Two Asian American women lead GOP resurgence in Orange County; TJ Cox counting on late ballots

Young Kim, left, and Michelle Steel leading the charge for Repulicans in Orange County.

California is still a deep blue state and Democrats are not in danger of losing their grip on the nation's largest state. However, the GOP is not giving up if three Congressional races involving AAPI candidates are any indication. 

In 2018, Californians flipped seven Republican district to Democrat. This year, one returned to the GOP and two Republicans are leading Democratic incumbents.

Michelle Steel, a Korean American and chair of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, won her District 45 race against incumbent Rep. Harley Rouda, who won his seat in 2018.

Rouda issued a conceded late Tuesday morning with the following statement:.

"We did not win this election,'' Rouda said. "And while it isn't the outcome we had hoped for, it's never been more important for our leaders to hear the voice of the people, and to accept their judgment. I do."

Steel leads 50.9%-49.1% and 197,256-189,910. Steel also led 50.9%-49.1% entering Monday's count, 196,208-189,235, a margin of 6,973.

In Congressional District 39, in another part of Orange County, former state Assemblymember Young Kim is holding a slim lead over Democratic incumbent Rep. Gil Cisneros, with 51% of the vote vs. 49%.

The race is a rematch of 2018, when Cisneros narrowly defeated Young. 

If Young wins, she would join Marilyn Strickland, who won her Washington's District 10 seat and Michelle Steel as Korean American members of Congress. Prior to this election, there had never been a Korean American women Congressmembers.

Rep. TJ Cox is gaining on his Republican challenger.

Rep. TJ Cox, one of only two Congressmembers of Filipino descent, is behind challenger David Valadao by about 4,000 votes, but with only 46% of the votes tallied so far, the counting is far from over. 

The vote counting in District 21 has come to a temporary halt due to a COVID-19 exposure in Kings County, part of which lies in the district. Out of a concern of caution, the Kings County Elections Department was forced to close until Nov, 21. 

The pause in counting occurred just as the race was tightening.

Valadao is now leading with only 51.4% of the vote, compared to T.J. Cox's (D) 48.6%. According to the California Secretary of State's Election Results page. Last week, Valadao led 56% to 49%.

In addition to the ballots left to process, the counties could also still receive ballots that were postmarked by Nov. 3 and are received by Nov. 20.

“We still necessarily don’t have all the ballots in our office yet,” Kern County Clerk Mary Bedard said.

In 2018, when Cox beat Valadao, the race was the last race in the country to be decided. It looks like the same thing will happen again.

"We’ve been through this before," said Cox. "In 2018, my race wasn’t settled for 30 days. And in 2020, we’re in much the same situation. We owe it to the Valley to get this right, ensure each and every vote is counted, no matter who wins."

CORRECTION: Earlier versions of this story misidentified the ethnicity of Michelle Steel.

Tulsi Gabbard should move up after her debate perforance

SCREEN CAPTURE / NBC

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard performed well in the first night of the Democratic debate.

ANALYSIS

Everytime Rep. Tulsi Gabbard answered a question during last night's Democratic debate, Day 1, she managed to reference her military experience.

She used the first debate of the campaign season as a means to introduce herself to the rest of the nation, who might not have heard or seen the congresswoman from Hawaii and she might have done well enough to give poll ratings a much-needed push

Until last night, Gabbard hasn't been able to make any headway in the campaign. In the field of 24 candidates, she barely made it into the top 20. For someone who has been in politics for 17 years, it was embarrassing that nonpolitician first-time candidate Andrew Yang was raising more money and polling better than her.

RELATED: High stakes fin debate or AAPI candidates

Gabbard's best moment was in an exchange with Rep. Tim Ryan.

Gabbard corrected the Ohio congressman when Ryan said the Taliban was behind the 9/11 attacks. “The Taliban was there long before we came in (Afghanistan) and they will be there long after we leave. We cannot keep U.S. troops deployed to Afghanistan thinking that we’re going somehow squash this Taliban—” Gabbard said, before Ryan interrupted her.

“When (the U.S.) weren’t in there, (the Taliban) started flying planes into our buildings,” Ryan said. Gabbard’s response: “The Taliban didn’t attack us on 9/11, al Qaeda did. That’s why I and so many other people joined the military, to go after al Qaeda after 9/11.”

She concluded the spat:  “We have to bring our troops home from Afghanist

Her worst moment was her first answer to a question about equal pay for women. Gabbard didn't even try to answer the question. She went into her elevator speech telling the audience about her military service and what she would do as president, not mentioning the ERA or, for that matter, the Paycheck Fairness Act, which Gabbard just voted for in the House.

