Shortly after publishing this post about former Irvine Mayor Sukhee Kang moving into the 29th Senate District to run next year, I received this press release from veteran Democratic strategist Garry South, who will be Kang’s general consultant:
SUKHEE KANG TO RUN FOR SENATE DISTRICT 29
Long-time Orange County Resident Represents an Immigrant’s Success StoryFULLERTON, CA – Sukhee Kang, of Fullerton, a 38-year resident of Orange County and longtime local and state public official, announced today that he is running as a Democrat in the 29th Senate District.
“I am excited about bringing my background and experience in both the private and public sectors to serve the citizens of Senate District 29, “Kang said. “This very diverse district includes parts of three counties, and it deserves to have an advocate in the state Senate who will exercise strong bi-partisan leadership and fight for issues important to the residents who live here.”
“I am looking forward to campaigning door-to-door throughout the district, as I have always one in my campaigns,” he continued, “to meet voters where they live and listen to the concerns on their doorsteps.”
The 29th Senate District encompasses portions of Orange, Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties, and is currently represented by Sen. Bob Huff, a Republican from Diamond Bar and GOP minority leader in the Senate. He is prevented by term limits from running again in 2016, so the race to replace him will be for an open seat with no incumbent. More than 70 percent of the district is in Orange County.
Kang and his wife Joanne, both natives of South Korea, immigrated to America in 1977, settling in Orange County and starting a family. Kang began his career in retail sales for what became Circuit City, rising rapidly through the management ranks and winning awards due to his hard work and commitment to excellent customer service. He and his wife then became entrepreneurs, establishing several shoe stores in Orange, Los Angeles and Riverside counties, and building a highly successful retail business.
In 2004, Kang was elected to the Irvine City Council – a non-partisan position – then was elected mayor in 2008, becoming the first-ever Korean American mayor of a major U.S. city of more than 100,000 population. He was overwhelmingly re-elected mayor in 2010 with more than 64 percent of the vote. The Kangs now live in Fullerton.
In addition to his experience in city government, Kang has served as a gubernatorial appointee to the California Workforce Investment Board, and as a board member of the State Water Quality Control Board (Santa Ana Region), the Orange County Fire Authority, the Transportation Corridor Agencies, the Orange County Sanitation District and the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG).
Kang has been recognized numerous times for his outstanding public service and community leadership, including receiving the American Diabetes Association’s “Orange County Father of the Year Award” in 2012, the Carnegie Corporation’s “Pride of America” award in 2010, and the International Leadership Foundation’s “Public Servant of the Year” award in 2010. In 2009, Kang was recognized as one of the O.C. Metro’s “Hot 25 Platinum Civic Leaders.”
Kang graduated from Korea University with a degree in agricultural economics, and in 2011 was awarded an honorary doctorate from Dongseo University in Busan, Korea. He also has served a special advisor to the chancellor of UC Irvine, and as an adjunct professor and Chancellor Fellow at Chapman University.
The Kang children, Alan, 34, and Angie, 32, attended public schools in Anaheim, where the Kang family lived for 10 years. Alan, a graduate of USC’s Marshall School of Business, is a manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers, Angie, a graduate of Berkeley Law School (Boalt Hall), is senior counsel at Hulu.
