Asian-American Wins State Primary

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

The New York Sun

Asian-Americans are poised to send their first representative to Albany, but the upset victory in a state Assembly primary disappointed the city’s only Asian-American elected official, City Council Member John Liu, who said racial politics clouded the real issues.


“I am very upset over the outcome,” said Mr. Liu, the first Asian-American elected to public office in New York.


Two years after losing by just less than 100 votes to Assemblyman Barry Grodenchik in a crowded field to businessman Jimmy Meng came back to win the Democratic primary for the 22nd District’s Assembly seat Tuesday.


“Jimmy’s campaign was an ethnic appeal, and it succeeded in turning out the ethnic vote in large numbers, but an ethnic appeal, or a racial appeal in a campaign, is something I could never support especially in a community like Flushing, where we are truly comprised of people from all over,” said Mr. Liu, whose northeastern Queens district overlaps with the contested Assembly district.


It is an area with drastically shifting demographics, where the Asian population has quadrupled over the past two decades, fueled by an influx of Chinese and Korean immigrants.


While recognizing the importance of Asian-American representation, Mr. Liu endorsed Mr. Grodenchik, saying they share perspectives on key issues: They’re both pro-choice and for gay marriage.


When Mr. Meng lost two years ago, his daughter Caroline blamed Mr. Liu and other Asian-Americans who supported Mr. Grodenchik, who is Jewish. She suggested Asian-Americans should act more like the Jewish community because, “the Jews stick together and that’s why they control everything.”


Mr. Meng’s older daughter and campaign manager, Grace Meng, stood behind her sister’s statement yesterday. “There’s nothing anti-Semitic,” Grace Meng, 28, said, noting she went to a Jewish law school and a member of her father’s slate is Jewish. “It’s more of a statement of admiration. I feel Chinese people see a lot of themselves in Jewish people. They’re hardworking, immigrants, have achieved a lot, but the Chinese, they’re not unified.”


According to Ms. Meng, her father, owner of a Flushing-based Queens lumber company, has in many ways lived out the American dream. Born in mainland China in 1943, Mr. Meng moved as a child to Taiwan. In his mid-20s he moved to Oklahoma, and then to Flushing, one of the first in an influx of educated Taiwanese immigrants to the Queens neighborhood.


Fred Fu, current president of the Flushing Chinese Business Association, has known Mr. Meng since he arrived in Queens. “He has done a lot of community service,” Mr. Fu said. Still, he was not particularly enthused about the results. “Jimmy is an immigrant, he knows this community, but his problem is he does not have experience to be a politician.”


The phones at Mr. Meng’s campaign office rang off the hook with interview requests from as far away as Beijing. All of the Chinese dailies prominently displayed smiling pictures of Mr. Meng on the front page. And from bakeries to bus stops people chatted excitedly about the news.


“They were very excited that we have another Chinese person who can speak out for us,” said Jennifer Tsai, an advertising executive, of the buzz on her morning commute. “He knows better than other people what we need.”


She said generally Asian-American New Yorkers, who number about 10% of the population, often do not exercise their right to vote, but, “this time a lot of people went to vote, especially Chinese people.”


The New York Sun

© 2025 The New York Sun Company, LLC. All rights reserved.

Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. The material on this site is protected by copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used.

The New York Sun

Sign in or  Create a free account

or
By continuing you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use