Edison may get an Asian-American mayor

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Jun Choi, the Asian-American mayoral candidate for Edison, NJ who was dissed by the Jersey Guys, upset the incumbent mayor 55%-45% in the Democratic primary (thanks, Saurav). That virtually guarantees the 34-year-old’s victory in November:

It is the first time in Edison history that the mayoral candidate backed by the Democratic Party was defeated in a primary… [Home News Tribune]

… [The incumbent] said he could think of two reasons why he didn’t win: The flap over the 101.5 FM “Jersey Guys” show when one of the hosts made a derogatory comment about Choi and Asian Americans, and a feeling that voters simply wanted a change after nearly 12 years with him as mayor. [Newsday]

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p>I’d like to say it’s pretty clear what happened, that Edison resoundingly voted against anti-Asian racism. But it seems the Jersey Guys’ complaint that Choi was targeting minority voters was accurate, not that there’s anything wrong with that:

Choi’s primary victory is seen as a sign that Asian-Americans have arrived as a political force in the state’s fifth largest municipality, where nearly one in three voters is of Asian descent. “It shows the graduation of the Asian-American community to a level of sophistication, where they can impact an election,” said Edison Council President Parag Patel, the first Indian-American elected in the township…

But Asian officials and others say what pushed Choi over the top in Tuesday’s election was his campaign’s decision to target the burgeoning Asian-American population with literature printed in Asian languages and ads in ethnic media… a strategy Patel said helped him get elected, too… The New York-based [AALDEF]… found nearly 10 percent of the respondents were first-time voters. “This is a very high number, particularly in a primary election…” [Star-Ledger]

And the Jersey Guys, jockeying with Paris Hilton for the Chutzpah Stakes, took credit for the win. Unbelievable:

Choi also received weeks of free publicity after hosts on New Jersey 101.5 FM in April poked fun at his Korean heritage, questioning who would vote for a candidate with that name… Yesterday, Carton and Rossi took credit for Choi’s victory. “Without us, Jun Choi is not elected as mayor of Edison,” Carton told listeners and said he was waiting for Choi to call in and thank him. Choi called later in the show, and Carton, sounding slighted, hung up on him. When Choi called back, Carton accused him of a lack of courtesy. [Star-Ledger]

Regardless of Choi’s ethnic background, it’s pretty clear he’s a true-blue politician 😉

Choi paraded a 6-foot yellow-feathered chicken, dubbed George “The Chicken” Spadoro, around town in an attempt to have the mayor debate him on Edison’s public access channel 22. [Home News Tribune]

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8 thoughts on “Edison may get an Asian-American mayor”

  1. But Asian officials and others say what pushed Choi over the top in TuesdayÂ’s election was his campaignÂ’s decision to target the burgeoning Asian-American population with literature printed in Asian languages and ads in ethnic mediaÂ…

    I would bet some hard cash that the defeated incumbent was pondering,”Why didn’t I think of that strategy?”

  2. It’s also because towns like Edison, in the past 10 years, are transforming changed from primarily post-war, working-class towns to small cities full of well-educated immigrants shuttling between New York City and Philly on NJ Transit.

    There are large issues of class involved here as well.

  3. Choi is no novice to politics. He spent time working in New Jersey politics and working on policy issues, including education and transportation. His decision to target ethnic communities demonstrates his ability to make good campaign decisions. He also wisely chose to focus on a local race instead of a higher profile federal or statewide race. I hope his strategy is one others in the Asian community will replicate.

  4. This is a huge win for Asians in Central Jersey, but not entirely unexpected…Spadoro had created a lot of detractors because of alleged corruption, self-serving use of municipal funds/property, etc. Still he didn’t lose by much.

  7. From what I heard from Choi on his free advertising on Jersey Guys and read int he media, it sounded like the main issues were 1) Spadora had been in office for a long time (12 years) and people, esp. youth, wanted a change; 2) overdevelopment; 3) Wal-Mart; and some other things I can’t remember now. The two main constituencies that were pointed to were the AA vote (it would be interesting to see how that broke down within Asian Americans themselves) and youth who hadn’t been exposed to any other mayors besides Spadora.

    You should note that, according to the jersey guys, Spadora also reached out to Asian Ameicans too–but he did so by trying to get business leaders from the community on his side and they in turn asked for community support. So much for top-down approaches.

    Interestingly, Choi was also supported by the wunderkind of online political work, Stephen Yellin, for being a progressive with a future.

  8. I’ve posted this comment in another topic. http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/002500.html#comments

    This is followup on the edison election

    From the home news tribune a local newspaper. http://www.thnt.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051110/NEWS/511100442/1001 The Edison mayoral election was closely contested election. Jun Choi (D) won by slim margin The loser the loser William Stephens (former D now Independent) party is challenging the result, Perfectly legit thing to do when your margin was 1% but is throwing race into the issue in is silly.

    William Stephens, who lost his bid for the mayor’s seat to Korean American Jun Choi, said residents voting along ethnic lines determined Tuesday’s election. “The township was pushed further apart,” Stephens said. “He played the Asian card.”

    It gets better when you ask the general population to comment

    Cecelia Hoffman, who lives in the township’s Clara Barton section, which backed Stephens, said she voted for Stephens “because he speaks English.” “Maybe, since 9/11, a lot of Asians have moved into this area and they could’ve added more votes. They don’t want to learn to speak the language. It’s not right. If you’re making your money here, learn the language. They’d feel the same if it was their country,” Hoffman, 62, said

    .

    Choi speaks perfect English. I have heard him talk so I am not sure towards whom this was directed towardsÂ… But throwing the 9-11 issue sure makes this woman sounds like Sherril.. But she was not an elected official. As the campaign was going on the anti immigrant feelings were coming out as the article also mention about the jersey guys antics earlier in April.

    In April, Craig Carton and Ray Rossi of New Jersey 101.5 FM’s “The Jersey Guys” propelled Choi’s name to newspapers across the state and into the Philadelphia and New York City media markets. During the show, Carton ridiculed Asian-Americans. “No specific minority group or foreign group should ever dictate the outcome of an American election. I don’t care if the Chinese population in Edison has quadrupled in the last year, Chinese should never dictate the outcome of an American election, Americans should,” said Carton, according to a transcript of the show. The radio-show hosts and the station apologized, but because of that broadcast a New York City-based Asian voting-rights group called on the U.S. Department of Justice to monitor the primary polls. The Justice Department outlined its observations in a letter sent to the Middlesex County Board of Elections. Some of the findings were: poll workers telling federal observers voters should learn English in order to vote; and a poll worker stating when a Gujarati or Hindi-speaking voter appeared she would “send them to the nearest gas station.” These observations led to federal monitors overseeing polls during Tuesday’s vote.

    Well thank you Asian American voting rights group. I hadnÂ’t heard about the observers result till I read this story. Mutineers please ask your contacts in SAJA to pick up on this and dig into observers finding.