San Antonio elects Filipino American as its mayor

FACEBOOK / EXPRESS NEWS

Gina Ortiz Jones, Filiipino American, is the new mayor of San Antonio, Texas.

Gina Ortiz Jones  went up against the Texas GOP machine and beat her Republican opponent to become San Antonio's first Asian American mayor and the city's first mayor who is openly queer.

The Filipino American lost two earlier bids for Congress but upset Rolando Pablos, a former Texas Secretary of State aligned with Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, 54%-46% in Saturday's runoff election.

"There's a lot going on at the federal level," said Jones, who was the Air Force undersecretary in the Biden administration. "There's a lot going on at the state level. But we here in San Antonio — deep in the heart of Texas — reminded folks what San Antonio stands for, didn't we? We reminded them that our city is about compassion, and it's about leading with everybody in mind."

She also said to her supporters: "I always think about the courage that my mom had to come to this very special country, and the importance for all of us to do our part to make sure that others see just how special our country can continue to be when it's led by the right folks and when our actions match our values."

Apparently, the third time was a charm for Ortiz. She came close in 2018 in Texas’ 23rd Congressional District, losing by rabout 1,000 votes to Republican Will Hurd, then lost by a larger margin in the same district two years later to Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales.

San Antonio’s mayoral race suddenly took on new significance when it came down to a runoff between Jones, a two-time Democratic congressional candidate, and Pablos, a close ally of Texas’ GOP leaders. They were the two top vote-getters in a special election held earlier. Since no one garnered more than 50% of the vote, the race was narrowed down to Jones and Pablos.

Although it is supposedly a nonpartisan contest, both Democrats and Republicans poured tons of money into the campaign and it became a high profile contest in the GOP-dominated state. However, in San Antonio, a city of about 1.5 million, Democrats outnumber Republicans allmost 2 to 1.

"I am very thankful for the opportunity to be able to serve with everybody in mind," Jones said in her victory speech immediately after the total votes were counted. "Y'all, we won tonight, we won tonight."

“It might have been Gina Ortiz Jones on the ballot, but on the ballot was decency. And kindness. And compassion,” she said at one of her victory celebrations. 

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news, views and chismis from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X or at the blog Views From the Edge.

High-ranking Filipino American leaves Biden administration; Indian American confirmed to AF post

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Gina Ortiz Jones leaves the post she held since 2021.

One of the highest-ranking Filipino Americans in President Biden's administration has left her post as Under Secretary of the Air Force.

After instituting a string of reforms vastly improving the diversity of the US Air Force, Gina Ortiz Jones stepped down from her office Marce 6. 

Also, in another personnel action unrelated to Jones' departure, earlier this week the Senate confirmed Ravi Chaudhary to be the Air Force Assistant Secretary for Energy.

"Throughout her tenure, Under Secretary Jones has been a tireless advocate for the Department of the Air Force and its people," Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said in the press release Monday. "Her leadership in enabling all airmen, Guardians, and their families to serve to their full potential and providing the resources they need has enhanced the readiness of the Air and Space Force for years to come."

The Air Force didn't say why Ortiz Jones is leaving her office and Jones herself was mum about her departure leaving a single statement on social media thanking President Biden for having be part of his administration. 

In a recent interview with Verve Times, she said it seemed like a natural time to go, and that she’s ready for a break after working 12- to 14-hour days on “really meaty, meaty issues” that affect military personnel.

Although she didn't specify what her next step would be, Jones said, “It will always be related to public service.”

She pushed through some of the most significant diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at the Defense Department, and did so by espousing a pretty simple idea: It’s crucial for military recruitment, retention and readiness.

Jones, a member of the LGBTQ community, served in the Air Force under the military's old "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" discriminatory policy, which allowed non-heterosexual service members to stay in the ranks if they remained closeted.

In her role as under secretary, the Iraq war veteran helped push a wide variety of reforms aimed at making life in uniform easier for women, minorities and parents.

This past September, Jones spearheaded a policy change that allowed pregnant service members and civilians to apply for Air Force Officer Training School, reversing the service's previous rules that barred candidates from going through the program until 12 months postpartum.

Almost a year ago, she issued a statement reminding service members that the Air Force could help protect them from anti-LGBTQ state initiatives, such as one in Texas that raised the possibility of child welfare investigations against parents with transgender children. The guidance Jones issued said the service would use medical, legal and other resources to support its personnel who run into such problems.

“We are closely tracking state laws and legislation to ensure we prepare for and mitigate effects to our airmen, guardians and their families,” Jones said, using “guardians” as the official shorthand for members of the U.S. Space Force. “Medical, legal resources and various assistance are available for those who need them.”

Additionally, this past August, Jones helped set new demographic goals in hopes of getting more diverse applicants for the service's officer corps, which has historically leaned toward white males.

Under those new goals, the Air Force and Space Force aim to have 36% of their officers be women, up from the previous target of 30% nearly a decade ago.

"We're in a race for talent, and our policies need to reflect that," Jones said in a press release regarding the OTS change. "This policy change will ensure we're able to fully tap into the talent amongst our force, as well as those looking to join us."

Ortiz Jones oversees the department’s $173 billion annual budget and directs strategy and policy development, risk management, weapons acquisition, technology investments and human resource management across the service.

She also ran a vigorous campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives in Texas' 23rd District in 2018 and 2020. Jones, a Democrat, ended up closely losing both races.

The former Air Force intelligence officer’s duties will be taken over by Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Financial Management and Comptroller Kristyn Jones until a new under secretary is appointed, according to a press release.

Ravi Chaudhary is the US Air Force Assistant Secretary for Energy

Meanwhile, on March 15, the United States Senate confirmed Ravi Chaudhary, an Indian American, as the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Energy, Installations, and the Environment. Chaudhary won the mandate with a vote of 65-29, making him one of the top civilian leaders in the Pentagon. He is the first Indian American to serve in this position.

