Asian American politicians continue to make strides. In addition to the victories on Tuesday of openly-gay AAPI candidates Evan Lowe in Campbell, CA, and Alex Wan in Atlanta, we have word that Cupertino, CA, just became the third city in the country, and the only one in Northern California, with an Asian American council majority. Of special note, newcomer Barry Chang received the endorsements of Norm Mineta and John Chiang.

"Wow ... this is a major milestone for Cupertino," said Grace J. Yoo, professor of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University. "This is, indeed, unusual, but I believe that Asian-Americans have started to get more involved in the political process. This last presidential election galvanized a lot of first time voters in the Asian-American community."

Newcomer Barry Chang joined Gilbert Wong and Kris Wang on the five-member body, pushing the Cupertino City Council to an Asian-American majority. The council selected Wang, mayor, and Wong, vice mayor. All three are Chinese American.

"More and more Asian Americans are willing to serve the community and have become more outgoing," said Wang, who previously served two stints as mayor. "It's a huge honor not only for me, but to have a community that is diverse and mature enough to elect the best representatives."

Cupertino is the second city in the South Bay where a majority of residents are Asian — a rare cultural phenomenon even in one of the most diverse counties in the country. Asians also are a majority in Milpitas. Cupertino's Asian population now makes up 57 percent of its 55,623 residents, according to the most recent census data for the three-year period between 2006 and 2008.

Sworn in Tuesday were Chang — a small-business owner — and two members who won re-election: Mark Santoro and Orrin Mahoney, the outgoing mayor.

At the ceremony before a full crowd in the council chambers, the audience appeared to welcome the makeup of the council.

"I believe a global community is a good thing," said Bertha Smith, a Cupertino resident. Hung Wei, also of Cupertino, had no idea the city was marking a major milestone. "I am very impressed," Wei said. "I think it's a good sign and shows that Asian Americans are participating."

Cupertino is only one of a handful of cities in the continental U.S., excluding Hawaii, to have a majority Asian-American City Council. In Southern California, Westminster and Monterey Park each have majority Asian-American city councils. And, while not a majority, three Chinese Americans currently serve on the board of supervisors in San Francisco.

"This is an exciting time for Asian-American politics in California, and I believe the suburbs are leading the way," said James Lai, associate professor and director of the Ethnic Studies Program at Santa Clara University, who has extensively researched Asian-American politics.

Bernard Wong, a professor at San Francisco State and author of "The Chinese in Silicon Valley," said he was not surprised that the majority of Cupertino's council is now Asian-American.

"Given that Cupertino has such a large Asian population and the fact that the Asians there have a long tradition in participating in city politics," Bernard Wong said, "it is natural that the City Council would have, at least, once in a while, an all-Asian majority."

Noting the significance of Tuesday's ceremony, Councilman Gilbert Wong said he looks forward to the day when ethnic majorities on any city council would no longer be noteworthy.

"It's been a long journey," said Councilman Wong, an American-born Chinese raised and educated in Santa Clara County. "We should celebrate, but we should also look to one day that five Hispanics or five Chinese on a city council will not be looked on as being unique and different."