By Dustin Brown
In an election year charged with the energy of political newcomers, the prominence of Asian candidates in Queens city council races has put unprecedented focus on ethnicity as an issue stirring up several campaigns.
With candidates vying for seats in a Council that has never before had an Asian American member, the significance of ethnic background in the eyes of the voters remains a critical but uncertain factor in at least two races in the borough.
In the 20th Council District, which is centered in Flushing and represented by Julia Harrison (D-Flushing), three of the four candidates who made it onto the ballot for the Democratic primary in September are Asian American: Ethel Chen, John Liu and Terence Park. The fourth candidate, Richard Jannaccio, is white. In the Green Party primary, Evergreen Chou — who was born in Taiwan — is contending for the nomination against Paul Graziano, who is white.
In southeast Queens the Democratic primary in the 28th Council District, which is currently represented by City Councilman Thomas White (D-Jamaica), has one Indo-Guyanese candidate — Trevor Rupnarain — and three black candidates, Anthony Andrews, Allan Jennings and Aziz Uddin Bilal.
Both Harrison and White are barred by term limits from running for re-election.
Although the candidates in both races resoundingly stress that their campaigns are based on issues rather than ethnicity, they also acknowledge the “political reality” that ethnic background inevitably plays a role in campaigns for office.
Studies of election patterns reveal minorities frequently vote for candidates from the same minority group, said Glenn Magpantay, a staff attorney for the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund.
“We have found racially polarized voting,” Magpantay said. “Asians vote for Asian candidates.”
At the same time, however, Magpantay said Asian voters tend to seriously consider the issues when casting their votes.
“Asians tend to vote for a candidate that represents their interests and needs, who might be Asian,” Magpantay said. “But when there’s no Asian on the ballot, they look very closely at the candidate.”
Asians make up 47.2 percent of the population in Flushing’s 20th District, according to census figures, making it a potentially powerful base of support for any candidate capable of rallying the district’s sprawling Asian community behind a single campaign.
But the candidates maintain they are not deriving their support along racial and ethnic lines.
James Wu, the campaign adviser to Chinese-born Chen, said race is not a consideration in her campaign since she considers her base to be Flushing’s senior citizen community, where she has focused her activism efforts over the past two decades.
Liu, who received the endorsement of the Queens Democratic Party, likewise considers race to be a peripheral issue in the race, one among many factors that voters consider.
“I certainly think that race and ethnicity play some role in all aspects of life,” said Liu, who emigrated from Taiwan at an early age. “I’m Asian American … but I’m certainly not running a campaign as an Asian American.”
Although the candidates in Flushing downplay race in their campaigns, race is assuming a more prominent role in the fight for White’s council seat in the 28th District.
Rupnarain challenged signatures on the petitions submitted by other candidates of South Asian and Indo-Caribbean background, which he described as a strategic maneuver to prevent his strongest base of support — which he draws along ethnic lines — from being split.
“We feel that there were not enough votes from within our community to support three candidates,” Rupnarain said. “Certainly we thought it was in our interest to ensure there is only one candidate of (Indo-) Caribbean descent, at least in this race.”
Rameshwar Jodha and Inderjit Singh were knocked off the ballot by Rupnarain’s challenges, while Aziz Uddin Bilal — who as a Muslim may draw support from the South Asian community — remained on the ballot despite Rupnarain’s attempt to have him removed.
Some of Rupnarain’s opponents believe that by knocking off his opponents, he alienated factions of the South Asian and Indo-Caribbean communities and sabotaged his attempts to rally their support.
“He cannot win the primary without bringing everybody — all segments of the community — together,” said Singh, a Sikh born in Pakistan who is trying to run under the Independence and Green Party lines. “He has pretty much managed to … make it impossible for him to do that.”
Although the candidates for White’s seat stressed that their campaigns are focused on the issues, ethnicity is figuring into the race by way of geography. The district is split by the Van Wyck Expressway, with the Indo-Caribbean community concentrated in Richmond Hill and a much larger black population living east of the Van Wyck in Jamaica.
Many of the Indo-Caribbean and South Asian candidates claim that White, who is black, ignored their concerns during his tenure, which has led many to believe they must elect one of their own to be adequately represented.
Andrews, who formerly served as White’s chief of staff and has been endorsed by the Queens Democratic Party, denied such allegations on behalf of the councilman while stressing that he has personally pursued extensive civic activism in Richmond Hill.
“I think the residents of that community should be focused on the issues and focused on finding out who can best serve that community by way of experience,” Andrews said.
Reach reporter Dustin Brown by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 154.
