ORANGE COUNTY YOUNG DEMS OVERWHELMINGLY BACK KANG
72 Percent of Members of Club Representing Young Democrats
Vote to Endorse Sukhee Kang for State Senate
FULLERTON-
The
Orange County Young Democrats have voted overwhelmingly to endo
rse Suk
hee Kang
in the open 29
th
Senate
District seat,
which is at the confluence
of Orange, Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties. The club
represents young Democratic activi
sts
in Orange County
,
which comprises 74 percent of the Senate district.
Kang
also has won the official endorsement of the California Democratic Party, with 88.8 percent of the district delegates voting to support him.
"
The Orange County Young Democrats are pleased to endorse Sukhee Kang for state Senate with 72 percent of our votes,
"
said Jesse Ben-Ron, president of the organization.
"
Sukhee's candidacy has energized a lot of Democrats in this historically red seat, because he's the only Democrat with the experience, track record of winning elections and base of support necessary to flip the seat. The Orange County Young Democrats look forward to providing lots of support, enthusiasm and manpower to fuel Sukhee's campaign this year.
"
"I
am
very appreciative for the endorsement and support of the Orange County Young Democrats, especially with such a large margin of members voting to endorse me
," Kang said.
"
This endorsement is another sign that we will have across-the-board
Democratic Party
support
in my Senate race,
and
I look forward
to
working with the
Young Democrats
to help win not only this seat, but other races in
Orange County
this year.
"
Kang previously won the endorsement of
Eric Bauman, chair of the Los Angeles County Democratic Party and vice chair of the California Democratic Party
, and
San Bernardino County Democratic Chair Chris Robles
.
Many other Democratic clubs also have endorsed Kang.
Kang was a two-term city councilmember in Irvine, as well as a two-term mayor of the city, reelected overwhelmingly in 2010 with more than 64 percent of the vote. He and his wife Joanne, also a South Korean native who immigrated to the U.S. with him in 1977, have been residents of Orange County for 3
9
years and now live in Fullerton.
Kang announced his candidacy for the open 29
th
Senate District on April 22, the first Democrat to do so, and has since picked up dozens of endorsements from state and local officials and community leaders throughout Orange
,
Los Angeles
and San Bernardino counties
. The district is currently represented by
former
Senate Republican Leader Bob Huff, who cannot run again due to term limits.
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. The Irvine Chamber of Commerce also recognized Kang in 2010 as "Business Leader of the Year."
A veteran, Kang served in the South Korean Army, then graduated from the prestigious 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, 3
5
, and Angie, 3
3
, 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.
A full list of Sukhee Kang's endorsements can be found here:
