There are national polls and there are their polar opposite: local elections
I offer the story of another growing segment of the Gen Z population (in this case, a Korean who appealed to the overall Asian community) flexing their political muscle and beating an incumbent Dem in the Dem primary.
I posted this because of the lesson provided by an established local power structure (in this case white, but I don't think the race is the determining factor to their reaction) to an upstart who brought a new voting block into the Dem primary and gained victory.
Now this may not be an ideal example; NJ district, dem leaning, union influence, anti-Walmart environment, apparently clean campaign, etc.
But if the Dems want to truly capitalize on the leaning political preference of the Gen Z, then the first lesson is for the incumbent power structure to find ways to become open to their political needs and demands to appeal directly to the new voter OR to gracefully find ways to make room for these candidates and not dig into the Rethug bag of tricks and play the race card simply to protect their position.
In Edison, the challenger's outreach pays off
Observers say primary win by Choi may inspire other Asian-Americans
Thursday, June 09, 2005
BY SULEMAN DIN
Star-Ledger Staff (NJ)
A day after Jun Choi defeated Edison Mayor George Spadoro in the Democratic primary, he attributed his victory to a professionally run campaign and widespread dissatisfaction with the incumbent.
But Asian officials and others say what pushed Choi over the top in Tuesday's election was his campaign's decision to target the burgeoning Asian-American population with literature printed in Asian languages and ads in ethnic media.
Choi still must face the Republican and independent mayoral candidates in the general election, but in this heavily Democratic township, success in the primary generally translates into victory in November.
Choi's primary victory is seen as a sign that Asian-Americans have arrived as a political force in the state's fifth largest municipality, where nearly one in three voters is of Asian descent.
"It shows the graduation of the Asian-American community to a level of sophistication, where they can impact an election," said Edison Council President Parag Patel, the first Indian-American elected in the township.
Choi, a Korean-American making his first bid for public office, concentrated on Asian voters. Patel said the victory could be credited to Choi's particular outreach to new voters -- a strategy Patel said helped him get elected, too.
The New York-based Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, which conducted exit surveys of nearly 300 Asian-American voters at three polling places, found nearly 10 percent of the respondents were first-time voters.
"This is a very high number, particularly in a primary election," said Glenn Magpantay, the group's attorney. "Generally we've found that when an Asian-American seeks office, there is a correlating outreach and turnout."
Ved Chaudhary, member of the state's advisory committee on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, said Choi's election was a sign that more Asian-Americans are getting involved in politics.
"Edison has such a large Asian-American population, I always thought there should more Asian-American involvement in Edison's government," Chaudhary said, predicting Choi's victory will motivate other Asian-Americans in the Garden State to run for office.
Cautious to avoid the ethnic politics label, Choi said yesterday that support came from all sectors of the 32-square-mile township of about 100,000 residents. "I believe we had a compelling message for change, and that resonated with residents," he said.
The groundswell of negative reaction to a planned Wal-Mart on Route 27 and Vineyard Road surfaced. And several labor unions threw their support behind Choi, in part because of his opposition to the Wal-Mart.
Choi also tapped into widespread discontent over Spadoro's $5.6 million deal with developer Jack Morris for five acres of Oak Tree Pond tract, and the township's attempt to condemn Sal Quagliariello's Oak Tree Bus Service Inc. property, across the street from the pond, and turn it over to Morris to build a drugstore.
"It just was Spadoro's time," said former Edison councilwoman Toni Ricigliano, who will run for a council seat in November. "People were tired."
Choi also blitzed the township on Election Day with an army of volunteers knocking on doors and making calls, pamphlets and signs spread across the town, and campaign workers at every polling station.
"Going into Election Day, we knew it was a dead heat," said Evan Stavisky of the Queens-based Parkside Group, which Choi had hired to manage his campaign. "We knew victory would come down to who had the better Election Day operation."
Choi was able to hire the professional firm because he raised more than $200,000 -- compared with $150,000 raised by Spadoro.
Choi also received weeks of free publicity after hosts on New Jersey 101.5 FM in April poked fun at his Korean heritage, questioning who would vote for a candidate with that name.
The comments brought a deluge of criticism from Asian groups, and "Jersey Guys" Craig Carton and Ray Rossi apologized when Choi appeared for two hours on their show two weeks ago.
Yesterday, Carton and Rossi took credit for Choi's victory.
"Without us, Jun Choi is not elected as mayor of Edison," Carton told listeners and said he was waiting for Choi to call in and thank him.
Choi called later in the show, and Carton, sounding slighted, hung up on him. When Choi called back, Carton accused him of a lack of courtesy.
"The Jersey Guys certainly gave me a lot of attention," Choi said. "I reached out to them and thanked them for the airtime."
In November, Choi will vie against Carl Perlin, who won the Republican primary Tuesday, and William Stephens, the former Edison councilman who will run as an independent under the People's Choice banner.
Stephens and Anthony Russomano, the maverick Democratic committeeman, credited Choi for doing what Stephens could not in the 2001 Democratic primary. But Stephens said Choi capitalized on his group's activism.
"He rode in on our coattails, he had money," Stephens said. "We will be asking him, where has he been for the past eight years?"