Chaudhary, a former Air Force pilot, will be responsible for the Air Force's sustainability and operational readiness. This includes developing installations and basing strategies, as well as ensuring the quality of military housing.

Chaudhary previously served as a Senior Executive at the US Department of Transportation where he was Director of Advanced Programs and Innovation, Office of Commercial Space at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

He was responsible for the execution of advanced development and research programs in support of the FAA’s commercial space transportation mission.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.

Biden taps veteran Gina Ortiz Jones to be Air Force Undersecretary

Gina Ortiz Jones, left, with her mother, who raised her daughter as a single-mom.

After narrowly losing both of her bids for Congress to represent a sprawling district in Texas, Gina Ortiz Jones has landed a new job as Undersecretary for the Air Force.

Her nomination was announced Tuesday by the White House.

If Jones had won her a Congressional seat in 2018 or 2020, she would have been the first Filipina American in Congress and the first openly gay representative from Texas.

Prior to entering the rough-and-tumble world of politics, Jones served for three years as an intelligence officer in the Air Force and served time in Iraq. 

After her military service, she continued to work in intelligence at a private consulting firm and several federal departments, including the Defense Intelligence Agency.

Since her loss in 2020, Jones has remained active on social media with innocuous posts about voter registration or where to get vaccine shots. She has also used social media to denounced the attacks against Filipino Americans and other AAPI communities. 

Some of her tweets criticizing Texas politicians may come back to haunt her in the nomination process. Texas' two right-wing Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn have not announced whether they would vote for Jones' nomination.

Republican senators with thin skins and long memories have used critical social media posts to stall votes for Vanita Gupta for Associate Deputy for the DOJ and Neera Tanden's nomination to direct the Office of Management and Justice. Gupta narrowly won approval in the evenly divided Senate and Tanden withdrew her nomination when it became apparent that she didn't have the votes.

The undersecretary is the No. 2 post for the Air Force and is “responsible for the affairs of the Department of the Air Force, to include organizing, training, equipping and providing for the welfare of approximately 697,000 active duty, Guard, Reserve and civilian Airmen and Guardians and their families worldwide,” according to the Air Forcce.

“From deploying to Iraq to working hard for Texas families, Gina Ortiz Jones’s life of public service has consistently reflected the best of San Antonio," San Antonio Congressman Joaquin Castro wrote in a Facebook post. "I know she’ll continue to make our hometown proud in the United States Air Force leadership."

AAPI voters could play a critical role in Presidential election

UPDATED Oct. 29, 1:45 p.m. to include Georgia developments.

It is a given that Asian American voters will have an impact in states like Hawaii, California, Nevada and New York where their numbers are large enough to determine election outcomes. 

But Asian Americans could also play pivotal roles in next week's elections in states outside of those population hubs. The Asian American populations in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Texas, Florida, Michigan, Georgia and Arizona have sprouted significantly since the 2010 Census.

"If you take a look at the numbers of all the eligible AAPI voters in almost all of our battleground states, (they) outnumber the number of votes that we lost by (four years ago), so our community should feel proud and empowered," said Congresswoman Grace Meng, D-NY, in a virtual town hall meeting organized by a coalition of affinity groups supporting Biden, AAPIs for Biden.

Asian Americans, while not a large share of the electorate nationally, could swing the outcome of many individual congressional races. AAPI make up more than 10% of the voting-age population in 45 House districts, according to Census estimates compiled by AAPI Data.

While Congressional districts with the highest tally of Asian-American voters are mostly found in California, increasingly, the impact of AAPI votes are being felt in districts and states not usually linked to AAPI centers.

AAPI are moving away from the urban centers in California, New York City and Chicago, said Natalie Masuoka, a political scientist at UCLA. “The growth of Asian America really is in the suburbs.”

Asian Americans are dispersing across the entire country away from Hawaii and California and moving to Arizona, Nevada, and North Carolina—the states with the fastest-growing populations. The number of Asian American residents in Florida and Pennsylvania has grown by more than 80% since 2010. South Asians are flocking to  Texas, where estimates show that the number of eligible Asian American voters rose by at least 40% between 2012 and 2018.

PENNSYLVANIA

Both parties see Pennsylvania as a key state and have been spending time and resources there. 

Pennsylvania's Asian American population has exploded by 99 percent since 2000, according to data compiled by APIAVote, a nonpartisan group. About 251,000 AAPI voters are spread across that state and they are getting noticed. Indian and Chinese Americans are the largest ethnic groups.

"When we first started, very few Asian organizations wanted to even do this work or even understood that they were allowed to do nonpartisan voter registration, voter education, get-out-the-vote activities," APIA Vote's Christine Chen told NBC News. "It's so exciting to see in 2020 not only do we have more organizations, but they're also organizing themselves as a coalition and working together."

In 2016, "Donald Trump [won] by 44,000 votes in the state of Pennsylvania," says Helen Gym, the first Asian American woman to serve on the Philadelphia City Council. Four years later, Gym, a Biden supporter, now says, "AAPIs are the margin of victory in Pennsylvania."

The presence of U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, an Indian American, as Biden's running mate, could boost turnout among AAPI voters. Also on the ballot is Nina Ahmad, who was born in Bangladesh, who is running for state auditor general.

Increasing AAPI voter turnout can help the largely immigrant community play a bigger role in their communities beyond politics. "I believe Asian Americans can play a bigger role if we can break down the language barrier for some of our older residents or recent immigrants," said state Rep. Patty Kim, the first Asian American to serve in the Pennsylvania House.

GEORGIA

Joe Biden spent most of Tuesday in Georgia, trying to swing the state from Trump to the Democrats.. 

