Press Release
Wednesday, June 27, 2012 Contact: Erin Pangilinan National Communications Director 510-673-5448 erin@kayagrassroots.org
KAYA Candidate Rob Bonta Advances to November Election for CA State Assembly District 18 San Francisco – KAYA is proud to announce that Rob Bonta has advanced to the November ballot and can be the first Filipino American candidate elected to the California State Legislature. As ABS-CBN reports, no Filipino American has ever won a California State Assembly or Senate seat even though Filipino Americans are the second largest Asian American ethnic group in the state of California. In the June primary election, Rob garnered 37% of the vote giving him a comfortable lead over his competitor. This vote of confidence reflects the community's positive response to his current work in office and a platform built on supporting working class families and a diverse constituency. Rob acknowledges KAYA as one of his first and most important endorsements and the key support of the Filipino American community in winning his campaign. "I was proud to join Filipino Americans in the East Bay, across California, and throughout the United States to help shatter a glass ceiling that has existed for far too long and to achieve a historical milestone for our community: electing the first Filipino American state legislator in the history of California. While Filipinos are the second largest Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) group in the state and the fastest-growing, there has yet to be a single member of our community in the California legislature. We will look back on this day as a critical moment for Filipino American political empowerment. We could not have gotten this far without the unwavering support of KAYA, who has stood with me since my first race for Alameda City Council, and I deeply appreciate the time and energy KAYA members have dedicated to our campaign. I am proud that we have achieved this critical victory together, and while there is still more distance to travel in our journey in the coming months, I am confident that with the Filipino American community by my side we will make history this November,” Currently, Rob serves as Alameda Vice Mayor and an Alameda County Transportation Commissioner. Rob is a Yale Law School alumnus and worked as the Deputy City Attorney for the City and County of San Francisco for the last eight years. Rob has demonstrated a strong commitment to the Filipino American community having served as a Board Member of Manilatown Heritage Foundation in San Francisco and Filipino Advocates for Justice (formerly Filipinos for Affirmative Action). Rob's parents both worked with the United Farm Workers (UFW) and were active in the Civil Rights Movement and the ongoing fight for social, economic, and racial justice. ”Rob has been a champion of the Asian Pacific American community here in the San Francisco Bay Area. He truly embodies what KAYA stands for and I know that when he’s elected into state legislature, that our decision to support him was the right one. He fights for social, political and economic justice,” said Meriam Reynosa, KAYA SF Bay Area Co-Chair.
### KAYA: Filipino Americans for Progress KAYA: Filipino Americans for Progress was founded in January 2009, to build a political infrastructure to ensure that the Filipino American community is represented in the electoral process and governance. KAYA was born from the Filipinos for Obama Campaign during the 2008 Presidential election. KAYA’s mission is to mobilize the Filipino American community and build partnerships to increase our electoral power, advocate policies that affect our community, and develop leaders to represent us at every level of government. http://www.kayagrassroots.org