Oakland Elects Nation’s First Asian American Woman Mayor

In California, Oakland city councilmember Jean Quan has become the first Asian American woman elected mayor of a major U.S. city. Quan narrowly beat out heavily favored opponent Don Perata with 51 percent of the vote. Quan is also Oakland’s first female mayor.

Jean Quan: "This is really a victory for a grassroots effort in this city. And what I mean by that is literally nearly a thousand volunteers walked door to door, talked neighbor to neighbor, phoned their neighbors, joined us at over 200 house parties. We, our family, personally walked in about two-thirds of all the precincts in Oakland."

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