Asian Americans running for office in New York City had a banner year this past cycle, not just with the record-number of candidates, but also the amount of money they raised. In fact, the three most expensive campaigns for New York City Council were all run by Asian Americans: Kevin Kim, Yen Chou and Peter Koo. Here's an article from the Daily News entitled, "When it comes to City Council politics, the biggest spenders don't always win."

Three City Council hopefuls in Queens spent roughly half a million dollars a piece - the biggest spenders for Council races, according to the most recent city Campaign Finance Board filing. But only one of them was elected.

Democrat Kevin Kim, who beat out party favorites in a crowded primary but lost in a bitter general election for the 19th District seat, spent $643,390.

Democrat Yen Chou, who spent $516,319, defeated five opponents in a primary race for John Liu's Flushing seat. She lost in the general election to businessman Peter Koo, a Republican who spent $499,244 on his campaign.

A good chunk of that money went to political consultants and mailings, as well as television, newspaper and radio advertisements.

Kim, Chou and Koo chose not to receive public funds for their campaigns, instead relying on donations and their own money.

Political consultant George Arzt, who worked with Liu on his successful campaign for city controller, said it's not unusual for political hopefuls from recent immigrant groups to spend big to get their message out.

"Money really counted in trying to break through the clutter of literature and the clutter of on-air advertising," Arzt said.

"There was a real excitement there, the importance of having the first Asians in government," he said. "When John Liu would walk throughFlushing or Chinatown, he was like a rock star."

Kim's surprise win in the primary was a moment of pride in the Korean-American community. If elected, Kim would have been the first Korean-American Council member.

Kim, Chou and Koo also spent thousands on radio, television and print ads for Chinese and Korean-language media outlets as well as English-language weeklies.

Michael Tobman, a spokesman for Kim during his campaign, said the political newcomer needed to spend a lot of money to get his message out and boost name recognition.

"A lot of money was needed because a lot of messaging and voter outreach was needed to win a very competitive primary," Tobman said.

"In the primary, the top three finishers were Kevin and the county organization's candidate and the son of a famous political family," Tobman said, referring to Jerry Iannece andPaul Vallone. "So, yeah, you had to spend a lot of money on mail and voter outreach."

Vallone spent $246,178, while Iannece spent $225,373.

It's interesting see that the Asian American candidates could raise the funds to mount a campaign. Knowing that the money is out there, perhaps that will lead to more candidates from our community running in the future.