List of Asian Americans - Politics

Politics

• Daniel Akaka was elected to the U.S. Senate from Hawaii in 1990.
• George Ariyoshi became the first Asian American governor in the United States when he was elected Governor of Hawaii in 1974.
• Larry Asera, first Filipino American elected in the continental United States
• Kumar Barve became the first Indian-American in U.S. history elected to a state legislative body in 1990 and currently serves as the Majority Leader of the Maryland House of Delegates.
• Thelma Buchholdt became the first Filipina American legislator and the first Filipino American legislator elected to office outside of Hawaii in 1974. She was elected by a constituency which was less than 1% Asian American, and served four terms in the Alaska state legislature.
• Anh "Joseph" Cao became the first Vietnamese American Congressman as a Representative for Louisiana in 2008.
• Ben Cayetano was elected Governor of Hawaii in 1994.
• Elaine Chao became the first Asian American woman and the first Chinese American in the U.S. Cabinet when George W. Bush appointed her Secretary of Labor in 2001.
• David L. Chew was appointed the White House Staff Secretary by President Ronald Reagan in 1985. It is the highest position in the Executive Office of the President held by an Asian American.
• Upendra J. Chivukula became the first Asian American elected to the New Jersey General Assembly in 2002.
• Sada Cumber First United States Ambassador to the OIC
• Charles Djou former Congressman from Hawaii
• Tammy Duckworth became Director of the Illinois Department of Veteran's Affairs in 2006.
• Hiram Fong became the first Asian American elected to the U.S. Senate in 1959.
• Nikki Haley, of Indian descent, is the governor of South Carolina and first Asian American woman governor.
• Colleen Hanabusa, Congresswoman from Hawaii
• Kamala Harris, Attorney General of California, first Asian/female/African American attorney general in the United States
• Mazie Hirono, former lieutenant governor of State of Hawaii, currently Congresswomen from Hawaii
• Mike Honda a U.S. Congressman from California's 15th congressional district, became the highest-ranking Asian American member of the Democratic National Committee, as the party's Vice Chair in 2005.
• Daniel Inouye became the first Japanese American elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1959. In 1962, he became the first Japanese American elected to the U.S. Senate. As of 2010, he is the President pro tempore of the United States Senate and third in the United States presidential line of succession.
• Bobby Jindal is an Indian American, currently serving as governor of Louisiana.
• Tony Lam became the first Vietnamese American elected to office when he was elected to the Westminster, California city council in 1992.
• Gary Locke was elected the first Asian American governor in the mainland United States in November 1996 and became Governor of Washington in January 1997.
• John Liu became the first Asian American elected to the New York City Council (representing Flushing, Queens) in 2001.
• Doris Matsui, Congresswoman from California
• Jimmy Meng became the first Asian American elected to the New York State Legislature in 2004.
• Aruna Miller first Indian American woman elected to the Maryland House of Delegates in 2010.
• Norman Mineta became the first Asian American in the U.S. Cabinet when Bill Clinton appointed him Secretary of Commerce in 2000, serving in that post until 2001, when George W. Bush appointed him to another Cabinet post (Secretary of Transportation), serving until 2006.
• Patsy Takemoto Mink became the first Asian American woman to serve in Congress, as a representative of Hawaii in 1964; she ended up serving 12 terms.
• Mee Moua became the first Hmong American elected to any state legislature. A Democrat representing St. Paul's East Side, she is the highest ranking Hmong American elected official in the United States in 2002.
• Dalip Singh Saund became the first Asian immigrant elected to the U.S. Congress upon his election to the House of Representatives in 1956.
• Saghir Tahir Serves as a New Hampshire State Representative. Only elected Muslim in the Republican Party.
• Van Tran was elected a Republican member of the California State Assembly and is the first Vietnamese American to serve in any state legislature in 2004.
• Hubert Vo, a Vietnamese immigrant, became the first Vietnamese American elected to the Texas Legislature in 2004.
• Shien Biau Woo became the first Asian American statewide officer in the Northeast, when he was elected Lieutenant Governor of Delaware in 1984.
• Kimberly Yee became Arizona's first Asian American woman to serve as a member of the Arizona State Legislature.