Asian Americans “literally will make up the margins of victory in key races across our battlefield,” said U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos, chairwoman of the DCCC, in a press conference. Georgia's Republicans and Democrats have realized that, and major efforts are underway to reach the once-ignored demographic group.

“There’s a real misconception that Asian Americans don’t vote, and that’s becoming increasingly not true, especially as you have new voters coming on,” said Stephanie Cho, executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice Atlanta, a nonpartisan nonprofi. 

"It’s critical for candidates, critical for parties, critical for anyone who does nonpartisan work to pay attention,” she told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Today (Oct. 29) the #DearGeorgia, It’s Time campaign led by Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta (Advancing Justice-Atlanta) and supported by more than 30 voting rights organizations announced new in-language voting resources including officially translated ballots in Korean and Spanish that are available immediately. DeKalb County becomes the first county in Georgia to offer an officially translated ballot in an Asian language, and in doing so, also becomes the first county to voluntarily take steps beyond those required by the federal Voting Rights Act to expand meaningful language access.

Stephanie Cho, Executive Director of Advancing Justice-Atlanta, shared, “Today’s announcement marks a turning point for our fight to strengthen voting rights, ensuring that more Georgians will be welcomed and included in our democracy. We are moving from defense to offense. As we continue to protect voting rights, we will also focus our efforts to increase language access for Georgia’s more than 165,000 Limited English Proficient (LEP) voters.

Asian American voters make up only 2.5% of Georgia’s active registered voters, or about 193,000, so their votes will be key in races like the 7th Congressional District. In Gwinnett, where a quarter of the state’s Asian American population lives and where they make up 9.5% of registered voters.

“A lot of people in the state were not being talked to because we were not in a swing state,” said Aisha Yaqoob Mahmood, director of the Asian American Advocacy Fund told the AJC. “Asian American communities and immigrant communities were not considered a powerful voting bloc in 2016... But we have a massive voter population in key areas.”

“Before the vice presidential nomination, I didn’t feel as much excitement about the race as I did after the nomination of Kamala Harris,” said Mahmood. “I am thoroughly surprised to see how many Indian Americans are getting involved, volunteering with us or with campaigns. It’s a level of excitement in that particular community I haven’t seen before.”

“Representation matters, and especially for immigrant communities,” said state Rep. Sam Park, a second generation Korean American Democrat who represents parts of Lawrenceville and Suwanee. He told the AJC, “When they see themselves reflected in leadership, it’s a reminder that the American dream is alive and well, and if I can do it, so can they. It also sends a message that our government is inclusive, and our leadership is inclusive, and gives them incentive to participate in our democracy.”

From left: Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, Michigan Gov. Whitmer and Sen. Cory Booker.

MICHIGAN

Biden will be joined with President Barack Obama on Saturday when they will campaig in Michigan, traditionally a Democratic stronghold. In 2016, the state went to Trump. 

"What Democrats are trying to do and need to do if they're trying to be successful in the mid-terms and in the future is reach voters who don't look necessarily like a traditionally Democratic voter," said Adam Joseph, who canvassed with SAMOSA a group formed after 2016 to increase voting by Indian Americans.

Joseph was also the communications director for Dr. Abdul El-Sayed's gubernatorial campaign. El-Sayed came in second to Gretchen Whitmer in the primaries.

"What I think is amazing about what's happening here is that these are Indian Americans knocking Indian doors," he.told. "This is the community ... engaging with itself."

The largest AAPI ethnic groups in Michigan include: Indian (112,368), Chinese (67,602), Filipino (40,847), Korean (32,893), and Japanese (20,883). From 2010 to 2016, the number of eligible AAPI voters in Michigan grew 31%. This compares to a 3% growth rate for the statewide eligible voting population between 2010 to 2016, according to AAPI Data.

The largest concentration of Asian Americans, about 44%, are in Detroit and it's suburbs, says AAPI Data.

In 2016, Truimp beat Hillary Clinton by only 10,704 votes, In that election, Asian American turnout was abysmal. AAPI activists believe that if AAPI voters had turned out in numbers comparable to the state average, Clinton could have won the state, and possibly the election.

"Our goal is to get people from our community out to vote. ...We felt that we are best equipped to do that because we are from the same community." says Shuvra Das, co-founder of SAMOSA. Indian Americans lean heavily towards the Democrats.

Harris has the Indian American community excited and hope to take part in a history-making vote. Trump's immigration policies which generally limited change of visas for workers and students has become a major issue for the largely immigrant community.

NORTH CAROLINA

Since 2012 the number of Asian Americans eligible to vote in North Carolina grew 55 percent, more than six times the statewide growth rate, according to the nonprofit Asian and Pacific Islander American vote.

In 2016, only about 57% of Asian American voted compared to the overall turnout of 69%.

“I think sometimes when people talk about Asian Americans as not as engaged, they don’t care about these things, I think that’s not necessarily true," says Phian Tran, the voting engagement director for North Carolina Asian Americans Together (NCAAT). "Thinking about the context of Asian American folks coming over and immigrating here, there are so many things to worry about.”

NCAAT recently released it's first poll of voter attitudes among North Carolina’s Asian American population.

“In the polling that we conducted we found that 59% of respondents to our polls say that health access including Medicare for all is among one of their most important public health priorities,” explains Ricky Leung, Senior Director of Programs.

The group says there are about 209,000 Asian American voters in the state, enough to influence the results of this year’s election.

For a democracy to function best, Tran says your civic duty can’t stop at the ballot box. “We cant just vote and say 'my job is done, I've fixed the world.' I don’t believe voting is the thing that’ll change and fix everything, but it’s a great step," he says.

Though Asian Americans make up just 3.5% of the state’s electorate, NCAAT says greater participation could’ve swayed some congressional races in 2016.

