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Stan Matsunaka.
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Colorado Congressional Campaign Historic for Both APAs and Democrats
By Shirley Lin
Special to AsianWeek
The eastern prairies of Colorado are mainly dry grassland, fertile ground for sowing wheat and grazing cattle. But over the past few decades, the Democratic party has been slowly growing a moderate base, as voters in this district of roughly 750,000 heartlanders head for the polls in November.
Democrat Stan Matsunaka, currently president of the Colorado State Senate, is running a tight race against Senate colleague Marilyn Musgrave to represent Colorado’s Fourth District in Congress.
Despite a 14-point lead by registered Republicans, the 26 percent Democratic and 34 percent independent voters ensure the race is a toss-up. If his bid is successful, Matsunaka would become the first Asian Pacific American elected to Congressional office in the U.S. interior. He will also be the first Democrat to represent the district in 30 years.
Matsunaka had been vying for the seat of Republican Governor Bill Owens, but shifted gears this February when House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt asked him to run for Congress. The Fourth District is historically Republican, but Matsunaka has shown that he can appeal to GOP voters by winning rural and suburban voters. A native of eastern Colorado, Matsunaka first ran for office in 1994 against a Republican incumbent, and won 52-47. When Democrats gained the State Senate in 2000, he assumed the helm as the first Democratic President in nearly 40 years.
The 49-year-old father of three says his priorities are improving education, making health care accessible and affordable, and creating new jobs: bread-and-butter issues that dominated his record in the state capitol.
Says Matsunaka, “The reason I got into politics was because of education funding. Our local school district was the lowest-funded in the state. Since then, I’ve raised the school formula so that it’s fair.”
Musgrave’s platform has emphasized traditional Republican policies, favoring strong national defense, lower taxes and curtailing abortion rights. Campaign-watchers have noted that her staunch conservatism may alienate centrists, who at 34 percent form a key bloc in the Fourth District.
Having sustained an often-contentious relationship with both a Republican governor and House, Matsunaka says he’s demonstrated his bipartisanship in the state senate on a number of issues. “I work with counting my votes, getting consensus and trying to work out a compromise to make sure that each side gets what they wanted.”
An open nerve in Colorado has been its sprawling growth, which has contributed to steep transportation congestion. This May, Matsunaka saw the passage of a bill allocating $15 million to fund highway construction — which he opposed but was favored by the governor — along with a light rail transportation alternative.
Daphne Kwok, director of the Washington D.C.-based Asian Pacific Americans Institute for Congressional Studies, says her group has been watching the Colorado race “very closely” because it is the most likely race this year to elect an APA candidate. According to Kwok, Matsunaka holds the most extensive legislative experience of the 14 or so APAs running for national office.
Says Kwok, “Stan is very competitive in that race because of the stature he holds in Colorado, and because his viewpoints seem to be very close to that of those in his district.” Although APAs comprise roughly one percent of Fourth District’s population, she notes that APAs have historically run for local and national office in areas with a relatively low number of APA constituents, as is the case for Rep. David Wu, D-Ore. These candidates have paved the way for more recent political hopefuls from areas with larger Asian populations.
In 2002, eight APAs held seats in Congress, the highest number ever. However, with passing of the esteemed Rep. Patsy T. Mink, D-Hawai‘i, who had been campaigning for reelection until her death, and Guam Rep. Robert A. Underwood’s decision to run for governor, APAs stand to lose considerable presence in D.C. after the midterm elections.
“When we talk about America, just by having Asian American members of Congress present in the discussion and deliberation reminds the body that this nation is diverse,” says Kwok, who believes last Thursday’s Congressional vote overwhelmingly authorizing war against Iraq revealed a yet-unarticulated stance among APA members. “To see all the Asian American members [of Congress] vote against the war reflects the constituents and reflects that there are Asian Americans who do oppose the war effort.”
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Top: Senator Matsunaka and Governor Owens celebrate signing the bi-partisan transportation bill. Above: Highway workers congratulate Matsunaka on the signing of the bi-partisan Matsunaka-Owens Transportation Plan.
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Family history has contributed much to Matsunaka’s moderate position. His father, Harry, is a decorated veteran of the venerated 442nd Regiment. His father enlisted to prove the loyalty of Japanese Americans, while his grandfather, a bilingual newspaper publisher in Denver, was imprisoned in a New Mexico internment camp during World War II.
“It makes you very cognizant of how quickly you can lose your constitutional rights,” says Matsunaka.
Democrats see the Colorado contest as one battle in their campaign to tip the fairly even partisan split in both houses. So far, Matsunaka has raised over $700,000, which he says is more than double the record for previous Democratic candidates, and he hopes to top $1 million by the campaign’s end. But Musgrave’s campaign has formidable backing: the GOP has spent over $750,000 on television ads alone.
Matsunaka’s campaign remains optimistic. An Oct. 2 poll by Lake, Snell, Perry & Associates showed Musgrave in the lead at 45 percent, with Matsunaka closely behind at 40 percent. (Libertarian candidate John Volz netted 1 percent of respondents.) The poll also revealed that 13 percent of those polled were undecided, a group that Matsunaka is favored to sway given a 21-point lead among independent voters.
If he’s successful on election day, Matsunaka hopes “it will tell other Asian Americans that they have a possibility of winning anywhere in the country.” When it comes to campaigning, he says, “it’s always about the person and not the party, and it’s always been about the person and the issues and what’s best for the community at the time. I tell people what’s best for Colorado and the country today is that you find the leaders who put people’s priorities over politics.”
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