Korean American Young Kim has defeated incumbent Democrat Gil Cisneros in the race for the Congressional seat in Los Angeles, 50.6% to 49.4%.
Kim’s victory means there will be three Korean American women in Congress beginning next year. AsAmNews previously reported that Republican Michelle Steel defeated another Democratic incumbent in Southern California, Harley Rouda. In Washington state, Marilyn Strickland handily defeated Beth Doglio 58% -41%.
Kim. a Republican, had previously served in the California State Assembly, but lost her seat in 2016. She has been an aide to Rep. Ed Royce who retired.
Also in Southern California, another Korean American, Democratic challenger David Kim has been defeated by Jimmy Gomez 53 to 47%.
In Fresno, California, incumbent TJ Cox has narrowed the lead of challenger David G. Valadao to just 2065 votes. The race is still too close to call. Cox is the son of Filipino and Chinese parents.
Republicans remain confident they can unseat Cox. Many votes still need to be counted in Kern County where the late votes have been coming in for Valadao. However, Cox has a commanding lead in Kern County over Valadao, 59-41%.
A runoff will be held in Guam tomorrow between Michael San Nicolas and Robert Underwood. San Nicolas had a 46 to 34% lead against Underwood in the general election, but failed to get the necessary 50 percent of the vote to win the election.
So far there have been 17 Asian American Pacific Islanders elected to Congress in November.
(Editor’s Note: A previous version of this story incorrectly identified the ethnicity of TJ Cox. We apologize for the error.)
AsAmNews has Asian America in its heart. We’re an all-volunteer effort of dedicated staff and interns. Check out our new Instagram account. Go to our Twitter feed and Facebook page for more content. Please consider interning, joining our staff, or submitting a story.