Here are endorsements Kang has lined up thus far:
Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom
California State Treasurer John Chiang
California State Controller Betty Yee
U.S. Rep. Pete Aguilar
U.S. Rep. Judy Chu
U.S. Rep. Mike Honda
U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu
U.S. Rep. Alan Lowenthal
U.S. Rep. Mark Takano
Former U.S. Rep. and Coast Colleges District Trustee Jerry Patterson
State Senator Carol Liu
State Senator Richard Pan
Former State Senator and Orange County Supervisor Lou Correa
State Assemblymember Rob Bonta
State Assemblymember Ed Chau
State Assemblymember David Chiu
Former State Assemblymember Hector De La Torre
Former State Assemblymember and LA Community College Board Member Mike Eng
Former Anaheim Mayor Pro Tem Lorri Galloway
Buena Park Mayor Art Brown
President of Centralia School District Board of Trustees Steve Harris
Centralia School District Trustee Art Montez
Centralia School District Trustee Connor Traut
Garden Grove Mayor Bao Nguyen
Former Fullerton City Councilmember Pam Keller
La Habra City Councilwoman Rose Espinoza
Former La Habra City School District Trustee Sharon H. Brown
Former La Habra City School District Trustee Nancy Zinberg
La Palma City Councilmember and former Mayor Steve Shanahan
Former La Palma City Councilmember Larry Herman
San Francisco Supervisor Jane Kim
The press release also includes this background info on Kang’s campaign team, Garry South and pollster Fred Yang:
GENERAL CONSULTING & STRATEGY
Garry South, Principal of The Garry South Group, will serve as general consultant and chief strategist of the Kang for Senate campaign. South has been called the “Carville of California” by The New York Times, and “California’s political chess master” by the Los Angeles Times. Newsweek described him as “a one-man brain trust on the battlements of Fort California.” The National Journal finds him “shrewd and widely feared.” The Hotline labeled South the “über California Democratic strategist.” Capitol Weekly in 2011 named South one of the Top 50
most influential political players in California. South has more than 40 years’ campaign experience, having managed or played leading roles in campaigns for president, U.S. Senate, governor, lieutenant governor, state Legislature, mayor, city council, county executive, county supervisor and city council, as well as serving as lead strategist on many statewide and local ballot measure campaigns. Most recently, he was an advisor to the successful No on Prop. 46 campaign in 2014, which defeated the measure 2-to-1. In 1998, South managed the come-from-
behind victory of Gray Davis as the first Democratic governor of California elected in 20 years – and only the fourth in the entire 20th century – as well the first lieutenant governor to be elected governor in his own right since 1926, and the only Democrat ever. For his achievement, he was named “Campaign Manager of the Year” by the American Association of Political Consultants, an honor he shares with Karl Rove, James Carville and the late Lee Atwater.PUBLIC OPINION RESEARCH
Fred Yang, a partner with the Garin Hart Yang Research Group, one of the most respected and successful political polling firms in the country for Democratic candidates, will serve as pollster for the Kang for Senate campaign. Yang has achieved a reputation for providing insightful analysis in his approach to political survey research, and for his hands-on involvement with his clients’ campaigns. Campaigns & Elections magazine has single out Yang for “his ability to master the local nuances of a race.” And Capitol Hill’s newspaper, Roll Call, named Yang as
one of 10 Democratic consultants on its list of “Consultants Who Make a difference.” Yang works for a wide range of clients, ranging from several governors, U.S. senators, other statewide elected officials, and scores of municipal officials. He has help elect at least one new House member in each of the past seven election cycles. Yang also serves as a senior vice president with Peter D. Hart Research Associates, Inc., Garin Hart Yang’s parent company. Yang, a California native who is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Stanford University, got his start in politics at age 14, when he worked in his state assemblyman’s district office. Prior to joining Hart Research, he worked on several political campaigns in a variety of roles
Looks like Democrats saw that this district has a large Asian voting population combined with the fact the Democrat did well against Bob Huff in 2012 and decided to find an Asian Democrat. Of course, Sukhee ran for congress in a district with a large (although not as large) Asian voting population in a great Democratic year and still lost. Add to that, the fact he had large name recognition and apolitical base in the largest city, none of which he has here. I guess they’re hoping for a large percentage of minority voters voting only on race.
The Democrat did well in 2012.
Oh man, you just made some heads explode here.
The Democrat raised less than $5,000 and didn’t actively campaign. He got votes for having a “D” next to his name. Then again, Bob Huff no longer lives in the district so residents of SD-29 are represented by someone who moved to LA County to run for Supervisor in 2016. Kang will campaign. He will raise money. He will run a race to win rather than half-ass it
While Bob Huff is moving to run for the Board of Supervisor, he’s lived in Diamond Bar, which is in
Los Angeles county.
Huff has already moved. He no longer lives in the Senate district he represents.