Photo courtesy of Kevin de León
Kevin de León thinks it’s time for a regime change in the Senate.
Sitting in the bustling campaign office in a high rise in Koreatown (the nucleus of de León’s Senate District 24), de León, the current California Senate President pro Tempore, and his team are gearing up for the primary election for the 2018 senatorial race just a little over a month away.
The progressive CA Senate leader announced on Oct. 15, 2017 that he’s looking to transition from state politics to the national stage in the form of a U.S. senatorial campaign against longtime incumbent Dianne Feinstein, who has led California in the Senate since 1992.
For the last few years Democrats across the state have called for a replacement for Feinstein and, in February, it came to head when two-thirds of the California Young Democrats made a shocking move to decline to endorse the longtime centrist senator: tangible proof that Californians are seeking more progressive leadership in the Senate.
And de León firmly believes he’s the one to hold the torch for the staunchly blue state.
“I think it’s time that California has a debate on the issues and the values that we deeply care about,” de León told the Asian Journal in an April 13 interview. “California has changed in the last 25 years, demographically linguistically, culturally, technology-wise and economically. I think these are very tumultuous and dangerous times in our nation’s history, and I think that the current Democratic establishment is not reflective of the diversity of today’s California.”
As a state senator, de León boasts a 12-year legislative career preserving and strengthening Democratic values by uplifting the working class, preserving immigrant rights, increasing access to higher education and fighting for climate change policy.
De León has already proven a formidable Democratic challenge to the seat, which he says needs a more tenacious leader who represents the California of 2018 and beyond.
“The fact that the current incumbent of California voted for two wars: Afghanistan and Iraq,” de León said. “We have spent close to $6 trillion in both wars combined, $6 trillion that should have been spent investing in young men and women, college debt and education giving much bigger financial aid so they can graduate in a timely basis without being riddled with debt. We should’ve invested it in clean energy, education, healthcare; and, that shows you why the incumbent is so disconnected to the values and to the realities of working families in California.”
Since 2010, de León has been serving SD 24 (he previously served the 45th District as an assemblymember), which comprises of many of LA’s most ethnically diverse neighborhoods including Boyle Heights, Little Armenia, Little Tokyo, Chinatown, Westlake and Historic Filipinotown.
The son of Guatemalan immigrants, de León humbly grew up in San Diego where ethnic diversity thrived. He has maintained a close relationship with the Filipino-American community since childhood when his mother, who worked as a licensed vocational nurse and certified nursing assistant, befriended many Filipino Americans at her job.
When she got sick and could no longer care for the family, these Filipino colleagues would bring chicken adobo, pancit and lumpia to the house to make sure the de León family was taken care of.
“I’ve always had very strong memories and this deep fondness for the Filipino-American community because when we were in deep pain and in a very difficult place as a family, our Filipino sisters and brothers really stepped up and that meant a lot. The Filipino-American community has always, always, always been very good to my family,” de León remarked.
Acknowledging that Filipino Americans are the largest Asian American group in California, de León made clear that he promises to be a representative for the vast Filipino-American community in the U.S. Senate.
“I have an enormous respect for the Filipino-American community, many of whom come from so many different parts of the Philippines to come all the way across the Pacific Ocean whether that’s to join the United States Navy or as a nurse,” de León said. “If I have the opportunity to be the voice for California in Washington, the Filipino-American community has a voice with me too. They come with me, too.”
One of the issues closest to the Filipino-American community is immigration, which continues to dominate as one of the most pressing domestic issues nationwide.
California is home to nearly 10 million immigrants, a quarter of whom are undocumented, according to the latest statistics from the California Public Policy Institute. Over the last year as California has loudly resisted the rhetoric coming from the Trump administration on immigration, de León has emerged as a leader defending California’s vast and diverse immigrant population.
And de León has led the legislative effort in that fight. Last year, his pièce de résistance came in the form of SB 54, the California Values Act, which prohibits state and local law enforcement from sharing information with federal immigration agencies that could lead to the capture of undocumented immigrants.
Though the vast majority of Californians support SB 54, Orange County residents in cities like Huntington Beach, Newport Beach and Los Alamitos have supported the Trump administration’s lawsuit against SB 54.
“It’s deeply unfortunate that politicians in a handful of cities, in Orange County, are on the cusp of wasting taxpayer dollars to join Donald Trump in his lawsuit against California and SB 54,” de León said. “It’s my hope they read the bill that they understand that the bill doesn’t protect violent criminal felons. To me, it doesn’t make a difference whether you’re from Ireland, the Philippines, Germany or Mexico, if you’re a criminal violent felon, you don’t belong here.”
He added: “This bill was created to protect innocent immigrants, fathers, children and hard-working families who have contributed greatly to our country for decades and who have been waiting to become legal permanent residents (LPR) through a dysfunctional, broken down immigration system that Congress has yet to have the aptitude, courage or work ethic to tackle. So this is an indictment on Congress, if anybody, for not doing its job.”
If elected, he promises to be an unwavering challenger to the Trump administration’s immigration policies, including standing up to the threats against the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and family reunification, the process through which naturalized immigrants can petition their family members to come to the U.S.
“Family unity and respect for the family are so entrenched in the Filipino community like so many other communities, and we have a president who uses terms like “chain migration” which represents the most anti-family values one can espouse,” de León said. “Who doesn’t want to bring their mother? Or their father or their siblings to America so can have a cohesive family reunited together. California is home to the largest concentration of Filipinos who became naturalized citizens, LPRs or achieved status after being undocumented. The leading voice should be here in California, and that certainly hasn’t been the case with the incumbent.”
Ahead of the June 5 primary election, de León is continuing to visit counties throughout the state, meeting with and engaging with residents about their concerns.
In addition to Feinstein, de León will also have to contend with other Democrats who also believe in a regime change in the Senate. According to the official list of candidates slated for the June 5 primary election released by Secretary of State Alex Padilla, among the 32 candidates are 11 Republican hopefuls.
However, none of the Republican candidates have reported raising any money, according to the Federal Election Commission, making way for a contentious all-Democratic contest. (Klarize Medenilla/AJ Press)
