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No fewer than 14 of the 17 candidates with Korean backgrounds who ran in the U.S. mid-term elections secured the seats they were hoping for. This year there were eight more than in the presidential election in 2004, running for spots in various state senates and legislatures and using the trust they had won in their districts as a foundation for their successful campaigns.
In California, four such candidates were elected. Michelle Steele Park picked up 56.97 percent of the vote in her bid to the California Board of Equalization, and in the city of Irvine in Orange County, California, candidate Kang Suk-hee ran a successful race for a city council spot, with 27.2 percent of the vote putting him in second place in an election where the two top finishers win. In the California State Assembly, Mary C. Hayashi was leaps and bounds ahead of her opponent Jill Buck, while Jane Kim became the youngest Korean ever to be elected to the San Francisco School Board with 13.9 percent of the vote, the most among candidates.
Hunyung Hopgood who ran for the House in Michigan, pushed competitors out of the way with an overwhelming 87 percent of the vote, and Lim Yong-keun (R) won election to the Oregon House of Representatives with 61.77 percent of the votes in his fifth election victory. Senator Paull Shin (Shin Ho-bom) of the Washington State Senate was the sole candidate for his posts. Donna Mercado Kim who ran for senator of Hawaii¡¯s 14th District, was elected with 77.8 percent of the vote. Also in Hawaii, Sylvia Luke and Sharon Har took 77.4 and 62.7 percent of the vote respectively and won the house election together. Nevada legislator Francis O. Allen won the election without difficulty.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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