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Home | National and World News Section
July 6 - July 12, 2000
Home | National and World News Section
POWs Waiting for Apologies
(in National News)
API Advisory Commission Visits S.F.
(in Bay Area News)
Asian Food Markets in the Bay Area
(in Business)
Lampo Leong's Forces • Contemplation
(in A&E)
Reasons to Celebrate
(in Opinion)
Courtni Sunjoo Pugh: Democratic Party Advocate
By Fiona Ma
Courtni Sunjoo Pugh, Director of Asian Pacific American Outreach for the Democratic National Committee (DNC) in Washington, D.C., met with various Asian American leaders in Northern California to promote the upcoming Democratic National Convention and brief the leaders on DNC efforts across the United States.
Pugh brings a depth and breadth of political organizing, field mobilization, coalition building and fundraising experience to her job at the Asian Pacific American desk. A graduate of Ball State University in Muncie, Ind., with a B.A. in Political Science, Pugh was a former union organizer for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) in Oakland, Calif., advocating on behalf of the Asian Immigrant Women Advocates against garment industry wages. In 1996, Pugh joined the Illinois Democratic Coordinated Campaign as State Director of Asian Pacific American Outreach and was instrumental in swaying API votes to President Clinton and U.S. Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois. She then joined the staff of Congressman Danny K. Davis, D-Ill., as legislative assistant in his Washington, D.C., office and was later promoted to legislative director. Pugh has also served as the founding president of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Staff Association; board member for the Chicago-based Korean American Resource and Cultural Center; co-director of the Midwest Asian American Students Union; board of directors for the Asian American AIDS Foundations and was recently featured on the cover of the KoreAm magazine with her twin sister, Carrie, as rising stars in the API community.
AsianWeek: What is the goal of the DNC’s Office of Asian Pacific American Outreach?
Pugh: The goal of our office is to build an infrastructure that allows Asian Pacific Americans to fully integrate into the Democratic Party on a national, state and local level. Energizing the API community was key to Democratic victory in 1998 and 1999. Through our early outreach efforts, we can effectively mobilize API voters to elect Democrats at all levels in 2000.
AW: What does your office do?
Pugh: Our office serves as a link between Asian Pacific Islander American communities and the Democratic party by advising the Democratic party and candidates on matters of strategy and policy pertaining to the API community. It works to mobilize the API community to increase the number of votes for Democrats at all levels; and supports national, state and local Democratic Party organizers and candidates with specialty media communications, voter contact and GOTV programs.
AW: What’s at stake in 2000?
Pugh: First and foremost: The White House. We also need to pick up six seats to regain control of the House and need to pick up six seats to regain control of the Senate. If we can gain 40 seats in key legislatures, that would pick up control in 15 chambers. And the next President will have the ability to nominate two to three Supreme Court Justices, which is important because some of the future civil rights laws affecting our community may be decided by the new justices.
AW: Can an API voter turnout make a difference in the upcoming election?
Pugh: Absolutely! In 1996, a shift of 9,753 votes would have given Democrats control of Congress. In 1998, we needed six more seats to win back the House. For example, in 1998, Rep. Bob Franks, (D-N.J., district 7-R) won his seat by only 12,000 votes. Today APIs in that district make up 7.8 percent and could account for 46,800 votes in the upcoming election. Turnout of APIs mattered in 1996 and 1998 and are crucial in the 2000 election.
AW: What is the API population today and what is the effect on the election?
Pugh: We’re currently waiting for the 2000 census figures however in 1996, there were an estimated 10 million APIs in the United States—up from 7.3 million in 1990. In 1990, there were 63 congressional districts with five percent or more API population and in 2000, there are 96 congressional districts with five percent or more API population. APIs constitute critical swing votes in 10 states accounting for 216 electoral votes, so as you can see our presence is rapidly growing!
AW: What are the some of the your office’s outreach programs?
Pugh: We’ve done lots of things to date and we’ve still got lots to do before the November election. To date, we’ve formed a DNC Asian Pacific American Caucus, met with API opinion leaders, and developed an API convention program and a delegate outreach program in preparation for the upcoming convention. We are still coordinating national API meetings, formulating an API national database, and developing an Asian American surrogate speakers program. Regarding the Coordinated Campaign, we’ve hired directors in 31 battleground states not including California. California is a beast of its own. Although not considered a battleground state, California is still a Tier 1 state because of the number of electoral votes. However, we’re still looking to hire a director in California within the next month or so. To view some of our programs, people can log into our Web site at www.democrats.org. This Web site is updated daily and contains overall information about the DNC and our efforts, platforms, press releases, etc.
AW: How can Asian Americans get involved?
Pugh: In California, APIs can contact Ben Wong, Chair of the California Democratic Party API Caucus to find out how they can get involved in the upcoming State Convention. On the national level, people can contact Keith Umemoto, the National Chair of the Democratic National Committee’s Asian Pacific American Caucus. Our office and the DNC are aggressively hiring across the country for a variety of positions such as press secretary, field directors, state directors and political directors. It’s important to us to ensure that the campaign team looks like America, in terms of diversity. We are always looking for people who really know their communities inside and out. I encourage people to call me directly or e-mail me with their questions and resumes. I can be reached at 202-488-5061 or at pughc@dnc.democrats.org. Please join us in our efforts, because when Asian Pacific Americans vote, Democrats win!
POWs Waiting for Apologies
(in National News)
API Advisory Commission Visits S.F.