TEXAS

Until recently, Texas was not considered a battleground state. This Friday, the last day for early voting in Texas, Kamala Harris will be campaigning in the Lone Star state where she given a wildly enthusiastic welcome when she visited during her Primary campaign. 

Harris' visit is historic as it marks the first time a Democratic vice presidential candidate has campaigned in Texas since 1988 when Lloyd Bentsen, a native Texan was the ticket with Michael Dukakis.

Harris' multi-city visit is a sign that the Democrats think that their ticket could pull an upset in Texas, which has been in the GOP's hip pocket for several presidential cycles. If Biden-Harris could capture the state's 38 electoral votes, it would be a fatal blow to the Trump campaign.

A poll released over the weekend by the Dallas Morning News and the University of Texas at Tyler shows Biden with a small edge over Trump, 48% to 45%.

In the run-up to Nov. 3, Texas Democratic Party’s AAPI Caucus, AAPIs for Biden and the Asian American Democrats of Texas have been conducting a campaign to celebrate and mobilize AAPI voters, running bilingual ads on radio, TV and ethnic media.

Biden is not the only Democrat that would benefit if Texas was to turn blue. There are sizable Asian American communities in Texas districts that hold an outsized importance this year. Democrats are hopeful that they can flip nine seats in the state House to gain a majority in the lower chamber ahead of next year’s legislative session. Key among those efforts are nine seats held by Republicans in which former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke, a Democrat, received more votes than U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, in 2018. In two-thirds of those districts, the Asian share of the population is more than double the statewide share, according to the Texas Tribune. 

“There are some districts where there’s a significant enough level of organization and voters that can make a difference if it’s a matter of turnout and the races are close enough,” said Madeline Hsu, a history professor at the University of Texas at Austin.

Multiple U.S. House seats targeted by Democrats have large Asian American populations, too.

Perhaps the district where the impact of the targeted political campaigning is most clear is the 22nd Congressional District, where Indian AmericanSri Preston Kulkarni is running against Republican Troy Nehls for the seat being vacated by Republican Congressmember Pete Olson.

Kulkarni says his campaign is engaging with voters in 27 different languages in the diverse Fort Bend County district, once a conservative stronghold. The incumbent squeaked a win in 2018 against Kulkarni by only 5 percentage points. After Olson announced he wouldn’t seek reelection in 2020, Democrats identified the seat as one of their top targets.

“The Asian American voters my campaign is talking to every day are ready and enthusiastic for more representation in this country’s halls of power,” Kulkarni told the Texas Tribune. “I think the rise in Asian American turnout is a great sign for our race. These are voters who aren’t overly partisan, they just want reasonable leadership who will fight for them in Congress, rather than an ideology or a political party.”

Also benefitting by the Harris visit and the Democrats' push in Texas is Filipino American candidate Gina Ortiz Jones, running to fill the seat in Congressional District 23, one of the biggest districts in the nation, running along the Texas-Mexico border. Ortiz Jones received an early endorsement from Kamala Harris.

She has a 74% chance of winning the seat, according to Five Thirty-eight, the nonpartisan poll aggregation site. If she were to win, Ortize Jones would be the first openly Lesbian AAPI member of Congress.

EDITOR'S NOTE: A word of caution, this is news sprinkled with opinion. Readers are encouraged to seek multiple news sources to formulate their own positions. 

Republicans target Texas candidate Gina Ortiz Jones' sexual orientation

SCREEN CAPTURE / NBC

Texas Congressional candiate Gina Ortiz Jones and her mother, Victorina Ortiz.

ANALYSIS:

Actually, its a surprise that it took this long for the Republicans to attack Democrat Gina Ortiz Jones by focusing on her sexual orientation.

Filipino American Ortiz Jones, who has been campaigning since 2018, is an openly lesbian Democratic candidate for Congress in Texas.

The attack is a sign of desperation for Tony Gonzalez, Ortiz Jones' GOP opponent for Congressional District 23, a sprawling district that borders Mexico from the outskirts of El Paso to the suburbs of San Antonio. Republicans are notorious for their down and dirty tactics from the notorious racist Southern Strategy employed by Sen. Barry Goldwater and Richard Nixon, the latter's Watergate to seeking Russian assistance in 2016.

But the GOP strategy has backfired. Within 72 hours after the National Republican Congressional Committee asked other GOP and conservative groups to attack Ortiz Jones for being a lesbian, her campaign raised $100,000.

“The outpouring of grassroots support our campaign received after Washington Republicans’ bigoted and homophobic attacks shows just how out of touch they are with Texans in this district,” Jones’ campaign manager Lacey Morrison, told HuffPost Tuesday (Sept. 1).

As first reported by HuffPost last week, the National Republican Congressional Committee asked other GOP and conservative groups to attack Ortiz Jones for being gay. It included an image of the candidate with her partner, as well as other talking points.

It should be pointed out that the same website did not include pictures of other Democratic candidates spouse or partners.

Ortiz Jones, a former Air Force intelligence officer who served in Iraq, narrowly lost to incumbent Republican, Rep. Will Hurd, in 2018. Last year, Hurd retired last year widening the possibility for the Democrats to turn the district blue. The Republicans poured money into the District 23 race. 

Some Republicans have suggested using same-sex marriage as an issue to turn conservative Hispanic Catholics against Democrats. The 23rd is nearly 70% Hispanic. But a 2019  Pew Research Center poll found 58% of Hispanics supported same-sex marriage.

“These personal, homophobic, and transphobic attacks shows how shameless and low Tony Gonzales and the NRCC are willing to go in the race for Texas’s 23rd Congressional District,” HuffPost quoted Rebecca Marques, the Texas state director at the Human Rights Campaign.