She concluded: “We have to bring our troops home from Afghanistan.”

SCREEN CAPTURE / NBC

The first night of the Democratic debate took place in Miami last night.

Her worse moment was her response to a question about how to pay women equal to men. Instead of answering the softball question, she dived into her elevator speech trying to introduce herself by reminding the audience of her military service and her platform. Not once did she mention the need to pass the ERA or the Paycheck Fairness Act, which she recently vote for.

Surprisingly, and in this case consider the source, the conservative Drudge Report political website posted a surprising instant poll showing that its visitors believed Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii was the overwhelming victor of the first Democratic presidential debate, polling at almost 35% with 12,314 votes.

Her closest competitor, according to Drudge, was Massachusetts' Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who was polling at just under 13.5% and 4,791 votes. Julián Castro of Texas and Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey were polling the lowest with less than 5% each.

Google also tweeted the results of searches during and after the debate. We can only assume that the debate piqued peoples' interest and had them asking ,"Hmm, who is this Tulsi Gabbard?"

And then, there's this from Google indicating the interest in Gabbard was nationwide, except in the Deep South, Michigan, South Dakota and Oklahoma:

Other notes on the debate:

• Warren came in as the frontrunner and needed to show why she polls second to former Vice President Joe Biden. She held her own, giving the most substantive answers, especially on the economy, but she failed to distance herself from the lower tier candidates.

• Julián Castro, former HUD Secretary under Obama, proved to be aggressive and should improve his standings in the polls considering he was polling 1 percentage point. He saved his flagging campaign at least until the next debate.

• Beto O'Rourke didn't do well. His personal anecdotes didn't ring well in answering questions. He was also attacked by Castro on immigration. the fellow Texan was seeking a commitment to decriminalize crossing the border without documents but O'Rourke wouldn't bite. "Do your homework," Castro told O'Rourke, whose poll ratings have gone down every month.

• The debate almost went out of control when the moderators allowed the candidates to speak out of turn in response to other candidates' answers. The worst offender was New York Mayor DeBlasio, who (no offense) acted like an aggressive New Yorker.

• Speaking of interruptions. Every woman who has to attend business meetings will  recognize this one. Once the debaters realized they could speak out of turn, interrupting became more frequent. Curiously, none of the women, Warren, Gabbard or Sen. Amy Klobuchar, did any interrupting, choosing to raise their hands amidst the attention grabbing men.

Part 2 of the Democratic debates will be tonight (June 27) and feature the other two Asian American candidates, Sen. Kamala Harris and Andrew Yang. It could have more fireworks than last night with four of the top five candidates participating. Besides Harris, former Vice President, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Mayor Pete Buttigeig. will be going at it with six other candidates.

The debate will air on NBC and Telemundo affiliates across the country, along with MSNBC on cable. They’ll be broadcast live from Miami and air which tonight at 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. EDT.

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Andrew Yang will campaign via hologram

ANDREW YANG

In a blurry video, Andrew Yang demonstrated the possibility of using a hologram to campaign in far-flung locations. Above, Yang appears on stage with the late rapper Rupac Shakur.

Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang has unveiled a 3D hologram that he intends to use to campaign remotely in key battlegrounds states, avoiding the expense of flying across the country.

According to The Hill, Yang revealed the hologram during a segment on TMZ Live on Wednesday (April 9) showing him on stage with the late Tupac Shakur.

Yang said that it would allow him to be in two or even three places at a time.

“We are exploring rolling a truck out that would enable someone to see a hologram of me that is three-dimensional give my stump speech,” Yang said. “And, also, if I were in a studio, which we could set up very easily, I could beam in and take questions live.”

Yang said the technology would allow him to see questioners and interact in people in real time.

“They would see my every gesture and movement,” he told TMZ. 

Using the hologram ties in with his message of a new way of using technology to do things in a new way, he said in an interview with the Iowa newspaper,  Carroll Times Herald,  "We can't be doing the same thing over and over again."

“Technology is really cool,” Yang said. “When you see the hologram, the whole thing is very fun and invigorating. Certainly, when I saw the technology in action, I enjoyed it a great deal, so for folks in Iowa and other places, I think it will just be a fun way to experience it. It might be even more fun than seeing me in person.”

The businessman, one of 19 candidates for the Democrat's nomination, also suggested that other pop culture holograms could appear beside him at voter rallies or town halls.

“If you’re going to go all the trouble of having a hologram set up, you might as well have some other people appear and make it more fun and entertaining for people than just coming to see a hologram of me speaking,” Yang told the Iowa newspaper. “We would make it fun for people.”

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AAPI Vote 2018: AAPI stepping up, speaking out, running for political offices

A RECORD NUMBER of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are running for political office this year. 

