St. Paul, MN--On June 11, 2010, Foung Hawj kicked off his campaign at Hmong Village on Johnson Parkway as he seeks to replace Sen. Mee Moua in District 67--also known as east side.

Hawj decided and announced his candidacy on June 1, 2010.

A crowd of approximately 300 appeared to support Hawj.


--Photos by Reporter.


Hawj is one of four Hmong and five non-Hmong candidates competing for the primary.  See more of Hawj's plans for the district at www.Founghawj. com.

Do you know who the other candidates are?  Who are their endorsers?  Or are they just running independently?  Kinda weird for 4 Hmongs running for the same spot.

Thanks for the info for us Californians.

I'm sorry.

Here. There are actually 5 nonHmong.

http://dfl.org/calendar/senate-district-67-candidate-meet-n-greet

The people are saying they should help just one candidate so they won't be taking away one another's votes. But, you know, politicians love to be on their own sometimes.

You should expect to see both groups in today's world, and especially at this District 67 race!  I don't think we are over with the clan association yet, but the younger generations and the open-minded people are going by merits!

These are the candidates for the primary. Primary is the process of screening so that only two candidates become final for the general election--which determines who wins.

Local Hmong know Foung Hawj more than any other candidates on the list. But it's very hard to predict at this point. Sometimes the most unlikely politicians stand out strong at the end, e.g. Prez. Obama--who was considered a long shot during the primary!

I'll monitor the campaigns and give you more of my opinions as time progresses, if possible. Otherwise, let's watch the local news coverage.

The candidates currently on the list are:

Foung Heu (whose name will appear on the ballot as "Foung Hawj (Heu)" to clarify his Hmong name), a self-employed multimedia producer.

 Chai Lee, a staffer for Mayor Chris Coleman.

Dino Guerin, former Ramsey County Commissioner.

 Thomas Hilber, a blues banjo player.

 Vang T. Lor, a volunteer organizer with the progressive group TakeAction Minnesota.

 Jim McGowan, a diabetes activist who serves as Minnesota director of the Medicare Diabetes Screening Project.

Trayshana P. Thomas, a staffer for U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison.

John Harrington, former St. Paul Chief of Police.

Avi Viswanathan, a former outreach coordinator for U.S. Sen. Al Franken.

Cha Yang, a veterans service representative with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Of the Hmong candidates running, in my opinion - Fong Heu has more name recognition. He hosted a Hmong TV program back in the 90s (Reporter, didn't you take the hosting job after Fong?  )

Also, from what I've seen, he's pretty involved with the Hmong community. We'll see how he does.

Yes, and, splish, I just gave you a + for that.

i would not know who to vote for.... maybe Dino?

Are there any Hmong in the republican primary?  Would be interested in hearing about it.

He should win pretty easy.

I wouldn't say that.

Of the Hmong candidates, I think Foung has a better chance. BUT compared to the other candidates - it'll be tough. Eastside is not just made up of Hmong. Are they ready for another Hmong candidate?

You gonna run for office someday too? 

Haha..must every Hmong be a politician?

No, I am not planning to become a politician. I have my career already and I want to build on it more.

With these initial info, I'll probably vote for Foung or Thomas Hilber, the banjo player if I could.  From my observations, career politicians or people that have been involved in politics more are usually more cancerous.