New Influx of Hmong-American Legislators Appears Likely

Minnesota is poised to elect the largest number of Hmong-American lawmakers in state history.

Six candidates of Hmong descent are seeking office at the Capitol next month — and there’s a good chance most of them will win.

The youngest, Samantha Vang, is 24. She’s running for an open seat in a district that covers Brooklyn Center and a slice of Brooklyn Park. Even though she didn’t win the DFL endorsement in the primary, Vang said, she edged out her opponent, Cindy Yang, by trying to engage potential voters who don’t traditionally head to the polls.

Most residents in House District 40B are people of color, but they’ve never had a person of color representing them at the Capitol, Vang said.

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{snip} About 16 percent of the district is Asian-American, and most of them are of Hmong descent.

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Four other Democrats of Hmong descent are advancing to the general election next month in DFL-leaning districts in St. Paul, Maplewood and Minneapolis. If they win, they’ll join Sen. Foung Hawj, bringing the total number of Hmong-American legislators to six. A seventh Hmong contender, Republican Yele-Mis Yang, is challenging DFL Rep. Jamie Becker-Finn.

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Another DFL legislative candidate, Kaohly Her, policy director for St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter, is running for an open seat against Republican Patrick Griffin. At 45, Her said she’s nearly an “elder” to the other Hmong-American candidates, but she said her younger counterparts are teaching her about the importance of claiming a seat at the table.

“We’ve been here for 40 years,” said Her, who said her family was part of the first wave of Hmong refugees in the United States. “We’ve been waiting in line, waiting for people to anoint us to tell us it’s our time. The younger generation is not waiting. They’re going to take this turn now.”

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Minnesota is home to about 66,000 Hmong residents, which is a little over 1 percent of the state population. And their political victories at various levels of governing are hardly novel. It was 16 years ago that Sen. Mee Moua became the first Hmong legislator in the nation, followed months later by Rep. Cy Thao.

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The rise of Hmong-American political activism corresponds with the overall progress of the community over its more than 40 years in Minnesota, said Vang, the candidate from Brooklyn Center.

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