“NRCC is stuck using 2004-style scare tactics and just can’t seem to understand that this outdated playbook doesn’t work anymore,” said Marques. “If Tony Gonzales and national Republicans think anti-LGBTQ rhetoric is a winning issue, they’re messing with the wrong Texan.”

After HuffPost's report, Republicans took down the suggested talking points but the photo showing Ortiz Jones and her partner remains on the GOP website.

On Tuesday, Ortiz Jones tweeted: “I remember what it was like to serve under 'Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.' to hide who I am to serve our country ... To the bigots: take your best shot. To everyone else: donate here to join our fight.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: A word of caution, this is news sprinkled with opinion. Readers are encouraged to seek multiple news sources to formulate their own positions.

2020 elections: Seven AAPI candidates receive Obama endorsements

President Barack Obama lent his support to 118 candidates.

Former President Barack Obama issued a list of more than 100 people running for federal and state office that he is endorsing. Among the 118 candidates receiving his backing are seven Asian Americans.

"I’m proud to endorse this diverse and hopeful collection of thoughtful, empathetic, and highly qualified Democrats," said Obama in a statement. "Together, these candidates will help us redeem our country’s promise by sticking up for working class people, restoring fairness and opportunity to our system, and fighting for the good of all Americans — not just those at the top."

The Asian Americans candidates include Rep. T.J. Cox, a Filipino American in California; Rep. Andy Kim, a Korean American in New Jersey; Gina Ortiz Jones, a FilAm running in Texas' 23rd  Congressional District; Sri Preston Kulkarni, running in for the 22nd Congressional District seat in Texas; and Sara Gideon, an Indian American challenging Maine's U.S. Senator Susan Collins.

State office candidates receiving Obama's blessing are Ronnie Chatterji, running for North Carolina's Treasurer; and Bangladesh Nina Ahmad, a candidate for Auditor General for  Pennsylvania.

According to a statement from his office, Obama selected candidates “because their election would advance key goals: winning control of the U.S. Senate and holding the majority in the U.S. House; electing Democrats who will support fair redistricting in 2021; supporting alumni of his campaigns and Administration; and promoting diverse, emerging leaders for this time.”

Sri Preston Kulkarni, left, and Gina Ortiz Jones were among the candidates in Texas endorsed by Obama

Obama's endorsements were in 17 states but he lent his support to over two dozen candidates in Texas, the most of any state.

According to the press release, this list is only the first wave of candidates that he will back. More endorsements are sure to come from the former president, who is one of the most respected men in the country, according to polls. 

Obama's blessing is not always that impactful. We know what happened to Hillary Clinton in 2016. Of the candidates Obama endorsed in 2018 midterms, 232 won their elections and 110 candidates lost.

"They make me optimistic not just about our party’s chances in November, but about our country’s future long after that," said Obama. "So if you’re in one of their districts or states, make sure you vote for them this fall. And if you can, vote early — by mail or in person."

For the complete list of Obama endorsees, click here.

Texas Primary: Ortiz Jones, Kulkarni pass their initial challenges

Sri Preston Kulkarni, left, and Gina Ortiz Jones seek to make Texas history in November.

Both AAPI candidates who want make history by representing Texas in Congress passed their first test with flying colors on Super Tuesday.

Democrats Sri Preston Kulkarni and Gina Ortiz Jones easily bested their Democratic rivals to face Republican challengers in November.

Ortiz Jones, who would become the first Filipino American and first gay representative for Texas if she wins in the contest for Congressional District 23, garnered two-thirds of the votes cast Tuesday (March 3).

"I’m honored to be the Democratic nominee in #TX23. I’ve dedicated my life to public service, and I’m running for Congress to expand the opportunities that allowed me to grow up healthy, get a quality education, and serve our country," Ortiz Jones tweeted Tuesday night.

"Folks in South and West Texas are ready to send a leader to Washington who will fight for quality, lower cost health care, responsible and compassionate immigration reform, and an economy that works for everyone," she said.

“We look forward to making sure that this district is finally well-represented,” said Jones, 39, a San Antonio native and former U.S. Air Force intelligence officer.

The incumbent, Republican Will Hurd, is not running for reelection after eking out a win over Ortiz Jones in 2018.

The two Republicans seeking to take his place, Tony Gonzales and Raul Gonzales, failed to win more than 50% of the total. As the two top vote-getters in a field of nine Republicans, they will have a runoff May 26,

Kulkarni, who also almost upset incumbent Republican Pete Olsen, in 2018, seeks to become the first Indian American congressmember from Texas. Olsen, like Hurd, chose not run again for Congress opening the door for a wide-open contest in November.

Kulkarni easily beat his  opponents to become the Democratic flag bearer in Congressional District 22.

As the victorious trend became evident Tuesday night, Kulkarni said: “I’m cautiously optimistic that we are going to be successful, but I really am proud, ecstatic about the fact that inclusion won today because we are running the most inclusive campaign across the country.

“We had 21 languages, reaching out to women who were registered but never voted in their lives, we reached out to all groups that have been ignored before, today was a victory for inclusion, last year we came in first place, but this year we had an even bigger margin because we were even more inclusive.”

As in CD 23, the two Republican frontrunners, Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls and conservative activist Kathaleen Wall are headed for a May 26 runoff to be the GOP candidate to run against Kulkarni in a contest that is rated to be a toss-up.

The AAPI Victory Fund, a political action committee, endorsed both Ortiz Jones and Kulkarni in their Primary runs.

Both of the Texas races are expected to be hotly contested in November. The Republican and Democratic national parties see the races for CD22 and CD23 critical to power their  influence in the House and will be pouring money into the campaigns. 

Will Asian American voters turn deep-red Texas to purple?

