Crowding the Ballot

Aspiring South Asian politicians come of age in Bay Area elections

By Sam Rao
Special to AsianWeek

Change is in the political air in Northern California. Ever since Dilip Singh Saund was elected as the first Asian Pacific American Congressman in 1958, no South Asian American has been elected to any major local, state or federal office in California.

But this year there is almost a glut of candidates from the South Asian community running for various seats in both the East Bay and the South Bay, especially in the city of Fremont.

While some attribute the surge to the post Sept. 11 reality of the American climate, others credit the sheer growing population of South Asians. The census of 2000 showed that Indian Americans were one of the fastest growing ethnic groups of the last ten years, with a 107 percent increase in numbers, most living in the Bay Area. Indian Americans have displaced Japanese Americans as the third largest APA population, following Chinese and Filipino Americans. But while Chinese Americans and Japanese Americans are well represented in political circles in California, most other APA communities are not.

In this very diverse Northern California climate, several cities have become magnets for certain communities. Fremont, with a total population of 200,000, boasts the largest Afghan American population in the United States: about 15,000 people. Fremont and the neighboring cities of Union City and Newark are also home to about 23,000 Indian Americans — 10 percent of the total population.

This year, Fremont has seen two Indian American candidates file for City Council elections: Lalit Mathur, a retired engineer and Shyam Chetal, a development engineer. Neighboring Union City has a history of Filipino and Japanese American politicians ranging from local school boards to members of city council. The past vice-mayor and current city council member Manny Fernandez is a Filipino American. The city of Fremont recently elected Chinese American Steve Cho as its first APA city council member.

Meanwhile, Fremont School Board candidate Chinmoy Roy has been considering a future city council position. Pakistani American Uzma Almakky (Fremont School District) and Indian American Syed Inamdar (Washington Township Hospital) have also filed, partly as a post Sept. 11 reaction, with key endorsements from the American Muslim Alliance (AMA).

Inamdar is on record as calling the Sept. 11 attack the handiwork of “countries with sophisticated intelligence services and not cave dwellers…” pointing a finger at Israel as part of a larger conspiracy theory. Almakky, president of the high-tech firm Comtrend in Fremont and a parent of two Warwick Elementary School children, states her goal as achieving “improve[ment in] teacher training.”

Just south of Fremont in Milpitas, Filipino and Japanese American Mayor Henry Manayan is running for re-election after two consecutive terms. Also, Deepka Lalwani is the first Indian American woman to run for a city council position in Milpitas.

In perhaps the largest step for political office, Pakistani American Syed Mahmood — a Republican and a failed candidate for Assembly — is running for Congress (13th Dist.) against 20-year term powerhouse Pete Stark. Mahmood is still serious about his campaign in the predominantly Democratic district, declaring “Its time for a change, vote Republican [i.e. Mahmood].”

One disturbing aspect of this campaign has been the defacement of Mahmood’s campaign posters by “persons unknown,” in a district which has an almost 37 percent foreign-born population. The police are still investigating this incident.

Mohinder Khanna is perhaps the best qualified to win a seat in this year’s election. Khanna is running for director of the Alameda County Water District. He has endorsements from the Alameda Democratic Central Committee and Alameda County Labor Council. Khanna, stressing his qualifications, states “I have a Masters in Water Engineering from UC Berkeley and 32 years experience in the wastewater department of San Francisco. I would hope that the best qualified wins.”

Moina Shaiq, campaign staff member for the Unified Democratic Campaign-Fremont, agreed, adding that “Khanna is a very good candidate and we intend to support him fully in the elections.”

Dave Bonaccorsi, candidate for Ohlone Community College and member of the Fremont Democratic Forum leadership welcomes the active participation, adding “We love it [and] we would like more participation from the Indian community in all aspects of the upcoming and future campaigns.”