They are running for Congress, governorships, state offices, city councils and school boards, shattering the quiet, apolitical, don't-make-waves stereotype often associated with AAPI communities.

Many are running for the first time, leaving their comfort zones and daring to step into the public arena to make a difference. They are social workers, teachers, doctors, business people and veterans. 

A lot of them are women, inspired by the Women's March and the GOP's attacks on women's health.

For many first-timers, surveys have shown that opposition to Donald Trump and his extremist policies have spurred them to action.

Trump's obvious lack of experience have given many novice politicians the confidence to run for office. “One unintended effect of Donald Trump is that he has alleviated fears of people who thought they were unqualified for office,” said Sayu Bhojwani, founder of New American Leaders, an organization that trains immigrants and their descendants to run for office.

Hawaii, with the the AAPI population in the majority, has the most candidates running for federal and state offices. California, with the largest AAPI population in the nation, making up about 13 percent of the electorate, comes in second.

I tried the best I can to gather the names of all the AAPI candidates running for state or federal offices.

Unfortunately, it would be neaerly impossible to get all the names of all the AAPI candidates running for local elections: school boards, city councils or county positions. That would expand the list into the hundreds.

Following is the list of AAPI candidates (incumbents and neophytes) on the ballots this November 6.

Arizona
Anita Malik, (D) Congress, District 6, Arizona
Tipirneni Hiral, (D) Congress, District 8, Arizona

Arkansas
Chintan Desai, (D), Congress, 1st District

California
Kevin de Leon (D), U.S. Senate
Doris Matsui, (D), Congress, 6th District
Ami Bera, (D), Congress, 7th District
Ro Khanna, (D)Congress, 17th District
Judy Chu, (D), Congress, 27th District,
Ted Lieu, (D), Congress, 33rd District
Kenneth Mejia (Green), Congress, 34th District.
Mark Takano, (D), Congress,  41st District
T.J. Cox, (D) Congress, 21st District
Albert Janz, (D) Congress, 22nd District
Ammar Campa-Najja, (D) Congress, 50th District
Cristina Osmena,  Congress, (R) 14th District
David Min, Congress, (D) 45th District
Young Kim,(R) Congress, 38th District
betty Yee, (D) Controller
Fiona Ma (D) Treasurer
Harry He (D) 9th District
David Chiu (D) Assembly, 17th District
Rob Bonta (D) Assembly, 18th District
Phil Ting (D) Assembly, 19th District

Christina Laskowski (R) 22nd District

Kansan Chu (D) Assembly,  25th District

Evan Low (D) Assembly, 28th District

Vince Fong (D) Assembly, 34th District

Ed Chau (D) Assembly, 49th District

Kevin Hee Young Jang (D) Assembly, 53rd District

Al Muratsuchi (D) Assembly, 66th District

Steven S. Choi (R) Assembly, 68th District

Tyler Diep (R) Assembly, 72nd District

Philip Kim (D) State Senate, 4th District 

Richard Pan (D) State Senate, 6th District

Mike Eng (D) State Senate, 22nd District

Peter Choi (D) State Senate, 23rd District

Janet Nguyen, (R) State Senate, 34th District

Colorado
Peter Yu, (R), Congress, 2nd District

Connecticut

William Tong (D), Attorney General

Florida
Stephanie Murphy (D), Congress, 7th District
Jennifer Mijares-Zimmerman, (D) Congress, 1st District

Georgia
Sam Park, (D) State House, 101st District

Hawaii
David Ige (D), Governor
Mazie Hirono, (D) U.S. Senate
Tulsi Gabbard, (D) Congress, 2nd District
Kaiali'i Kahele (D) State Senate, 1st District
Dru Kanuha, (D) State Senate, 3rd District
Lorraine Inouye (D) State Senate, 4th District
Melissah Shishido (Green) State Senate, 6th District
Jamie Kalani English , D) State Senate, 7th District
Breene Harimoto , (D) State Senate, 16th District
Clarence Nishihara, (D) State Senate, 17th District
Michelle Kidani (D) State Senate, 18th District
Maile Shimabukuro  (D) State Senate, 21st District
Jarrett Keohokalole (D) State Senate, 24th District