At a recent meeting of Texas' Tarrant County Democratic Party group representing Asian Americans, the packed room in a Vietnamese restaurant broke into whoops and hollers, a hallmark of Texas celebrations.
“This is the fastest-growing community in Tarrant County,” said Aftab Siddiqui, its co-chair, to whoops from the audience packed into the small Vietnamese restaurant. “And also the state.”

But aided by both rapid demographic shifts and a backlash to Donald Trump's racist and anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies, the suburbs around Forth Worth and other Texas cities are growing more racially diverse and the newcomers -- particularly Asian Americans -- tend to vote for Democrats. 

In 2018, Democrats flipped two congressional seats in Texas. Now, they're eyeing at least six more GOP-held districts that may be vulnerable, including the 22nd District, which is anchored in Fort Bend County, along with parts of Harris and Brazoria counties.

The Asian American Pacific Islanders Committee was established a month ago, the latest sign of how Democrats believe a changing population might help them end the Republicans’ 30-year hold on Texas. The state’s Hispanic population is expected to surpass the number of white residents in 2022.

At the same time, an influx of Asian Americans is providing organizers like Siddiqui, who arrived from Pakistan in the 1990s, with hope that an influx of new voters can make a decisive difference. According to 2016 presidential election exit polling, 72% of Asian Americans in Texas voted for Hillary Clinton, compared to 26% who backed Donald Trump.

The Asian population is the fastest-growing group in the state, according to the US Census Bureau, which estimates that it grew 42% between 2010 and 2017.

At about 1.2 million people, it is still a small minority among a total population of a little more than 28 million, but Siddiqui said many were newly energized.

Sri Kulkarni, left, and Gina Ortiz Jones are running for Congress in Texas.

This is good news for Asian American candidates Gina Ortiz Jones running to represent the sprawling 23rd Congressional District and Sri Kulkarni in the 22nd District in the suburbs of Houston.

Ortiz Jones, a Filipina American, hopes to win the seat that has been left open since incumbent Will Hurd, a moderate Republican, announced he would not seek reelection. Some say Hurd saw the writing on the wall as he was put in jeopardy by Trump's harsh immigration policies that he mostly opposed.

"We have already scared out Will Hurd," says Ortiz Jones, who lost to Hurd by a meager 1000 votes.

Instead of writing off Asian American voters because they either don't vote or vote Republican, Kulkarni has staked his entire campaign on the voting bloc, believing the growing number of minority voters in Texas' 22nd Congressional District are ready to oust Republican Rep. Pete Olson. The Indian American narrowly lost to Olson in the 2018 mid-terms. He hopes that Democrats will come out in droves in 2020 because of the high interest in the Presidential race.

"We don't have representation," Kulkarni says of Asian Americans in Houston. "You look at the population or look around at the area and you see our diversity. But then you see our leaders here. ... For a district that is 60% minority to never have had any minority representing them, there is something off there."

There are over 82,000 registered Asian voters in District 22, Kulkarni told the Daily Texan. If they all show up to vote, it could be the first election ever decided by the Asian vote in this district.

“Whatever happens … I’m going to be very proud of the effort we made,” Kulkarni said. “But clearly, if we’re successful, it’s going to have a dramatic effect with ripples throughout the country.”

Activist groups say that because of “voter suppression tactics used by the state and other entities,” the diversity of Texas is not reflected in state legislature and minority communities’ interests are not reflected in state policy.

“Our state legislators are generally a lot whiter and a lot wealthier than Texans,” said Hani Mirza, senior attorney at the Texas Civil Rights Project, a nonprofit organization based in Austin.

Voting rights groups have long accused Texas of extreme gerrymandering and restrictive voter registration rules, that in effect have rigged the state’s election rules in ways that disempower black and brown voters.

“The tactics used in gerrymandering can dilute minority votes to where they can't have their voice heard in elections,” said Mirza. He added that when drawing electoral lines, state legislature has broken up minority communities to dilute their votes, or packed minority groups into as few districts as possible to suppress their voice.

Texas is due for a federal census in 2020 and redistricting process in 2021 where electoral maps may be redrawn.

“Because of the rhetoric that has been going against communities of color, this has become a lot more understood that, we have to step forward and fight for our rights in this current atmosphere,” Siddiqui said, explaining a surge of interest that prompted the new group to serve people in and around Fort Worth.

That has put the state on the cusp of change. With the second most votes in the Electoral College -- California is tops -- Republicans need to retain Texas in their corner to counter the expected Democratic victory in California.

“Texas is at a watershed moment but in politics it is all about turning out the vote,”Siddiqui said. “If we can do that, we can turn it blue, but it might still go back and forth.”

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Indian American is the frontrunner in Texas congressional seat

Sri Preston Kulkarni reached out to minority voters in his 2018 campaign.

The campaign of Sri Preston Kulkarni got a huge lift with the retirement of Republican incumbent, Rep. Pete Olson.

Texas, once a solidly red state, is turning purple.

Olson won re-election in 2018 with a narrow victory of first-time campaigner Kulkarni.

“My amazing wife, Nancy, has carried the lion’s share of parenting our two great children. Her mother has suffered health issues that require more care and attention,” Olson said. “As someone who has long advocated for policies that put our families first, it’s time for me to take my own advice and be a more consistent presence to help our family.”

The son of an Indian immigrant father and a direct descendant of Sam Houston on his mother's side, Kulkarni must now be considered the frontrunner in Congressional District 22. 

Surprisingly, the district, covering the Houston's southeastern suburbs, is one of Texas' most racially diverse. The district is just 40% white (down from 45 percent in 2010), 26% Hispanic, 19% Asian and 12% black, and 43% of adults hold college degrees, among the highest in the state.

Kulkarni almost upset Olson in 2018 by focusing his campaign on getting minorities, who historically had low voting rates, to the polls.

