Washington, DC — The Asian American Action Fund (AAA-Fund) has endorsed Mark Keam for the Virginia House of Delegates. Keam is vying to represent northern Virginia's 35th District, which lies in the heart of Fairfax County.

"Mark's passion for serving Virginia and his nation, his impressive organizational skills, and his public and private sector experience make him a top candidate for the job," said Gautam Dutta, AAA-Fund Executive Director. "By electing Mark, Virginians will be gaining a hard-working advocate with a deep understanding of their concerns."

Keam recently worked in the private sector at a communications company. Prior to that, he held several positions in the federal government. He served as Chief Counsel for Illinois Senator Richard Durbin on the Senate Judiciary Committee. He was also an enforcement trial attorney at the Federal Communications Commission and later worked as a policy advocate at the Small Business Administration.

Keam took a lead role in organizing President Barack Obama's presidential campaign in Virginia. He helped found the grassroots organization "Fairfax for Obama." For his leadership, he was elected by fellow Virginia Democrats to attend the Democratic National Convention in Denver as an at-large pledged Obama delegate.

The son of a Presbyterian minister, Keam was born in South Korea and lived as a child in Vietnam and Australia. His family later settled in California, where his father started a church and his mother worked on a factory assembly line.

Keam will likely face four other opponents in the June 9, 2009 primary. The current officeholder, fellow Democrat Stephen Shannon, is vacating the seat to run for Attorney General. If elected, Keam would become the first Asian American to serve in the House of Delegates. Asian Americans make up 10 percent of the District.

Keam is currently an Advisory Board Member for AAA-Fund.

AAA-Fund is a Democratic political action committee whose goal is to increase the voice of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) on every level of local, state and federal government in America. To achieve this goal, we address the chronic under-representation of AAPIs as campaign volunteers, campaign contributors, and candidates for political office. The AAA-Fund has endorsed candidates across the country.