The primary mission of the Asian Pacific American Democratic Caucus of Alameda County (APA Caucus [3]) is to elevate candidates for local office who are willing to champion the issues of concern to APA communities throughout the County. Our endorsed candidates represent all races.
[4]
For too long APA voters have been ignored. Over half a million Alameda County residents are Asian American—representing at least 28% of eligible voters. And yet, Asian Americans are the least represented in local offices in the Bay Area.
One of the “seats of power” for candidates has been the Alameda County Democratic Central Committee [5], whose endorsements play a significant role toward winning an election, especially for state, county, and regional seats, and in larger cities—wherever voters follow the lead of the Democratic Party.
The APA Caucus holds endorsement meetings for both primary and general elections and invites all Democratic Party candidates to participate, including those running for Central Committee, which elects representatives every four years. To participate and earn a place on our ballot, candidates must complete a questionnaire.
The APA Caucus has posted the Central Committee candidates’ responses on our website, AC Democratic Central Committee – Mar 2024 Election Endorsement Questionnaire [6]. To view the candidates’ responses, select the red banner labeled “AD 18 Democratic Central Committee Candidates” and click on a candidate’s name. Not all candidates chose to respond, but at least voters can see the ones who do take Asian American Democratic voters seriously.
The San Francisco Chronicle ran a story last week about the Alameda County Democratic Party Central Committee Races [7] [paywalled] and how important they are in the political process. This week, they ran an article about the SF Democratic Central Committee [8] [also paywalled] and many of their issues are similar to those in Alameda County. One way for the membership of the committee to be more representative and balanced is for voters to actually know who they are voting for, but it is very difficult for the average voter to get any information about Central Committee candidates.
Following is a list of all candidates on the March 5, 2024 ballot for Alameda County’s Democratic Central Committee for Assembly District 18, which covers the city of Alameda, and the slate with which they are affiliated. This should provide an idea of what each of those candidates stands for and is working toward. I have included links to the slates’ websites which include candidate bios as well as information about the slate. However, some candidates are not on a slate, which means there is less information available about their positions.
Current committee members are indicated with an *. Voters will choose ten from the following:
Serena Chen, 陳月眉
Endorsement Committee Chair,
APA Democratic Caucus of Alameda County
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