The first Vietnamese American elected to the Massachusetts State Senate has been sworn in after winning a special election, reports the Sentinel & Enterprise.
Republican Dean Tran won by just 600 votes last month.
Members of the Vietnamese American community were on hand to celebrate the Republican’s victory. Many of those at the ceremony had never even met Tran.
“They don’t need to know who Dean Tran is, they need to know he was a refugee who came with his parents when he was little,” said Vinnie Than who was among the celebrants.
“The most important thing, I want to send a message to younger people. Stand up and do something you think you could be good at,” Than said to the Sentenel and Enterprise. “You can be a voice for the people. You can stand up for people who cannot stand up for themselves.”
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The swearing in came about the same time two Asian Americans announced they would be running for office.
Views from the Edge reported Gina Ortiz Jones is running for Congress in Texas.
Jones, 36, a Filipina American, is one of those novice politicians not satisfied with merely sitting on the sidelines and wants to become a game changer.
At first, as the new administration came in, she thought that she could still work under Trump as a director in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, But there came a point when she realized that the current administration was working against all that she believed in.
“I knew my time in public service would be different,” says Jones in an interview with Marfa Public Radio and West Texas Public Radio. “I knew it would be different having been a veteran, as a woman, as a member of the LGBT community, as a first-generation American, I knew just how this administration ran their campaign what they would focus on.”
Jones’ single mother had relied on subsidized housing and school when raising her in San Antonio. Trump’s plans to slash education and housing assistance was just too much for her to not do something to counteract the direction Trump was moving the country in. Jones also thought the people Trump was hiring for top posts “were interested neither in the public nor service.”
Jones is trying to unseat two-term incumbent Rep. Will Hurd (R). But first she must win the March 6 Democratic primary over three other Democrats.
District 23 is one of the most competitive congressional districts in Texas, running from San Antonio to El Paso. During the 2016 November election, it was one of the few Congressional districts in the red state and that narrowly voted for Hilary Clinton, while electing a Republican representative.
Jones has been endorsed by major national groups including EMILY’s List, VoteVets and Victory Fund. Former Texas Democratic state senator and gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis is backing her, so is Khizr Khan, the Gold Star father who gave a passionate speech at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. She’s also running as Democrats have scored notable victories around the country.
Outlook India is reporting that Aruna Miller has filed papers to run for a congressional seat in Maryland. She was first elected in 2010 to the Maryland House of Delegates.
“As an immigrant, I have been afforded incredible opportunities here. I want to pay it forward and make sure we keep the doors of opportunity open to all our citizens,” Miller said. “”Congress needs more experienced, progressive legislators at this critical time, if we are going to enact and keep policies that really serve the best interests of the people and our country.”
Jones hopes to replace John Delaney who announced he would not run for reelection to see the Democratic nomination for president in 2020.
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