Asian-Americans mobilize for April 6 Chicago mayoral runoff

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel (left) faces a runoff election on April 6 vs. Cook Commissioner Jesus ‘Chuy’ Garcia. PINOYNEWSMAGAZINE PHOTOS

CHICAGO, Illinois — As the incumbent Mayor of this city, Rahm Emanuel, is forced into a runoff election against his closest rival, Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, Asian Americans are trying to play a bigger role in influencing the results of the important April 6 vote.

“Our growing communities matter, particularly in close elections,” said Tuyet Le, executive director of Advancing Justice–Chicago. “We are a resilient community that has overcome language barriers, voter suppression, and harsh weather to make sure we have a voice on Election Day and beyond.”

Emanuel, former President Obama’s Chief of Staff, fell short of the 50 percent plus one of the votes cast on February 2 needed to secure his reelection, getting only 45 percent despite his huge campaign spending. Hispanic Miguel “Chuy” Garcia, a Cook County Commissioner, meanwhile, pulled a surprise with his strong showing of 34 percent of the votes cast, despite his meager campaign funds.

Three other candidates garnered a cumulative total of 21 percent of the votes, with African American businessman Willie Wilson’s 10.6 percent, Alderman Bob Fioretti’s 7.4 percent and perennial candidate William Walls’ 2.8 percent.

Challengers of the brash city executive slammed Emanuel’s closing of 50 public schools, and hit him on issues of street violence and lack of job opportunities in the city’s poor neighborhoods that now resulted in the first mayoral runoff election in the city’s history. No fewer than one-third of the 50 wards aldermanic elections are also up for a runoff in the April 6 elections.

Alliance of Filipinos

Advancing Justice–Chicago along with the Alliance of Filipinos for Immigrant Rights and Empowerment, Coalition for a Better Chinese American Community, and Indo-American Center have reached over 10,000 Asian American voters in three city wards with the highest concentration of Asian Americans.

The civic engagement coalition recruited over 60 volunteers to outreach through phone banking in eight languages including Tagalog,

Poll watching efforts, led by Advancing Justice–Chicago, sought to monitor compliance with the federal Voting Rights Act and protect the rights of Chinese and Asian Indian voters. Poll watchers covered sites with the highest numbers of limited English proficient Asian American voters.

“This election isn’t over yet,” continued Le. “Our work doesn’t stop here. Our community will stay active, continue growing our civic participation, and get out to vote again in April.”

Asian Americans Advancing Justice—Chicago is the leading pan-Asian, multi-issue organization in the Midwest dedicated to empowering the Asian American community through advocacy by utilizing education, research and coalition-building. Established in 1992, Advancing Justice—Chicago (formerly the Asian American Institute) was founded by a group of community activists, academicians and business leaders in response to the growing need to build a pan-Asian policy agenda among Chicago’s diverse Asian American communities.

Advancing Justice–Chicago projects a united voice on the most pressing issues of concern to Asian Americans in metropolitan Chicago and is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. It is a member of the Asian Americans Advancing Justice national affiliation, with partner affiliates in Atlanta, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C.

For more information, visit www.advancingjustice-chicago.org (With contribution from Brandon Lee)