(in Bay Area News)
Asian Food Markets in the Bay Area
(in Business)
Lampo Leong's Forces • Contemplation
(in A&E)
Reasons to Celebrate
(in Opinion)
Courtni Sunjoo Pugh: Democratic Party Advocate
| POWs Waiting for Apologies (in National News) API Advisory Commission Visits S.F. Asian Food Markets in the Bay Area Lampo Leong's Forces • Contemplation Reasons to Celebrate |
By Fiona Ma
Courtni Sunjoo Pugh, Director of Asian Pacific American Outreach for the Democratic National Committee (DNC) in Washington, D.C., met with various Asian American leaders in Northern California to promote the upcoming Democratic National Convention and brief the leaders on DNC efforts across the United States.
Pugh brings a depth and breadth of political organizing, field mobilization, coalition building and fundraising experience to her job at the Asian Pacific American desk. A graduate of Ball State University in Muncie, Ind., with a B.A. in Political Science, Pugh was a former union organizer for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) in Oakland, Calif., advocating on behalf of the Asian Immigrant Women Advocates against garment industry wages. In 1996, Pugh joined the Illinois Democratic Coordinated Campaign as State Director of Asian Pacific American Outreach and was instrumental in swaying API votes to President Clinton and U.S. Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois. She then joined the staff of Congressman Danny K. Davis, D-Ill., as legislative assistant in his Washington, D.C., office and was later promoted to legislative director. Pugh has also served as the founding president of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Staff Association; board member for the Chicago-based Korean American Resource and Cultural Center; co-director of the Midwest Asian American Students Union; board of directors for the Asian American AIDS Foundations and was recently featured on the cover of the KoreAm magazine with her twin sister, Carrie, as rising stars in the API community.
AsianWeek: What is the goal of the DNC’s Office of Asian Pacific American Outreach?
Pugh: The goal of our office is to build an infrastructure that allows Asian Pacific Americans to fully integrate into the Democratic Party on a national, state and local level. Energizing the API community was key to Democratic victory in 1998 and 1999. Through our early outreach efforts, we can effectively mobilize API voters to elect Democrats at all levels in 2000.
AW: What does your office do?
Pugh: Our office serves as a link between Asian Pacific Islander American communities and the Democratic party by advising the Democratic party and candidates on matters of strategy and policy pertaining to the API community. It works to mobilize the API community to increase the number of votes for Democrats at all levels; and supports national, state and local Democratic Party organizers and candidates with specialty media communications, voter contact and GOTV programs.
AW: What’s at stake in 2000?
Pugh: First and foremost: The White House. We also need to pick up six seats to regain control of the House and need to pick up six seats to regain control of the Senate. If we can gain 40 seats in key legislatures, that would pick up control in 15 chambers. And the next President will have the ability to nominate two to three Supreme Court Justices, which is important because some of the future civil rights laws affecting our community may be decided by the new justices.
AW: Can an API voter turnout make a difference in the upcoming election?
Pugh: Absolutely! In 1996, a shift of 9,753 votes would have given Democrats control of Congress. In 1998, we needed six more seats to win back the House. For example, in 1998, Rep. Bob Franks, (D-N.J., district 7-R) won his seat by only 12,000 votes. Today APIs in that district make up 7.8 percent and could account for 46,800 votes in the upcoming election. Turnout of APIs mattered in 1996 and 1998 and are crucial in the 2000 election.
AW: What is the API population today and what is the effect on the election?
Pugh: We’re currently waiting for the 2000 census figures however in 1996, there were an estimated 10 million APIs in the United States—up from 7.3 million in 1990. In 1990, there were 63 congressional districts with five percent or more API population and in 2000, there are 96 congressional districts with five percent or more API population. APIs constitute critical swing votes in 10 states accounting for 216 electoral votes, so as you can see our presence is rapidly growing!
AW: What are the some of the your office’s outreach programs?
Pugh: We’ve done lots of things to date and we’ve still got lots to do before the November election. To date, we’ve formed a DNC Asian Pacific American Caucus, met with API opinion leaders, and developed an API convention program and a delegate outreach program in preparation for the upcoming convention. We are still coordinating national API meetings, formulating an API national database, and developing an Asian American surrogate speakers program. Regarding the Coordinated Campaign, we’ve hired directors in 31 battleground states not including California. California is a beast of its own. Although not considered a battleground state, California is still a Tier 1 state because of the number of electoral votes. However, we’re still looking to hire a director in California within the next month or so. To view some of our programs, people can log into our Web site at www.democrats.org. This Web site is updated daily and contains overall information about the DNC and our efforts, platforms, press releases, etc.
AW: How can Asian Americans get involved?
Pugh: In California, APIs can contact Ben Wong, Chair of the California Democratic Party API Caucus to find out how they can get involved in the upcoming State Convention. On the national level, people can contact Keith Umemoto, the National Chair of the Democratic National Committee’s Asian Pacific American Caucus. Our office and the DNC are aggressively hiring across the country for a variety of positions such as press secretary, field directors, state directors and political directors. It’s important to us to ensure that the campaign team looks like America, in terms of diversity. We are always looking for people who really know their communities inside and out. I encourage people to call me directly or e-mail me with their questions and resumes. I can be reached at 202-488-5061 or at pughc@dnc.democrats.org. Please join us in our efforts, because when Asian Pacific Americans vote, Democrats win!
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