Elections Questionnaire
AALAC, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, in conjunction with members of the Pan Asian Action Network (PAAN), developed and distributed a 2010 Questionnaire for Candidates that addressed the most important concerns of the Asian American community to candidates running for political office in Georgia. AALAC has collected the candidates’ responses, and their answers are available below (by race) and has been published, unedited and translated, by local ethnic press.
“Our goal is to provide critical legal education and information to Asian Americans in an effort to increase voter turn-out this November,” said Helen Kim Ho, Executive Director of AALAC. “We have heard that lack of information is one key reason why Asian Americans do not vote. We have the lowest voter turn-out rate in Georgia and AALAC wants to change that,” said Ho.
Questions were sent to candidates in 8 key races in districts with the highest concentration of Asian American voters and residents – AALAC specifically focused on races in Gwinnett and DeKalb counties, including races that covered the cities of Duluth, Norcross, and Lilburn among others.
The questions pertained to the candidates’ views on immigration, language access, and small business/E-verify concerns. A total of 19 candidates were contacted, and 11 candidates responded. Of the total response rate, 2 were Republicans, 7 were Democrats, and 2 were Independent / Libertarian. Below are the specific races that were selected, along with the names of the candidates (those that answered have an asterisk*):
- State House of Representatives District 102 (Lilburn): B.J. Pak (R)*, Porter Deal (D) State House District 102 (Lilburn) Pak vs. Deal
- State House of Representatives District 81 (Doraville and Chamblee): Jill Chambers (R), Elena Parent (D)* State House Dist. 81 (Doraville, Chamblee) Chambers v. Parent
- State Senate District 5 (parts of DeKalb and Gwinnett Counties, including Norcross): Garry Guan (R)*, Curt Thompson (D)* State Senate Dist. 5 (Norcross) Guan vs. Thompson
- State Senate District 40 (parts of DeKalb and Gwinnett): Fran Millar (R), Eric Christ (D)*, Newton Streeter (I) State Senate Dist. 40 (DeKalb, Gwinnett) Millar v. Christ v. Streeter
- Georgia Secretary of State: Brian Kemp (R), Georganna Sinkfield (D)*, David Chastain (I)* Sec. of State, Kemp v. Sinkfield v. Chastain
- Governor: Nathan Deal (R), Roy Barnes (D), John Monds (Libertarian)* Governor, Deal v. Barnes v. Monds
- US House of Representatives District 4 (Clarkston, Chamblee, Doraville, Decatur): Lisbeth “Liz” Carter (R), Henry “Hank” Johnson (D)* US House Dist. 4 (Chamblee, Doraville) Carter v. Johnson
- US House of Representatives District 7 (parts of Gwinnett, Barrow, and Walton): Rob Woodall (R), Doug Heckman (D)* US House Dist. 7 (Gwinnett) Woodall v. Heckman