PRESS ADVISORY
For Immediate Release: Wednesday, June 21, 2023
Contact: Benjamin Hermerding, benjamin@kathyfordelegate.com
VAAPIC PAC Congratulates Victorious AAPI Nominees
RICHMOND, VA – VAAPIC Fund congratulates the five Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) nominees who won their primaries yesterday. An historic number of AAPI Virginians were selected by voters to be the Democratic Party nominees in November on Election Day.
“AAPI candidates won in diverse districts across the Commonwealth,” said Virginia Asian American and Pacific Islander Caucus Chair Kathy Tran (HD-42, Fairfax). “For too long, AAPI Virginians have been underrepresented in the General Assembly. Yesterday’s election is a significant step forward in building political power for AAPI communities in Virginia.”
“If all of the candidates win this November, we will triple the number of AAPI Senators in the Virginia General Assembly,” said Senator Ghazala Hashmi (SD-10, Chesterfield). “As the only current AAPI senator, I look forward to being joined by my new colleagues and having their perspectives in the legislature.”
The following candidates won their primaries yesterday:
Suhas Subramanyam, Senate District 32 — Subramanyam currently is a member of the House of Delegates and the Virginia Asian American and Pacific Islander Caucus (VAAPIC). When he was elected in 2019, Subramanyam was the first Hindu American to serve in the General Assembly and the first South Asian in the House of Delegates.
Saddam Salim, Senate District 37 — Salim and his family immigrated to the United States from Bangladesh when he was eight years old, and he would be the first Benladeshi-American to serve in the General Assembly. He currently serves as the Co-State Director for South Asians for America and was one of the founders of the Asian and Pacific Islander Caucus of the Fairfax County Democratic Committee.
Kelly Convirs-Fowler, House District 96 — Convirs-Fowler is a member of the House of Delegates and VAAPIC. She became the first Filipina and one of the first AAPI women to serve in the state legislature when she was first elected in 2017.
Adele McClure, House District 2 — McClure is an Arlington County community leader and executive director of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus. If she wins in November, she will be the second Filipina elected to the General Assembly.
Kannan Srinivasan, House District 26 — Srinivasan was born in India before immigrating to the United States. He is a Loudoun County finance and business leader, and, as chair of the Virginia Board of Medical Assistance Services, helped expand Medicaid to hundreds of thousands of Virginians.
According to the 2020 Census, nearly 800,000 Virginians are AAPI, a 45 percent growth in the last decade. Despite being nearly 10 percent of Virginia’s population, AAPI legislators currently only make up 4 percent of the House of Delegates and 2.5 percent of the state Senate.
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VAAPIC Fund is the action fund for the Virginia Asian American and Pacific Islander Caucus. The fund is dedicated to growing the legislative and political power of Asian American and Pacific Islander communities in Virginia.
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