Wow, seems like there's a bumper crop of Asian American and Pacific Islander candidates running for local office in San Mateo this fall. According to this article in the Examiner, twelve candidates, including four incumbents, have filed the necessary paperwork to run. If they are all successful, the number of AAPI elected officials would dramatically increase.

In a quick survey of the approximately 454 local offices - excluding judges - in San Mateo County, perhaps 12 elected officials are APIs, or perhaps 2 ½ percent. Such a small percentage of local officeholders belies the fact that San Mateo County ‘s population is perhaps more than a quarter API.

I have to admit, I don't know much about the area except it's in between the city of San Francisco and the South Bay where my siblings live. The county includes the communities of Foster City, San Mateo, Millbrae, South San Francisco and Daly City. Here are some quick facts from the U.S. Census Bureau:

Total population is 712,690 of which 67% is white, 24% Asian and 3% African American. The median household value is $469,000.

As for the candidates, the incumbents include:

• South San Francisco Mayor Karyl Matsumoto
• Half Moon Bay CouncilmemberNaomi Patridge
• San Bruno Councilman Ken Ibarra and Belmont Redwood Shores Elementary School District Trustee

The new candidates include:

Alameda County Deputy District Attorney David Lim will run for a San Mateo City Council seat in a field of 12 possible candidates for three seats. Lim has been endorsed by just about every local leader relevant to this race and is expected to place well in the race. Included in that massive field of candidates is Bertha Sanchez, a former San Mateo Planning Commissioner who ran unsuccessfully in 2007.

Mike Loy, an active parent in the Aragon High School community will run for a seat on the San Mateo Union High School District Board of Trustees.

In the south part of the county Redwood City Planning Commissioner Jeff Gee will run in a smaller field of candidates for three seats but is expected to do well.

Just up the road, former Civil Grand Jury Chairwoman Virginia Chang Kiralay will run for a seat on the Sequoia Union High School District Board of Trustees for one of two available seats. 

In the Belmont Redwood Shores Elementary School District parent Peter Tao will run for one of the available seats and could join incumbent Karen Leong Clancy on that board. Tao was actually passed over for an appointment to the board last fall when a mid-term opening occurred. 

In Foster City, newcomer and businessman Wing Yu is running for one of two possible seats on the city council. Wing would not be the first API to serve on the council in Foster City but it has been many years since the now very large API community in Foster City has had a representative on the council.

And finally, in the unincorporated community of Broadmoor, San Francisco Police Patrol Special Hanley Chan is running for a seat on the three-member Broadmoor Police Commission, the panel that oversees the special police district in that community.

It's great to see so many AAPI's stepping up to run for office.  We'll try to keep you up to date on as many of these candidates as possible. And if you are affiliated with any of these campaigns, feel free to post up an entry and introduce yourself to our community!