Mark Nakashima (D) State House, 1st District
Grace Manipol-Larson (R) State House, 2nd District
Richard Onishi (D) State House, 3rd District
Joy San Buenaventura (D) State House, 4th District
Troy Hashimoto (D) State House, 8th District
Jen Kamaho'i Mather  (Green) State House, 10th District
Nadine Nakamura (D) State House, 14th District
James Tokioka (D) State House, 15th District
Dee Morikawa (D) State House, 16th District
Alan Yim (Lib.) State House, 17th District
Mark Hashem (D) State House, 18th District
Bert Kobayashi (D) State House, 19th District
Calvin Say (D) State House, 20th District
Scott Nishimoto (D) State House, 21st District
Dale Kobayashi (D) State House, 23rd District
Scott Saiki (D) State House, 26th District
Takashi Ohno (D) State House 27th District
Mela Kealoha-Lindsey (R) State House 27th District
John Mizuno (D) State House, 28th District
Linda Ichiyama (D) State House, 32nd District
Sam Kong (D) State House, 33rd District
Gregg Takayama (D) State House, 34th District
Roy Takumi (D) State House, 35th District
Rida Cabanilla (D) State House, 41st District
Sharon Har  (D) State House, 42nd District
Stacelynn Kehaulani (D) State House, 43rd District
Cedric Asuega Gates (D) State House, 44th District
Lauren Kealohilani Matsumoto  (R) State House, 45th District
Lisa Kitagawa (D) State House, 48th District
Scot Matayoshi (D) State House, 49th District
Noe Galea'i (R) State House, 51st District
Chris Lee (D) State House, 51st District

Illinois
Raja Krishnamoorthi, (D) Congress, 8th District

Theresa Mah (D) State House, 2nd District
Peter Lee (R) State House, 17th District
Julie Cho (R) State House, 18th District

Massachusetts
Shiv Ayyadurai, (R) U.S. Senate

Michigan

Stephanie Chang, (D) State Senate, 1st District

Minnesota

Samantha Vang, (D) House District 40B
Fue Lee, (D) House District 59A
Kaohly Her, (D) House District 64A
Tou Xiong. (D) House District 53A
Jay Xiong, (D) House District 67B
Yele-Mis Yang, (R) House District 42B

Nevada
Tiffany Jones, (R) State Senate, 9th District

New Jersey

Andy Kim, (D) Congress, 3rd District

New Mexico

Lisa Shin (R) State House, 43rd District

New York

Grace Kim (D) Congress, 6th District

Ron Kim (D) State Assembly, 21st District
John Liu (D) State Senate, 11th District
Jeremy Cooney (D) State Senate, 56th District
Kevin Thomas (D) State Senate, 6th District

Oklahoma

Cyndi Munson, State House, 85th District

Ohio

Aftab Pureval, (D) Congress, 1st District

Pennsylvania

Pearl Kim (R), Congress, 5th District

Rhode Island

Allan Fung, (R) Governor

Texas

Gina Ortiz, (D) Congress, 23rd District

Sri Preston Kulkarni, (D) Congress, 24th District

Angie Chen Buttonm (R) State House, 112th District

Virginia

Bobby Scott (D), Congress, 3rd District

Washington

Pramila Jayapal (D) Congress, 7th District

Cindy Ryu (D) State House, 32nd District,

Mia Su-Ling Gregerson-Dahle (D) State House, 33rd District

Sofia Aragon, (D) State Senate, 34th District

Sharon Tomiko Santos (D), State House, 37th District,

Manka Dinghra (D), State House, 45th District

Vandana Slatter (D) State House, 48th District, 

Monica Stonier (D) State House, 49th District

My-Linh Thai, (D) State Senate, 41st District

Mona Das, (D) State Senate, 47th District

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Racist flyers targeting Asian/American candidates flyers darken school board race

This flyer attacks the Asian/American candidates.

ASAM NEWS

A RACIST MAILER which declares that “Chinese and Indians are taking over our town” has been received by voters in Edison, New Jersey, reports the New York Daily News.

The postcards target incumbent school board member Jerry Shi and candidate Falungi Patel.

The mailing calls for the deportation of both candidates and proclaims “Make Edison Great Again,” a play off President Trump’s campaign slogan during the 2016 election.

“The Chinese and Indians are taking over our town. Chinese school! Indian school! Cricket fields! Enough is enough,” the postcard states, according to NJ.com.

“I’m obviously disgusted by it, to say the least,” said Patel to 101.5. “I was born and raised in New Jersey. To see the word ‘deport’ on my picture — where are you going to deport me to? Really it’s just outrageous.”

Edison Mayor Thomas Lankey also denounced the postcard.

“It has become a sad reality that in our polarized political atmosphere, some people suddenly feel empowered to publicly express these vile nativist ideas.” he said. “Make no mistake, we will do everything we can to expose the shameful people behind this.”

"This is an example of how our current political environment is both normalizing and fueling racism," said Jesse Burns, executive director of the League of Women Voters of New Jersey. 
 

The reverse side of the postcard was just as racist as the front.

(Views from the Edge contributed to this report)

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