While most voters are focused on the wild rollercoaster of the U.S. Presidential election, a disturbing trend is emerging for the AANHPI community that deserves some attention. After a series of hard fought historical political gains in the last two election cycles, several Asian American elected officials now face serious re-election challenges this year.
PA HOUSE REP. DR. ARVIND VENKAT
Dr. Arvind Venkat, a Pennsylvania State House Representative, is under attack by a billionaire funding negative ads. Venkat recently sent out this email appeal for support:
Venkat’s parents immigrated to the United States and inspired him to become a physician. As an ER doctor, Venkat treats patients in crisis and works to address the health issues facing his community. He actively looks for ways to give back to the community and serves on the McCandless-Franklin Park Ambulance Authority to make sure our vital EMS services are available for the entire community.
As a state representative, Venkat focuses on making health care more affordable and accessible, investing in public education and our first responders, protecting reproductive rights, passing gun safety legislation, and preserving ballot access and respect for our election results regardless of their outcome. He represents the communities of Hampton, McCandless, Franklin Park, Ohio Township, Emsworth, Ben Avon, Ben Avon Heights, and Kilbuck.
GA HOUSE REP. DR. MICHELLE AU
In Georgia, House Representative Dr. Michelle Au is facing a candidate who Republican Governor Brian Kemp has pledged to support with hundreds of thousands of dollars. Politico reported that, “The governor (Kemp) also plans to spend seven figures from his state leadership committee to boost Republicans in legislative races in Georgia this year, efforts that are expected to indirectly help the GOP at the top of the ticket too.”
Au is a proud second-generation Chinese-American. Her parents immigrated to the United States with their parents in the 1960s after a generation of hardship following the Second World War. With the help of family, friends, scholarships, and no shortage of good luck, each of my parents graduated from college and medical school. She grew up in New York City, the product of a strong public-school education and graduated magna cum laude from Wellesley College in Massachusetts. After Wellesley, she attended Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and stayed on at Columbia to do residency training in both pediatrics and anesthesiology. She has been practicing anesthesiology for more than ten years in Atlanta and I’m an equity partner at Physician Specialists in Anesthesia, a private practice group. She is married and a proud parent of three energetic children and lives in the St. Ives neighborhood.
MI HOUSE REP. MAI XIONG
Michigan County Commissioner Mai Xiong recently won a seat in a special election that helped Michigan Democrats regain control of the state House of Representatives. However, in a disturbing betrayal of loyalty she now faces primary challenges in August from fellow Democrats. If she prevails in August, she will face a difficult path to re-election in what was a blue seat that was redistricted and is now a competitive purple district.
Mai was born in a refugee camp in Thailand and was subsequently resettled in Ohio. While her parents hardly understood English, they believed in the importance of obtaining an education and U.S. citizenship. In 1997, they became naturalized citizens. In 2003, after graduating high school, she moved to Warren, Michigan to attend the College for Creative Studies. After graduating college, she met her husband, Adam Kue whose father had been a high-ranking military officer in the Royal Lao Army. After marriage, she and Adam chose to start their family and are raising four children. She was elected by the residents of Warren to serve as the first Asian-American and former refugee on the Macomb County Board of Commissioners prior to winning her current seat in the Michigan state legislature.
U.S. REP. RASHIDA TLAIB
U.S. House Representative Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian American serving in the U.S. Congress, is facing a tough re-election challenge funded by millions of dollars from pro-Israel donors. Following the controversy caused by her comments on the Israel-Hamas war, Newsweek reported that a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate was offered $20 million to drop out of the U.S. Senate race and challenge Tlaib instead.
Opensecrets.org reports that millions have been raised to oppose progressive members of Congress that called for a ceasefire including Tlaib.
Tlaib made history in 2008 by becoming the first Muslim woman to ever serve in the Michigan Legislature. When a billionaire slumlord refused to follow the law and get polluting semi-trucks off neighborhood streets, Tlaib organized residents with the We Have A Right To Breathe campaign and forced him to fulfill his obligations to protect public health. When large piles of black dust started showing up on the Detroit riverfront and blowing into homes and parks, and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality told residents everything was fine, Tlaib collected samples and got the substance tested herself – exposing the cancer-causing “petroleum coke” as a threat, and getting it removed.
As an attorney at the Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice, Tlaib took the movement to the courts, fighting racist emergency managers, abusive state agencies, and leading the fight for community benefits agreements that promote equitable development. She is currently the Congresswoman for Michigan’s 12th Congressional District, which includes the city of Detroit, Dearborn, Southfield and many surrounding communities.
OAKLAND MAYOR SHENG THAO
Opponents of Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao recently submitted what appears to be enough signatures to qualify a recall election. However, the recall effort is also under an investigation as a gray-money effort allegedly funded by out-of-town billionaires according to the complaint filed by Oakland’s Public Ethics Commission.
Mayor Thao was quoted in a KQED report saying, “We will not be distracted by the politics of out-of-town billionaires or special interests, and I will continue to work every day for Oakland’s interests.”Sheng grew up in poverty, the 7th of 10 kids. Her parents met in a refugee camp in Thailand after each fled their home country of Laos and the genocide against the Hmong people. Sheng’s mom, widowed and eight months pregnant, had been shot in the arm during her escape. Sheng’s dad had helped many other refugees flee across the Mekong River during his journey. Sheng’s parents immigrated to America, settling in Stockton, where they would make a living farming vegetables. It was here Sheng was born.
As a kid, Sheng’s family was always on social services. For a time, they lived in public housing. Sheng grew up with the very real fear of not having a stable home, so she understands what so many families worry about every day. Sheng got her first job at 16, and left home at 17. In her early 20s, she found herself in an abusive relationship, isolated from family—and pregnant. Sheng was able to escape this domestic violence, but soon had a baby and nowhere to go. For months, Sheng and her son, Ben slept on strangers’ couches, and sometimes in her car.
When Ben was 10 months old, Sheng got a job at Merritt College, and also started taking classes. And, with the help of welfare, and a Head Start program for Ben, she put herself through school. She became class Valedictorian, then transferred to UC Berkeley, where she co-founded a food access program for low-income students and graduated with a degree in legal studies.
Finding her calling in public service, Sheng joined the office of Oakland’s Councilmember At-Large, which represents the entire city, and worked her way up to Chief of Staff. In that role, Sheng helped manage multiple City budgets, fought for affordable housing, helped small businesses open, worked to get guns off our streets, and fought for cleaner air and water. Sheng knew she could do even more as an elected official herself. So she ran for City Council District 4 and won, becoming the first Hmong-American woman Councilmember in California history. Sheng was subsequently elected mayor of the city in 2022.
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