ISSUE 31 — NOVEMBER 1, 2021By Andrew Peng, Mary Yang, and Shawna Chen
👋 Good morning and welcome to a special edition of The Yappie’s Asian American + Pacific Islander politics briefing! Support our work by making a donation. send tips to [email protected], and apply to join our team.
THE BIG STORY
🗳️ ELECTION PREVIEW—THE RACES TO WATCH: From Massachusetts to Ohio and New Jersey, Asian American candidates are on track for historic victories in state and local races this year. While turnout in off-year elections is typically lower, Tuesday’s results could also provide insight into AAPI voters’ priorities ahead of the 2022 midterms, The Yappie’s Andrew Peng writes. Read our full election coverage here.
Three major cities could elect their first mayors of Asian descent, POLITICO's Marissa Martinez reports. Progressive Taiwanese American Michelle Wu (D), who holds a double-digit lead in the polls, is almost certain to become the first woman of color elected to lead Boston. Indian and Tibetan candidate Aftab Pureval (D) appears to be the frontrunner in Cincinnati’s mayoral race, while limited polling suggests Black and Japanese lawyer Bruce Harrell (D) has the upper hand in Seattle.
Two states are watching growing AAPI electorates in advance of key gubernatorial contests. In New Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy (D) and rival Jack Ciattarelli (R) rolled out “the red carpet to court Asian American voters,” according to The Record’s Mary Chao. The Democratic National Committee also launched a wave of ads in Virginia AAPI print outlets to aid former Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) in his race against Glenn Youngkin (R).
McAuliffe and Youngkin have dueled it out in recent weeks over critical race theory (CRT), a concept that links racial discrimination to the nation's foundations and legal system, per Rayna Song. Youngkin is hoping to appeal to voters, including Asian Americans, who view CRT as an anti-American and anti-capitalist doctrine.
Don’t forget: All 100 seats in Virginia’s House of Delegates are up for grabs on Tuesday, where several Asian American candidates, including Irene Shin (D) and Harold Pyon (R), are hoping to replace incumbents. Meanwhile, Asian women like Shama Haider and Ellen Kim could be headed to the New Jersey legislature, The 19th reports.
ON THE TRAIL
🔥 DEMS SECURE MAJORITY IN CNMI HOUSE: An Oct. 16 special election handed Democrats a governing majority in the Northern Mariana Islands’ 20-seat House of Representatives, the Marianas Variety reports. Corina Magofna’s (D) victory over Grace Sablan Vaiagae (R) in District 3 means Democrats now have nine seats in the chamber, while Republicans have eight, according to Ballotpedia.
The state’s GOP governor will have to learn to work with a Democratic-led legislature as the territory determines next steps amid an increasingly threatening climate crisis, The Yappie’s Shawna Chen writes.
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😡 2022 WATCH—SF’S RECALL FEVER: Californians voted heavily against an attempt o remove Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) from office earlier this year, but other petitions to recall officials are still in play, The Yappie’s Mary Yang notes.
COVID anger is driving calls to remove three San Francisco Board of Education officials—including Vice President Faauga Moliga, the city’s only Pacific Islander elected leader.
Voters are also preparing to oust Commissioner Alison Collins, who was stripped of her committee assignments based on tweets she wrote in 2016, which called on Asians to stand up against Trump and anti-Blackness.
A separate vote to recall San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin will likely happen by mid-March, SFGATE’s Eric Ting writes. Asian American groups have said Boudin needs to provide more timely communication with families of victims impacted by hate incidents in the city. They’ve also expressed concerns over Boudin’s response to the city’s surge in anti-Asian hate, especially his office’s handling of the Vicha Ratanapakdee case, according to ABC7’s Dion Lim. Ratanapakdee, an 84-year-old Thai grandfather, was killed in January.
THE BIDEN ERA
📡 ON OUR RADAR
The Supreme Court will hear arguments from 13 GOP-led states on whether to revive a 2019 Trump immigration rule that faced fierce legal opposition from AAPI activists. The public charge rule, which was ended by the Biden administration, allowed immigration officers to deny green cards if an applicant relied on certain forms of financial or social assistance.
SPOTLIGHTING ANTI-AAPI BULLYING: Activists, community leaders, and celebrities gathered virtually on Oct. 23 for the first-ever Changemakers Summit as part of an effort to raise the alarm around a sharp increase in bullying against AAPI youth, The Yappie’s Shawna Chen and Andrew Peng report. First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, who gave opening remarks, made an appearance, as did prolific activist Helen Zia.
