NEWS STORY
Wu's Woes
The Democratic congressional candidate is having trouble wooing local Chinese Americans.

BY BOB YOUNG
byoung@wweek.com

 

David Wu isn't shy about his immigrant roots. He's the first Chinese American to run for Congress in Oregon. If elected, he'd be the first member of the House of Representatives ever born in mainland China.

Given the historical significance of his campaign, you might think Chinese Americans would be heaping contributions on Wu, the Democratic nominee in the 1st Congressional District, which stretches from Portland to Astoria.

Outside of Oregon they are. But locally they're not. Some say it's because Wu hasn't been active in Portland's Chinese-American community. Others say Wu appears to be an ambitious climber who's quick to spin his own stirring immigrant's tale but slow to roll up his sleeves to help today's generation of newcomers.

In sum, as one source put it, Wu is not what the Cantonese call losut--which means a person of down-to-earth compassion.

In lily white Oregon, Wu's problems with members of the Chinese-American community provide a rare glimpse into the complex world of ethnic politics. They also suggest some problems that the Democrat candidate faces in a race considered one of the most hotly contested in the country.

Wu's lack of support from the local Chinese-American community is evident in his campaign contribution reports. Of the $226,762 that Wu raised through June 30, only $5,400 came from local Chinese Americans. In the crucial first four months of his campaign--when most candidates lean heavily on their natural constituencies for seed money--the numbers were even more striking. Wu received just $500 in itemized contributions from local Chinese Americans--less than 1 percent of the amount he raised.

It's not as if Chinese Americans aren't giving to candidates. Joseph Tam's failed bid for the Multnomah County Commission garnered almost $20,000 in local Asian-American contributions this spring.

Yet while Wu's congressional campaign is more prestigious and trailblazing than Tam's run at the County Commission, almost none of Tam's big backers has contributed to Wu.

It's hard to get those donors to say why.

Food distributor Betty Jean Lee gave $1,000 to Tam but declined to talk about Wu with WW. Neither would Dr. Paul Leung, who gave $650 to Tam; or Dr. Fay Lee, another $500 donor to Tam.

Not even the usually talkative Tam--a former Portland School Board member and Rainbow Coalition activist--returned WW's calls.

It's no surprise that people aren't talking, says one prominent member of the Chinese-American community: They don't want to make an enemy of Wu, who might be their next congressman.

Norman Locke, a fifth-generation Oregonian of Chinese descent, held a Portland fund-raiser for Washington Democrat Gary Locke (no relation) when he was running for governor in 1996. Yet he has refused to give Wu a dime. Why support an out-of-state Chinese-American candidate over a hometown guy?

Locke says it's because the Washington governor helped the Portland Chinese American Citizen Alliance with a scholarship drive years ago. "I thought he was a clean guy who reached out and came down on his own nickel to help CACA," Locke says.

And Wu's contributions to the alliance? "All I know is, I've seen Joseph Tam participate in a lot of local Asian-American community efforts," says Locke. He declined to say any more about Wu.

Others cite different reasons for not contributing to Wu:

Louis Lee, Tam's treasurer, says that donors like himself (he gave $700 to Tam) can only help one candidate at a time--and they just haven't gotten around to thinking about Wu. "It's premature to say the support's not there," Lee says.

Joseph Lu, president of the Powin Corp.--a $20 million sports equipment importing company in Portland--says he would probably give money to Wu, but Wu hasn't asked.

Wu acknowledges that Tam's personal ties to Portland's Chinatown are closer than his own. Yet he's also combative in defending his record. Wu stresses that he played key roles in founding Portland's Sister City relationship with Suzhou, China, and its Chinese Classical Garden committee.

"I'm sorry," Wu says. "I won't back down on that one. I've paid my dues.... Could I have done more? Yes. But we all could."

Wu is particularly sensitive to suggestions that he hasn't done much to help local immigrants. "About 15 to 20 percent of my law practice was helping people get into the country, and I think that's plenty," he says. "Some of it was paid at regular rates, and a lot was paid at less than regular rates."

Wu also suggested that WW's line of questioning was offensive. "Did you ask Sen. Smith about contributions from Mormons? Did you ask Sen. Wyden about contributions from the Jewish community? Why is this relevant?

"This isn't about winning in any ethnic community," Wu continues. "This is about winning and representing everyone in the district, state and country."

Wu insists that the congressional race ought to be decided on the issues of education, environment, health care and women's rights to abortion--and not what he calls "horse race" matters about his standing in the Chinese-American community.

Although Wu stresses the need to appeal to a broad base of voters and contributors as a congressional candidate, he's not shy about asking Chinese Americans for contributions. He's received more than $28,000 from out-of-state Asian-American donors--mainly from New York, California and Washington, D.C.

Finally, Wu maintains that he will hold a campaign fund-raiser for Chinese Americans in the next month. Sensitive to complaints that he hasn't held an event in Chinatown yet--not even when Washington governor Locke came to Portland this spring to help him raise money--Wu vows that this event will be held in a venue owned by Chinese Americans.

In the meantime, however, some local Chinese Americans remain skeptical. On Sunday, the Wu campaign held a cocktail fund-raiser at Atwater's, the restaurant and bar on top of the US Bank Building. The event cost $250 per person. The invitation listed 32 hosts. Only one--restaurateur Michael Chang of West Linn, who gave $2,000 to Wu--is Chinese American.

 

originally published July 29, 1998