“When I first started, I was told not to bother with the Asian American vote because they don’t turn out,” Kulkarni told the Observer. “Well, I said, maybe that’s because you’re not reaching out to them.”

Last month when Trump began attacking four congresswomen of color, Olson urged Trump to "disavow" his "go back" comments, but declined to vote to condemn them as racist on the House floor. Kulkarni, who grew up in Fort Bend County and speaks six languages, flew under the radar for most of 2018, but nearly caught Olson napping and will have much more DC support this time.

“We have people who are pumped up to come out and knock on doors right now, ..." Kulkarni said. during his 2018 campaign “People wanted change in this district, and since we've built all that infrastructure, it would be a waste to start from scratch.”

Kulkarni must first get past the Democratic primary, where he already faces Attorney Nyanza Davis Moore and Pearland City Councilman Derrick Reed.

“Republicans across Texas are terrified of losing their seats in 2020 and we can’t blame Pete Olson for choosing to retire instead of being thrown out of office next year," said Democratic Party spokesman Avery Jaffe.

Olson's retirement announcement preceded a similar announcement last week by Rep. Will Hurd, who decided not to run for reelection in neighboring District 23 opening the door for another Asian American candidate, Gina Ortiz Jones, who lost to Hurd by less than 1000 votes in the midterm elections.

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Gina Ortiz Jones’ GOP opponent drops out of congressional race

Will Hurd's retirement opens the door for Gina Ortiz Jones, right.

The road to Congress just got a lot smoother for Gina Ortiz Jones when her opponent, incumbent Republican Will Hurd announced Thursday (Aug. 1) that he would not be seeking reelection in Texas' Congressional District 23.

Hurd's decision to retire opens the door for his chief challenger, Democrat Ortiz Jones, who, if she wins in 2020, would become the first Filipina American elected to Congress.

The three-term congressman rocked the Republican establishment when he made his surprise announcement in a statement and on Twitter, where Hurd wrote he will continue to "pursue opportunities outside the halls of Congress to solve problems at the nexus between technology and national security."

Hurd, a former CIA intelligence officer and the lone Republican African American in the House of Representatives, said that he's "taken a conservative message to places that don't often hear it. I'm going to (stay) involved in politics to help make sure the Republican Party looks like America."

He was one of the few Republicans who criticized Trump around immigration, the border wall and, more recently, Trump's racist messages against four House members of color and against Rep. Elijah Cummings, who represents Baltimore.

Despite his critical positions, as Air Force veteran Ortiz Jones has repeatedly pointed out, when it came time to vote on the House floor, Hurd would vote along along party lines supporting Trump.

National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Emmer said the 23rd District leans Republican, and the party "will fight tooth and nail to ensure it remains in Republican hands in 2020."

Ortiz Jones narrowly lost to Hurd in 2018 and should assume the role of favorite in the sprawling district which has a long stretch of border with Mexico and is 70% Latino.

It won't be a cakewalk for Ortiz Jones. She will still have to fight for the seat. Two other Democrats have filed to run for the Party's nomination: Activist Rosalinda Ramos Abuabara and  journalist Liz Wahl. 

Interestingly, one of Ortiz Jones' Democratic rivals is another Filipina American, television journalist Liz Wahl. Her biggest claim to fame is when she quit on air,  her news anchor job with Russia Today, a television network, after she figured out that it was just a Russian propaganda organ.

Ramos Abuabara is counting on her involvement with the local LGBTQ community and to energize the Latino vote to challenge Ortiz Jones.

The Texas Primary is March 3, 2020.

Below is Will Hurd's retirement announcement:

There are many reasons why I love America. I have learned over my three terms in Congress, by representing people that voted for me, didn’t vote for me or didn’t vote at all, that America is better than the sum of its parts. Serving people of all walks of life has shown me that way more unites our country than divides us. This understanding has allowed me to win elections many people thought I couldn’t, especially when the political environment was overwhelmingly against my party.

In this experiment called America we strive to create a more perfect union. Our founding principle of a right to free speech has given us the freedom to disagree, and the resulting competition of ideas has produced policies tackling a variety of problems. As has happened many times throughout our history, we now face generational defining challenges at home and abroad.

We are in a geopolitical competition with China to have the world’s most important economy. There is a global race to be the leader in artificial intelligence, because whoever dominates AI will rule the world. We face growing cyberattacks every day. Extreme poverty, lack of economic opportunity and violence in Central America is placing unbearable pressure on our borders. While Congress has a role in these issues, so does the private sector and civil society.

After reflecting on how best to help our country address these challenges, I have made the decision to not seek reelection for the 23rd Congressional District of Texas in order to pursue opportunities outside the halls of Congress to solve problems at the nexus between technology and national security.

I left a job I loved in the CIA as an undercover officer to meet what I believed to be a need for new leadership in Congress on intelligence and national security matters. I wanted to help the Intelligence Community in a different way by bringing my knowledge and experience to Congress. I’m leaving the House of Representatives to help our country in a different way. I want to use my knowledge and experience to focus on these generational challenges in new ways. It was never my intention to stay in Congress forever, but I will stay involved in politics to grow a Republican Party that looks like America.

As the only African American Republican in the House of Representatives and as a Congressman who represents a 71% Latino district, I’ve taken a conservative message to places that don’t often hear it. Folks in these communities believe in order to solve problems we should empower people not the government, help families move up the economic ladder through free markets not socialism and achieve and maintain peace by being nice with nice guys and tough with tough guys. These Republican ideals resonate with people who don’t think they identify with the Republican Party. Every American should feel they have a home in our party.

While I have 17 months left in my term, I’m very proud of the last 55. There were times when it was fun and times when it wasn’t. When people were mad, it was my job to listen. When people felt hopeless, it was my job to care. When something was broken, it was my job to find out how to fix it.

