May 2019 Special Election Results

The election results are in from yesterday’s Special election and the candidates APANO supported came out big winners! Seven of the ten candidates APANO endorsed won, and history was made in several races! Congratulations to voters in Oregon who helped make history last night!

Across the region there will be a much needed infusion of new leaders, new perspectives, and new representation at the local school board and parks district level. In Portland, Sumitra Chhetri, an APANO member and community organizer with Immigrant Refugee Community Organization, won her seat on Centennial School Board -- a majority students of color school district located in East Portland.

In Washington County, See Eun Kim, a Korean American former educator, and Yadira Martinez, a nurse previously serving on the board, won their respective races for Hillsboro School Board. Their election now ensures a majority on Hillsboro School Board that supports reproductive choice and education in Oregon’s fourth largest school district. At the Portland Community College board level, voters in Hillsboro/Western Washington County elected Alexander Diaz Rios, adding another teacher, first generation college student and Mexican-American perspective to Oregon’s largest higher education institution. In Tualatin Hills Parks and Recreation District (THPRD), a 250,000 person parks district serving Beaverton and unincorporated Washington County, a slate of progressive women were elected. Tya Ping, a Cambodian-American mother of 3 and pharmacist, was elected as the first API woman in the board’s history. She is joined by APANO endorsees Heidi Edwards and Ashley Hartmeier-Prigg, whom together will serve on the first all female 5-member board of THPRD.

APANO and our communities are especially thrilled that 3 more progressive Asian leaders associated with APANO-- Sumitra Chhetri, See Eun Kim, Tya Ping-- have been elected for the first-time at the local level, adding much needed voice for the API community! But the work doesn’t stop here!

Unfinished Business

In a night of historic firsts, we also saw some all too familiar forces at work against our drive for representation and resources. In Salem-Keizer school district, Oregon’s second largest district and a majority-minority (and 40% Latinx) student population, both Raul Marquez and David Salinas were defeated in tightly contested races, losing 46-53% in Zone 2 (Raul) and 47-52% in Zone 4 (David). We applaud Raul and David’s impressive national attention-grabbing efforts. APANO endorsee Shanice Brittany Clarke also lost a competitive election for Portland Public Schools Zone 2. We know this isn’t the last we’ll hear from Shanice, and we congratulate her on bringing previously untold narratives to the center of discussion in Oregon’s largest school district.

We will continue fighting for government representation that reflects the community it serves. This session, APANO has been supporting the Oregon Voting Rights Act (HB 3310) which gives communities more tools to force a change in election systems that are not democratic and harm communities of color’s ability to choose representation that reflects their experiences and community, such as at-large voting (where everyone in the city votes in an election between candidates from within a geographic zone) that you see in PPS and Salem-Keizer school districts.

Every door YOU helped knocked on brought us closer and closer to our goals of building Asian and Pacific Islander, and collective people of color power in Oregon. This was APANO’s second slate of school board candidate endorsements, and we’re excited to continue growing our work in elections to come. There’s 3 elections slated in Oregon in 2020 -- We would love for you to get involved in our c4 political work for the important ballot fights ahead! If you are interested, please contact Robin Ye, APANO’s Political Director, at robin@apano.org

Thanks as always for your support!

APANO Endorsed Candidates May 2019 RESULTS

To view election results, click here

Winner! -- Sumitra Chhetri elected Centennial School Board Position 3

Winner! -- See Eun Kim elected Hillsboro School Board Position 4

Winner! -- Yadira Martinez elected Hillsboro School Board Position 7

Winner! -- Tya Ping elected Tualatin Hills Parks & Recreation District Position 5

Winner! -- Ashley Hartmeier-Prigg elected Tualatin Hills Parks & Recreation District Position 3

Winner! -- Heidi Edwards elected Tualatin Hills Parks & Recreation District Position 4

Winner! -- Alex Diaz Rios elected Portland Community College Board Zone 7 (Hillsboro)

APANO was proud to support and thanks to Shanice Clarke for running for Portland Public Schools Position 2

APANO was proud to support and thanks to Raul Marquez for running in Salem-Keizer School District Zone 2

APANO was proud to support and thanks to David Salinas for running in Salem-Keizer School District Zone 4; At-large election)



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