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Asian American Politics Web Update
There were a number of significant developments for prominent APA government officials as the Obama administration neared the halfway point of its first term. This update focuses primarily on changes in congressional membership, but we note a few other notable changes as well.
The 112th Congress(2011-12)
Changes in the House.
In the 2010 elections, APA members lost two seats, while two APA newcomers won seats in the House of Representative, for a total of seven APA House members (Austria, Clarke, Hanabusa, Hirono, Honda, Matsui, Scott, and Wu).
APA HOUSE Members in the 112th Congress (As of May 2011)
| Name | Party | District | Asian Ancestry |
| Steve Austria | Republican | Ohio 7th | Filipino |
| Hansen Clarke | Democrat | Michigan 13th | Indian/Bangladeshi |
| Colleen Hanabusa | Democrat | Hawai'i 1st | Japanese |
| Mazie K. Hirono | Democrat | Hawai'i 2nd | Japanese |
| Mike Honda | Democrat | California 15th | Japanese |
| Doris O. Matsui | Democrat | California 5th | Japanese |
| Robert C. “Bobby” Scott | Democrat | Virginia 3rd | Filipino |
| David Wu | Democrat | Oregon 1st | Chinese |
Interestingly, the two APA members who lost their seats, Anh “Joseph” Cao and Charles Djou, were Republicans, given the Republican landslide victory (Republicans gained 63 seats). However, each of them had unique circumstances that demonstrate the limits of national tides
In the case of Cao, the district he represented, the Louisiana 2nd, was 57.2 percent African American (Asian American comprised only 3.7 percent). The district has long been represented by William Jennings Jefferson, an African American member. But Jefferson was hurt by corruption charges, including a widely publicized FBI raid that reportedly discovered $90,000 in the freezer in his home. Further hurting Jefferson were Louisiana‟s unique election rules, resulting in a Democratic run-off election on the day of the presidential election in November, preventing him from benefiting from the surge of African Americans who turned out to vote for Barack Obama. Instead, the Louisiana 2nd district general election was held in December 2008, where Cao was able to unseat Jefferson. However, it was clear that it would be difficult for Cao to retain a seat in an African American majority district. Even becoming the only Republican who cast a "yea" vote on Obama's "Affordable Health Care for America Act" (H.R.3962, Roll Call No.887 on Nov. 7, 2009) did not help. Cao lost to Cedric Richmond, an African American Democrat and state representative, in the 2010 general election, by the wide margin of 64.6 percent to 33.5 percent. .Click here to read more
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