Congressional Candidate Gives Inspiring Message to Asian American Community
The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the interview and article belong solely to the speaker and author respectively, and not necessarily to the Asian American News Network or its affiliates.
Alan Swain, a Japanese American who served under both the Bush and Clinton administrations, sees a bright future for Asian Americans. Swain is running for North Carolina’s Second Congressional District. He encourages the Asian American community, “If any of you choose to serve and want to be members, whether it is your local governments, state, or run at the federal level, that is a force to be reckoned with.” Swain calls for his fellow Asian Americans to continue to get involved with politics, whether by running for office or voting at the ballot box.
"If any of you choose to serve and want to be members, whether it is your local governments, state, or run at the federal level, that is a force to be reckoned with ."
According to the Pew Research Center, the number of eligible voters who were also Asian Americans “ballooned by 139 percent in the past 20 years, making Asian Americans the fastest-growing demographic of eligible voters compared to all other major races and ethnicities. In contrast, the white electorate grew by 7 percent in the same period.” Alan Swain is not the only person who notices the increasing significance of Asian Americans in the political arena, many other leaders notice a similar trend. Not only are leaders noticing, but Asian Americans are becoming those leaders themselves. Aside from Alan, there are various other Asian American candidates running for office such as Andrew Yang (CA), Young Kim (CA), Sunny Panyanouvong-Rubeck (NC), and Sia Lo, who is the the first Hmong American to run for Congress in Minnesota. In fact, 2016 saw the most Indian Americans in history to be elected to Congress. Five Indian Americans were elected to the House and Senate across three states: Washington, California, and Illinois.
To complement the growing reach of voting powers, Swain predicts that even more Asian Americans will step up to the podium and run for office. He rallies the next generation of Asian Americans: “There’s going to be an Asian American President someday! I am not sure when it will happen, but it will happen.”
Chloe Chan
For more information about Alan, go to: https://www.swainforcongress.com/
For more of Asian American News Network, go to: https://asianamericannewsnetwork.com/
Video Edited, Filmed, and Produced by: Chloe Chan
Reporters: Harrison Chen and Angelo He