This past Monday, we held our endorsement session and fundraiser for the mock campaign we have been working on the past 6 weeks, Iwamasa and Lu for Assembly District 49. At various junctures in the day, we were faced with new scenarios and challenges that we quickly learned to efficiently address as a group. Though as members of certain teams we all knew that we had specific tasks to complete, as the day wore on, it was clear that so many of my fellow cohort-mates were willing to help other teams when it was needed. Preparing for our endorsement session and fundraiser that Monday, I got a real sense of what it means to be part of a broader team where we recognize each other’s strengths and unquestioningly help out wherever it’s needed.
Late in the morning, Godfrey Plata, gave us a questionnaire to be completed before our endorsement session. The questions ranged from how long our candidates had lived in AD 49, to policy areas we had never discussed before. As part of the policy team, my teammates and I worked hard to adapt and provide a more complete picture of our candidates’ values and policies outside of our previously chosen issue areas. While myself and my fellow policy team members were inundated in researching solutions to gun violence, police brutality, and the increasing unhoused population in California, several of our other cohort-members happily took up the mantle to deal with problems we didn’t have the capacity to address. Some helped us create more comprehensive education policies, while others went to pick up lunch for everybody. Even and especially under the stress of those few hours, I found strength in my cohort-members and their unfailing willingness to show up and do what was needed.
Iwamasa and Lu in action during the endorsement session!
Later that day, as I sat listening to our candidates speak during the endorsement session, I couldn’t help but wish that our campaign was real. Paying attention to both local and national politics today, it’s often difficult to feel optimistic and represented by the folks who are supposed to be my representatives. The acrimony and stagnation we see at every level of government can leave anyone feeling cynical. And more personally, knowing that there are very few AAPI women in positions of power, I’ve come to expect a level of disconnect between the elected officials in power and myself. This mock campaign allowed me to experience what it would feel like if someone who cared about the things I care about, were running for office. Whether it came to how we should treat the unhoused members of our community, to establishing more efficient ways to address our environmental crisis - I am deeply grateful that my cohort-mates and I were all on the same page. We were all passionate about addressing each issue with compassion and empathy for those directly impacted, and we did our best to approach every policy with the sensitivity these complex issues require. Even when the candidates were faced with issue areas we had not prepared them for in the endorsement session, it was so comforting to know that they had similar values to myself and that I could have faith in the policies they were suggesting on-the-spot.
Ultimately, I am so proud to have been part of our event and I really hope that someday, one of us will actually run for office, so the mock campaign promises of today can be the actual change we see tomorrow.
Debriefing with the candidates after the endorsement session and telling Nicole how wonderful she was!