SANTA CLARA COUNTY, Calif. (KGO) — This May, ABC7 News is celebrating Asian American and Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Heritage Month as a notable political movement unfolds in the South Bay: two Asian Americans are vying for a seat in Congress.
Vice President Kamala Harris shattered multiple glass ceilings with her victory in the Biden-Harris 2020 race, as she became the first woman, Black and Southeast Asian American to be elected vice president.
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But Asian American representation among elected leaders across the country is lacking.
“We are the fastest growing racial and ethnic group in the country, our numbers have doubled in the past 20 years. We make up 6 percent of the American population, yet even in San Francisco we make up less than 1 percent of elected officials, which means the AAPI community is severely underrepresented,” said Norman Chen, CEO of the Asian American Foundation.
TAAF is an advocacy organization founded in response to the 2020 rise of AAPIs.
“Traditionally, politics has not been a path that many Asian Americans have taken,” he added.
A hub of innovation and progressive ideals, Silicon Valley paves the way for progress.
On the ballot this November, two candidates will face off in the 17th Congressional District, which represents parts of San Jose, Fremont, Sunnyvale, Milpitas, Newark and Cupertino.
Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna is running for a fifth term.
“I believe our district has something to offer the state in terms of new jobs, new economic opportunity,” Khanna said.
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Anita Chen, 26, an educator and Republican, is running to unseat Khanna.
“I listened to the people of the 17th District. I asked different communities what their biggest concerns were,” Chen said.
What’s special here are the participants and location of this race.
California’s 17th Congressional District has the largest Asian American population of any district except Hawaii.
“When I was growing up, there was not a single Indian American in the US Congress.
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“My parents would have had a hard time arranging meetings with congressional staff and members of Congress,” Khanna said. “Today, there are five South Asians and about 20 Asian Americans in Congress, and we’re seeing more and more younger generations joining.”
“I think it’s great to have two Asian American candidates running in an Asian American district, so people can see, ‘Here are two candidates that look like me and I can choose to represent me,’ and I think that’s great,” Chen said.
More representation would create more room for differentiation, something neither candidate is keen to shy away from.
“I think Senator Khanna would work towards centralizing government and expanding government power,” Chen said. “I would work towards decentralizing power back to state and local governments.”
“I strongly support abortion rights and LGBTQ+ rights. We may disagree on the core values of voting rights. But I think it’s great to see Asian Americans running in every party. I think it’s great for democracy,” Khanna added.
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Rep. Cana said she draws inspiration from her family’s history of fighting for equality.
“My grandfather was involved with Gandhi’s independence movement and spent many years in prison, so it’s kind of come full circle here. I represent San Jose, where President Cesar Chavez’s roots are and where his movement was inspired by the movement that my grandfather was a part of,” Khanna said.
Chen hopes that his running will inspire the next generation.
“We had my yard sign up across from the middle school, and I just thought it would be great if there was just one little girl somewhere who would look at this picture and think, ‘Wow, that looks like me, and maybe one day that could be me.'”
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