Li hates to lose.

###