Doug Ducey Elected Ariz. Governor with Asian American Voters Help

Doug Ducey Elected Ariz. Governor with Asian American Voters Help

By Barry Wong
(Phoenix, Ariz.) There was an air of excitement in the party suites and hallways among the nearly 1,000 partygoers assembled at the Hyatt Regency Phoenix, site of the Arizona Republican Party’s November 4, 2014 election night party. The high energy atmosphere had set the tone for the evening among Republican Party supporters and faithful.
At stake were all statewide offices (Governor, Secretary of State, Treasurer, Attorney General, Superintendent of Public Instructions (education) and Corporation Commissioner (two seats)), congressional seats, legislative seats, city council seats and ballot measures.
Everyone was anxious to learn the results of the Governor’s race which pitted from the two major parties Doug Ducey, the sitting Republican state Treasurer and former CEO of Cold Stone ice cream company, against Fred DuVal, Democrat former chairman of the Arizona Board of Regents and Clinton White House staffer.
An hour after the polls closed at 7:00pm initial election results were announced by county and state election officials showing Ducey ahead of DuVal by a comfortable margin. Soon thereafter, GOP partiers were spreading the word that Ducey had won, at least unofficially, after NBC News declared Ducey the winner. As the evening inched closer to nine o’clock, the planned time for the GOP stage program, another round of word-spreading declared that DuVal had conceded defeat thus paving the way for a Ducey victory speech.
Party revelers started crowding in the grand ballroom making their way towards and surrounding the stage. As hundreds of people gathered and as TV news cameras with their bright lights focused, GOP Chairman Robert Graham welcomed everyone. He started by introducing Pastor Edward Yun, President of the Arizona Korean Churches Association, to give the opening prayer; followed by singing of the National Anthem.
Elected officials, one-by-one, spoke on stage as they started building excitement for Ducey. Speakers included Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Senators John McCain and Jeff Flake, Congressmen Trent Franks, David Schweikert and Matt Salmon, and Governor Janice Brewer.
As the buildup was reaching its peak Ducey’s family came on stage including his mother, grandmother and other relatives; then followed by his wife, Angela, and three sons, Jack, Joe and Sam. With the crowd now in a frenzy, Angela introduced her husband ”. . . please welcome Arizona’s Governor 杄lect Doug Ducey.”
After prolonged applause and with electricity in the air, Ducey came on stage waving and beaming with a wide smile. He gave a warm and heartfelt victory speech after kind words about his Democrat opponent. Ducey emphasized that he will be Governor for all the people of Arizona and will work towards policies that will provide opportunities for all Arizonans as was his campaign focus. He said he will start working to build a team to advance his administration as Governor.
Standing along the rope barriers facing the stage were leaders from many Arizona Asian American communities. Among them were Jae Chin, Edward Yun, Jaeman Lee, Whansik Choi and Kaye Won (Korean community); Kevin Dang, Mai Le, Sang Nguyen and Andrew Nguyen (Vietnamese community); Charles Chiu (Chinese community); Raphael Ahmed and Farhana Ahmed (Bangladesh community); Marie Cunning and Charmel de la Cruz (Filipino community); Astria Wong and Al Carstens (Asian community); and Barry Wong (Chinese/Asian communities).
The Ducey Campaign and the Republican Party established Asian American coalitions to garner voter support from Arizona’s fast growing Asian American community. They made a concerted and genuine effort to reach out to the Asian community. Conversely, the Asian community responded favorably with votes for Republican candidates and for Ducey. With Ducey winning by nearly 54% of the vote (as of press time), every vote including the Asian vote was critically important.
”The Ducey Campaign and Ariz. GOP are applauded for recognizing and respecting the Asian American community,” said Wong, co-chairman of Asian Americans for Ducey, and chairman of Ariz. GOP’s Asian American Coalition. ”Further, leaders of the various Asian communities are congratulated for engaging their community members to participate in the American system of democracy by voting.”
The GOP and campaigns are evolving by recognizing and courting the vote of ethnic communities. This commitment to community outreach was important in this election cycle and will continue to be important for future elections. One’s vote is truly one’s voice!
Barry Wong is an Arizona attorney and a former Arizona legislator (four terms, Arizona House of Representatives) and Corporation Commissioner (utility regulator).

    Governor-elect Doug Ducey gives victory speech at Hyatt Regency Phoenix

GOP Election Night at Hyatt Regency Phoenix. (back row) GOP Chair Robert Graham, Whansik Choi, Jaeman Lee, Raphael Ahmed (top of head) and Jae Chin. (front row) Mai Le, Charles Chiu, Barry Wong, Marie Cunning, Farhana Ahmed and Kevin Dang. (Photo courtesy of VietLifestyles Magazine)

GOP Election Night at Hyatt Regency Phoenix. (l-r) Astria Wong, Charmel de la Cruz, Marie Cunning, Barry Wong, Whansik Choi, Farhana Ahmed, Jaeman Lee and Jae Chin. (Photo courtesy of Arizona Korea Post/Kaye Won)

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