By Paul Lin
Asian American Life @AALCUNYTV
One of the youngest elected officials in the country just happens to be Asian American. Jonathan Wong is just 24 years old and a councilman for Mahwah Township, NJ. He’s also a student at Brooklyn Law School.
To represent his town, Wong had to have a wide appeal to voters, not just to younger constituents and Asian Americans of Filipino and Chinese descent, which are Wong’s ethnic heritage.
“You have to have a good message for all the residents, all varieties of income, all varieties of races, all variety of ages,” said Wong in an interview with Asian American Life.
He bested 10 other candidates in 2014 to win a seat on Mahwah Township Council, running on a platform of transparency in government and low taxes. That message resonated with voters, overcoming opponents who kept highlighting Wong’s youth and inexperience.
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“I said it didn’t matter that I was inexperienced because I was running to make good decisions for the town,” Wong said. “What my votes would stand for was: Does this affect Mahwah in a positive way? Does this preserve our community and how does this affect future generations?”
Wong’s entry to politics is part of a wider push by Asian Americans to represent, at a time when demographics show growth in voters ready to flex their political muscle.
A UCLA report projects the number of registered Asian American voters to double in the next 25 years. In that scenario, one out of every three Asian Americans would be a registered voter.
It’s high time for Asians to represent, Wong believes.
“Asian Americans are underrepresented in government which is a shame because this is our home too,” he said.
UCLA also found that the number of Asian Americans in public office has swelled to historic levels, more than 4-thousand across the United States.
Wong’s achievement as a young politician was recently recognized by TOFA-NY, The Outstanding Filipino Americans in New York – at Carnegie Hall in Manhattan, an event that was both exciting and humbling to the young politician.
“[It was] the first time that I’ve ever worn a tuxedo!” he said. “To see all these Filipino Americans who take the community just to another level, I’d say that I am speechless that I was even considered to be a part of this.”
For the near future, Wong wants to focus on finishing out his term in office, promoting the idea of televising government meetings, and graduating from law school in 2017.
Further out, his campaign managers, which include his parents, don’t rule out a run for higher office, eventually, perhaps, even a run for president one day.
“Being considered a candidate for the White House would be amazing. Why not,” said Wong.
For more on Jonathan Wong and rise in Asian Americans in politics, check out this month’s Asian American Life.
At age 24, Jonathan Wong is one of the youngest elected officials in the U.S.A. By day, he’s serves as a councilman in…
Posted by Asian American Life on Tuesday, January 5, 2016
(Note from the Editor: The headline has been corrected to reflect that Wong is one of the youngest Asian American elected officials in politics, and not the youngest. We apologize for the misleading headline)
