For Immediate Release:
May 16, 2016
|
Contact Information:
Garry South
310-600-9001
|
SIERRA CLUB CHOOSES SUKHEE KANG FOR
STATE SENATE
Nation's Oldest and Largest Environmental Group Lauds Kang's
"Commitment to Environmental Protection"
SACRAMENTO - Sukhee Kang, the Democratic Party-endorsed candidate in the open 29th Senate District, today was endorsed by the Sierra Club, one of the premiere environmental advocacy groups in California and nationwide. This is the first environmental organization to endorse in the 29th District race.
"Sierra Club California supports Sukhee Kang for State Senate because he has demonstrated a commitment to environmental protection,"said Sharon Koch, chair of the Orange County Political Committee, Angeles Chapter, Sierra Club. "We believe he will continue to work to protect California's air, water and wild places when elected to the state Senate."
Sierra Club California is the legislative and regulatory advocacy arm for Sierra Club chapters in California. The Sierra Club is one of the nation's oldest and largest environmental organizations, founded in 1892 by a group of Californians, including naturist John Muir, who valued the state's wilderness areas. California has 13 chapters representing nearly 150,000 members.
"I am deeply honored to receive the endorsement of such a venerable and respected environmental organization as the Sierra Club," Kang said. "They do great and invaluable work in protecting our precious natural environment heritage here in California and nationwide. I look forward to working with Sierra Club on that mission as a state senator."
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 39 years and now live in Fullerton.
Kang announced his candidacy for the open 29th 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. Earlier this year, Kang won the official endorsement of the California Democratic Party.
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, 35, and Angie, 33, attended public schools in Anaheim, where the Kang family lived for 10 years. Alan, a graduate of UC San Diego and USC's Marshall School of Business, is a manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers, while Angie, a graduate of UCLA and Berkeley Law School (Boalt Hall), is vice president of business and legal affairs at Hulu.
