The Year of Women Candidates

This is definitely the Year of the Women Candidates.

Three Asian American candidates won in the June 26 primaries, joining a growing number of victorious women in national and local races for the November 6 midterm elections. Two of them also joined the record number of first-time women candidates. Maryland candidate for State Delegate Lily Qi and Gina Ortiz Jones of San Antonio, Texas posted convincing victories as newcomers. Ortiz Jones won in a runoff as candidate for Texas’ 23rd District in the U.S. Congress. On the other hand, Maryland Delegate Kris Valderrama (D, District 26) just sealed her victory for a fourth term.

Filipino American Ortiz Jones, an Iraqi war veteran who worked under President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama, stressed why she decided to run for public office: “I love this country, and I’ve seen first-hand what our example and leadership means in this world. It’s why I joined the military, why I fought in Iraq, why I dedicated my life to public service, and it’s why I’m running for Congress.”

She made a strong showing in the June primary. “Ortiz Jones beat Rick Treviño with over 17,000 votes, or 66% of the total votes cast. Treviño finished with more than 8,000, or 34% of the vote, “ civil rights advocate Jon Melegrito said in a June 28 email interview. “Ortiz Jones will face Republican incumbent Will Hurd in November.”

Earlier, he noted that it is a formidable task because Hurd has a lot more money and the 23rd district leans Republican. “But Ortiz Jones, an Iraq War veteran, benefits from energized Democratic voters who flooded the polls in large numbers in the March primary. She garnered over 44,000 votes, compared to about 31,000 votes for Hurd.” If she wins, she would join U.S. Congressman Bobby Cortez Scott (D-Virginia), the first Filipino American member of Congress.

Lily Qi: ‘We did it!’

“We did it! We ran a strong, positive, and unconventional campaign and prevailed in spite of the tremendous odds against us,” an elated Qi (D) said on Facebook. She thanked “all the volunteers, donors, cheerleaders, and my campaign family for the amazing journey and most importantly, the D-15 voters!”

She had posted at 9:08 p.m. on primary day: “I am so grateful to have earned the support of Maryland District 15! This isn’t just a win for me–it’s a win for immigrants, for first time voters, and for our entire community. I am so excited for you all to see what I can do in Annapolis. Now on to the general!”

On June 29, she said in an email: “This election is another step toward greater social integration and political empowerment for Asian Americans. We should not settle for just being cheerleaders. We can be leaders of our communities wherever we find ourselves. This is the 21st century,  immigrants like me who came by choice have great perspectives to contribute to policymaking and should not have to wait a generation to be fully integrated as Americans.”

Later on primary day, she added: “Kevin Mack, thank you for your good spirit and very gracious call last night. You ran a strong campaign as well and I look forward to working with you in some capacity in the future. I also very much appreciated Aruna Miller’s call last night–I was so tired and emotional that I forgot to congratulate her for her spirited campaign as well, but thank you! It means a lot to me that you both called last night.

“And finally, to the D-15 family–Brian Feldman, Kathleen Dumais, and David Fraser-Hidalgo–who collectively called me on speaker last night: I am so excited to be joining your ranks, and can’t wait to learn from you and work with you in Annapolis.”

Lily is currently the Assistant Chief Administrative Officer in Montgomery County for economic and workforce development matters. Before joining the Leggett Administration in 2008, she had served as a senior economic development official during the City’s revitalization days, a spokesperson for the D.C. financial regulatory agency, and as a college administrator at American University.

Delegate Valderrama

State Delegate Valderrama (D, District 26) just won her fourth term with her primary victory. That’s the new reality in politics: Primaries usually decide the winner in the November election.

Valderrama, 47, is the daughter of David Valderrama, who made history as the first Filipino American elected to a top position in the mainland. David was a member of the House of Delegates from 1991 to 2003. Kris ran for her father’s seat in 2006 and won.

Melegrito, for years a mentor to young Filipino Americans, wrote about her achievements as a seasoned legislator. The women’s caucus, of which Kris is a member, has successfully pushed legislation over the years to fight domestic violence, human and labor trafficking and child exploitation. In 2016, the Maryland General Assembly passed the Maryland’s Equal Pay for Equal Work Act, which Kris co-sponsored with Senator Susan C. Lee. It is now the second strongest pay equity law nationwide, closing discriminatory pay gaps.

“In addition to my own bill about sexual harassment which passed, the long-awaited legislation to allow women to terminate parental rights in cases of rape, also passed after several years of trying,” she said. “Moreover, legislation allowing law enforcement to execute a search warrant and remove guns from a domestic violence offender’s home, if the court believes the offender did not surrender weapons as required by law, also passed with a veto proof majority.”

Valderrama also touted the assembly’s productive session this year. Among these achievements are:

Transportation. Among the most significant legislation this year was providing a dedicated funding stream for the D.C. Area Metro, the first since its inception in 1976. The funding is contingent on equal funding by D.C. and Virginia. The funding will automatically increase by 3% annually to absorb inflation. Another $178 Million is allocated to improve MTA trains such as the MARC commuter trains and commuter buses.

Education. The General Assembly took a big step towards providing free tuition for a community college education by appropriating $15 Million for scholarships for up to 5,000 students to give them the needed resources to continue their post high-school education.

School Safety. Driven by recent school shootings in Florida, and Maryland, the General Assembly enacted school safety legislation that will, among other things, provide $12.5 Million in safety grants to increase training for school resource officers, students as well as to provide increased services for students exhibiting troubling behavior.

Ortiz Jones Bio

Gina Ortiz Jones grew up knowing “hard work, not circumstances to which we were born,” is the secret to success in this land of opportunities. She said, “This promise is currently under threat, but I still believe we can be a country whose actions match our highest ideals.”

Gina knows first-hand what it is like to live in subsidized housing. She watched as her mother faced a diagnosis of colon cancer and understands the value healthcare coverage played in her survival. She promised to fight every day for Texas and the nation. Her priority issues include:  creating good well-paying jobs while strengthening the middle class; providing quality healthcare to all, while still ensuring the nation leads the industrialized world in medical breakthroughs; and “embracing our immigrant history and our collective responsibility to ensure that the American Dream remains a possibility for all that dare to achieve it.”

Education was always a priority in their home. Gina learned that education and service offered a pathway to opportunities. Supported by her family and educators who both challenged and believed in her, Gina graduated in the top ten of her class from San Antonio’s John Jay High School, earning a four-year Air Force ROTC scholarship to attend Boston University.

She earned a BA and MA in Economics, and a BA in East Asian Studies from Boston University. She then entered the U.S. Air Force as an intelligence officer. She was deployed to Iraq and served under the U.S. military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.

After her active duty service, Gina continued to build her career in national security, intelligence, and defense. This included advising on operations in Latin America and Africa, on military operations that supported South Sudan’s independence referendum and serving in the Libya Crisis Intelligence Cell.

During 16 months as a civil servant, Gina worked on economic and national security issues. Detailed from the Intelligence Community, she served as the Senior Advisor for Trade Enforcement, a position President Obama created by Executive Order in 2012. Subsequently, she served as a Director for Investment at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, where she led the portfolio that reviewed foreign investments to ensure they did not pose national security risks.

For her years of service and extensive experience, Gina was recognized as a 2016 American Council on Germany Young Leader and is a Council on Foreign Relations Term Member. She is also a member of the Truman National Security Project Defense Council and earned a graduate degree from the U.S. Army School of Advanced Military Studies.

Gina vowed to fight every day “to ensure all Americans are given the opportunities and promise of a better future that our country gave to me and my family.”