Washington, D.C. — The AAA-Fund announced today its endorsements of a slate of 18 candidates who are seeking various state and federal elected officies this November.

"The AAA-Fund is proud to support these outstanding candidates," said Gautam Dutta, AAA-Fund Executive Director. "They share both a sensitive understanding of the Asian Pacific American community and a sincere commitment to working with the APA community to address their concerns, along with those of their broader constituencies."

Fourteen of the newly-announced endorsees are candidates for United States Congress, including nine candidates who are seeking their first terms. Four endorsees are candidates for state legislative offices, one is a candidate for county office, and the last — Oregon Democrat Jeff Merkley — is seeking election to the United States Senate.

The endorsed candidates are as follows:

• Neil Abercrombie (Running for Re-election to U.S. Congress, Hawaii's 1st C.D.)
• Charlie Brown (Running for Election to U.S. Congress, California's 4th C.D.)
• Darcy Burner (Running for Election to U.S. Congress, Washington's 8th C.D.)
• Edwin Chau (Running for Election to U.S. Congress, California’s 42nd C.D.)
• Gerry Connolly (Running for Election to U.S. Congress, Virginia's 11th C.D
• Swati Dandekar (Running for Election as Iowa State Senator, 18th District)
• Hank Eng (Running for Election to U.S. Congress, Colorado's 6th C.D.)
• Paul Fong (Running for Election as California State Rep., 22nd A.D.)
• Mazie Hirono (Running for Re-election to U.S. Congress, Hawaii's 2nd C.D.)
• Mike Honda (Running for Re-election to U.S. Congress, California's 15th C.D.)
• Otto Lee (Running for Santa Clara County (CA) Supervisor, District 3)
• Ashwin Madia (Running for Election to Congress, Minnesota's 3rd C.D)
• Jerry McNerney (Running for Re-election to U.S. Congress, California's 11th C.D.)
• Jeff Merkley (Running for Election to the U.S. Senate From Oregon)
• Glenn Nye (Running for Election to U.S. Congress, Virginia's 2nd C.D.)
• Gary Peters (Running for Election to U.S. Congress, Michigan's 9th C.D.)
• Dan Seals (Running for Election to U.S. Congress, Illinois 10th C.D.)
• Joe Sestak (Running for Re-election to U.S. Congress, Pennsylvania's 7th C.D.)
• Linda Stender (Running for Re-election to U.S. Congress, New Jersey's 7th C.D.)
• Hubert Vo (Running for Re-election as Texas State Rep., 149th District)
• Sandra VuLe (Running for Election as Texas State Rep., 112th District)

More information about each of these candidates can be found on the AAA-Fund website.

The AAA-Fund is a national Democratic political organization whose goal is to increase the voice of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) in local, state and federal government, by encouraging AAPIs to volunteer on campaigns, raise money for candidates, and run for political office.