Elect A Mayor SF. Elect A MF Mayor. And Let Them Be APIA.

Monday, November 07, 2011

It's not like I'm asking too much here.

It's not like it's North Dakota.

It's MF San Francisco.

San Francisco already has an Asian-American mayor in Ed Lee, who was appointed in January. But the Nov. 8 election is being seen as an historic moment in a city that has the largest percentage of Asian-Americans in the continental United States and boasts the nation's oldest Chinatown.

While the candidates are from diverse Asian backgrounds and differ on policy, all agree that the community's time has come.

And it's not just in San Francisco. The race "is just a glimmer of what's to come for Asian-American and Pacific Islander communities across the country," said Gloria Chan, president of the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies in Washington, D.C.

If an Asian-American candidate wins, San Francisco will be the largest U.S. city with an elected Asian-American mayor. There are 35 Asian-American mayors nationwide, including Lee, according to APAICS.