When border patrol agents weren’t getting the tools they needed to do their job, I stepped in to help. When I found an opportunity to expose more students to computer science, I partnered with non-profits to train local teachers to incorporate coding into math class. I made sure taxpayer money was used more efficiently by changing how the government purchases IT goods and services.

It was never about the size nor difficulty nor sexiness of the problem; It was about making a difference. My philosophy has been simple. Be honest. Treat people with respect. Never shy away from a fight. Never accept “no” or the status quo and never hesitate to speak my mind. 

Two centuries ago, I would have been counted as three-fifths of a person, and today I can say I’ve had the honor of serving three terms in Congress. America has come a long way and we still have more to do in our pursuit of a more perfect union. However, this pursuit will stall if we don’t all do our part. When I took the oath of office after joining the CIA, I swore to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all its enemies. I took the same oath on my first day in Congress. This oath doesn’t have a statute of limitations. I will keep fighting to ensure the country I love excels during what will be a time of unprecedented technological change. I will keep fighting to make certain we successfully meet these generational challenges head on. I will keep fighting to remind people why I love America: that we are neither Republican nor Democrat nor Independent; We are better than the sum of our parts.

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Sunday Read: Texas candiate breaking ground as an LGBTQ Filipina American

Democratic candidate Gina Ortiz Jones and her mother Victoria, a teacher.

June is Pride Month. Gina Ortiz Jones could not only be the first Filipina American in Congress, she could be the first openly gay congressmember from the state of Texas if she beats incumbent Republican, Rep. Will Hurd this November.

"I was talking to some local leaders and they asked me if I would run as openly out. And I said look, given what’s going on right now coming out of Austin and also what’s coming out of Washington D.C." said Ortiz to Tagg magazine.

"I’m going to run as openly gay, openly first generation, openly veteran, openly Asian-American, openly everything. Right now is not the time to be closeted or be ashamed of who you are or who you love," she said.

In the 2018 Mid-terms, she barely lost by a slim 926 votes in the contest for the 23rd Congressional District. Some say if Rep. Beto O'Rourke had endorsed her she would have gained the seat but the wildly popular O'Rourke promised Hurd, one of his best friends in Congress that he would remain neutral in the 23rd Disrict race.

For 2020, O’Rourke, a candidate for the Democratic nomination for POTUS, indicated Wednesday (June 5) that he does not plan to repeat his neutrality vow and, instead, “will be supporting” Ortiz Jones if she emerges victorious in the Democratic primary.Jones acknowledged her contest has significance for the LGBT community. If elected, she’d be the first openly gay person elected to Congress from Texas, according to The Blade.

“I’d be honored to be the first, but it is more important that I am not the last. And that’s what this race is about,” Jones told The Blade. “It’s about protecting all the opportunities that allowed me even just to get to this place, right? So, we are overdue in terms of representation, and I think we’re seeing every single day just how quickly the progress that we fought for can be ripped away from us if we don’t stand up.”

Ortiz Jones is a lesbian first-generation Filipina American who served as an intelligence officer in the Air Force in Iraq under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”In 2017, the former Obama White House staffer tweeted about how she came out to hre Filipina mother. She wrote:

“Mom, I think I like girls.”

My mother replied, not bothering to look up from the magazine she was reading, “I think you just like the clothes that they’re wearing.

And that’s how I came out to my mom at the age of 15. In hindsight, I knew she was just trying to protect me. I think it was difficult for her to accept what I was saying at the time, because she knew it would be harder for me.

And it was. It was hard to fully enjoy my time at Boston University, because the four-year Air Force ROTC Scholarship I earned required that I sign a piece of paper agreeing not to engage in homosexual behavior. Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was the policy, and my education depended on it. My education depended on me not being able to be me.

It didn’t get any easier when I entered the military. I had the honor of working with some of the finest people I have ever met - true patriots that we should all be thankful made the decision to wear our Nation’s cloth. However, I wish I knew them better, and I wish they knew me better.

The immeasurable cost of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell for me was not being able to form the type of bonds that military members are known for forming with one another. Small talk about weekend plans or questions about my personal life were always exercises in deflection or outright lying. Ironically, the cost to be part of the team, was not being part of the team.

My girlfriend teases me sometimes for not sharing enough about myself on social media, particularly as I endeavor into an arena where people need to know the person, before they want to hear the policies. I can’t help but think that some of that is still related to the precautionary steps I took as a cadet and officer. All this to say, there are effects to not coming out, or feeling as though you’re not able to come out.

Which is why given my personal and professional experiences, I understand “coming out” to be a defiant expression that conveys an understanding of one’s worth and the necessity of their voice in our great American project. Coming out is courageous, and given what we’re facing as a country and as a community, courage can be in no shortage. For some, this journey is easy; for some, it’s still a challenge.

Happy Knowing Your Worth Day

Gina

Lucas Acosta, LGBTQ media director for the Democratic National Committee, said Jones is the right candidate for the LGBT community facing continued hostility from the Trump administration.

“In the face of sustained Republican efforts to roll back the progress we’ve made, leaders within the LGBTQ community, and LGBTQ women of color in particular, are stepping up, running for office and fighting back,” Acosta said. “Ortiz Jones will be a strong advocate not only for her constituents, but also for the LGBTQ community and for all queer women of color, who deserve a voice in Congress.”

Donald Trump's administration has worked to roll back LGBT rights despite his promise during the 2016 election to be a friend to LGBT people. Ortiz Jones rhtorically asked The Blade if Trump has kept that promise.

“The answer is that he has not,” Ortiz Jones told The Blade. “He’s anything but a friend. I mean, with friends like that, who needs enemies?”

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