🌱 PUSHING FOR CHANGE: Ahead of the COP26 Glasgow climate conference, Pacific Islanders are calling on world leaders to center Indigenous communities in climate action plans, Shawna Chen writes for Axios. Pacific nations are coping with increased climate uncertainty without adequate money for disaster preparation, per the Honolulu Civil Beat's Thomas Heaton.
TMT ACTIVISTS BLAST U.S. ATTORNEY PICK: Native Hawaiians are increasingly voicing opposition to Biden’s choice for U.S. attorney for Hawaiʻi, the Associated Press reports. Clare Connors, who has served as the state’s attorney general since 2019, was recommended by Sens. Mazie Hirono (D) and Brian Schatz (D). Activists, however, have criticized her office’s prosecution of Native Hawaiian elders during 2019 protests against construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope, which would occupy sacred Indigenous land.
Meanwhile… Biden will nominate Cindy Chung to serve as the Western District of Pennsylvania’s first Asian American top prosecutor. The president also plans to tap UCLA law and Asian American studies professor Jerry Kang for the National Council on the Humanities.
ON THE HILL
🏛️ UPDATE—AG PRESSURED ON CHINA INITIATIVE: Members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus pushed U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on Friday to shutter a controversial Trump-era program that continues to draw increasing fire from Asian American activists. The Justice Department did not respond to The Yappie's request for comment.
Context: Bloomberg reports that the Justice Department has been increasing oversight of China Initiative cases under Garland. The agency is also “moving more cautiously” amid mounting criticism from Asian American civil rights groups following its failed prosecution of Anming Hu in September.
Catch up: Two surveys released ahead of Garland’s discussions with AAPI lawmakers contend that the China Initiative has harmed scientists of Chinese heritage. Rep. Ted Lieu (D-California), who led nearly 100 Congress members in calling for an investigation in July, prodded Garland on alleged racial profiling of Asians earlier this month.
👀 SPOTTED—Biden’s Build Back Better framework includes expansions of Supplemental Security Income and Medicaid for residents of the U.S. territories, The Guam Daily Post notes.
In other news: The Senate confirmed Tom Udall as U.S. ambassador to the Independent State of Samoa last Tuesday.
AAPI NATION
Here's what else is happening across America..
Asians are heavily underrepresented in U.S. sports. Bodybuilder and LGBTQ advocate Amazin LeThi told The Yappie’s Samson Zhang and Mary Yang how she’s working to change that.
Advocacy groups are urging New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) to sign legislation that would require state agencies to collect disaggregated data on Asian ethnic groups, City & State New York reports. The measure, which is sponsored by Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou (D), was last vetoed in 2019.
A group of NYC taxi drivers are nearly two weeks into a hunger strike in a bid to win more debt relief. Taxi drivers who took out costly loans to buy medallions—licenses required for cab operations which were once worth over a million dollars—now face financial ruin, even with a new city program that would grant drivers up to $20,000 for use toward their loans. With the rise of rideshares, “the medallion plummeted in value, many drivers lost their livelihoods and were still stuck with crushing debt,” union president Bhairavi Desai told NPR. “Nine drivers took their own lives since the crash.”
The number of AAPI LGBTQ candidates increased from five in 2019 to 12 in 2021, per a new report from the LGBTQ Victory Fund. Overall, AAPIs represent 2.9% of LGBTQ candidates in 2021.
Neglect and failure to respond to COVID outbreaks have led to a spate of deaths among Foster Farms workers in California, a KQED investigation found. The company’s lack of transparency has led to protests from its employees, about a quarter of whom are Indian. In a meeting with California Attorney General Rob Bonta this week, Sikh advocacy group Jakara Movement pushed for better enforcement of laws protecting farmworkers.
After almost three-and-a-half years of flying in forensic pathologists from Hawai‘i—wait time could last up to four weeks, even in cases of suspicious deaths or homicide investigations—Guam is finally on its way to securing a chief medical examiner, according to The Guam Daily Post.
In Nevada, AAPI voters saw the largest turnout jump of any racial or ethnic group in the 2020 election cycle, Nevada Independent analyzes from data released by Catalist.
A vast majority of Asian Americans support federal policies that would increase wages for early child-care workers and require paid leave for workers, according to a YouGov poll.
Finally… Shohei Ohtani, the 27-year-old Japanese pitcher and hitter of the Los Angeles Angels became the 16th recipient of the MLB Commissioner’s Historic Achievement Award this week, reports NBC Asian America’s Kimmy Yan. Japanese national Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners received the award in 2005.
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