In 2016 I became the first Asian American elected to the Illinois General Assembly. For two years, I was there alone among the 177 members of our two chambers, representing the 600,000-plus Asian Americans in Illinois. I was eventually joined by four others. On Election Day, our caucus increased to nine — effectively accomplishing an 800% increase in six years.
How did this happen and why does it matter? In Illinois, Asian Americans were not elected to a highly visible office in government until 2011, when Ameya Pawar became the first Asian American elected to Chicago City Council. The following year, Tammy Duckworth won her congressional seat, the first Asian American elected to Congress in Illinois. In 2016, Josina Morita and I appeared on the ballot with Duckworth when she ran for Senate.
