Evan Low is one of a rare breed—a true public servant and a progressive leader we all need to start paying attention to.
For those who don’t know him, Evan is a local boy done good. A Silicon Valley native, Evan graduated from De Anza Community College and San Jose State before graduating from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. While attending college, Evan served on the Santa Clara Commission on Senior Care, and also worked with the Volunteer Center of Silicon Valley and the Campbell Chamber of Commerce.
(cross-posted on calitics)
Spending over a decade in community service is an impressive feat for a 28 year old, and with a degree from Harvard, Evan could have taken any kind of cushy Washington job that he wanted. Instead, he returned to Campbell, where he ran for city council… and won. Evan made history for being the first Asian-American, openly gay and youngest person elected to Campbell’s City Council. In 2010 he broke even more boundaries when he became the youngest Asian-American Mayor in the United States (a one-year term position in Campbell).
Last year the Silicon Valley Metro Newspaper named him one of the “Top 25 People who will change Silicon Valley.” In the 5 short years he’s been in elected office, Evan has fought hard for job creation, fiscal reform and government transparency. He’s also been a valiant warrior for marriage equality and the environment.
Evan recently just announced his intention to run for the California State Assembly, and started off with a fairly impressive opening salvo of local endorsements.
San Jose Vice Mayor Madison Nguyen, Campbell Mayor Jason Baker, Cupertino Mayor Gilbert Wong, Palo Alto Mayor Sid Espinosa and Mountain View Mayor Jac Siegel were all on hand for Evan’s campaign announcement, and the Asian Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus just announced their support for Evan last week. The progressive group People for the American Way features Evan’s campaign as a race to watch & support in 2012.
As a young Democrat and former city council candidate who received Evan’s support last year, I couldn’t be more excited about this upcoming race. We need leaders like Evan Low in the State Assembly to help fight for job creation and help bring transparency to a state government that clearly lacks accountability.
Evan Low’s received a reputation for being a hard worker and an innovative problem-solver.
If you can, please check out Evan’s website. Right now it’s fairly bare-bones, but you can start to see who he is and what he’s accomplished already in his young career and life. Better yet, please go to his ActBlue page and kick a dollar or ten his way.
With Evan Low in the State Assembly, we not only get a strong voice, we get a brilliant leader for our future.