Kashoua “Kristy” Yang has been elected judge to the Milwaukee County Circuit Court, reports the Journal Sentinel.
She is just the second Hmong American judge in the country and the first Hmong American woman.
The other is Paul Lo of Merced County near Fresno, California.
“I understand what it means to the Hmong community, and how it can pave the way for the Hmong community,” Yang said to Wisconsin Public Radio.
Yang graduated from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 2009 and has practiced in family law mediation, workers compensation and social security disability cases.
She immigrated to the United States with her family from a refugee camp in Thailand. She comes from a family of ten children.
Yang ran against another first time candidate, Scott Wales.
“I don’t know that I was confident,” she said, “but I knew what I had to do — reach out to voters — and I felt good about what I was doing.”
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