Victorious Pakou Hang prepares for long road ahead

The DFL convention in Saint Paul’s Ward Six was an exciting and important turning point, not only for Pakou Hang’s campaign, but also for Saint Paul city politics. The April 14 event marked the culmination of four months of hard work on the part of Hang and her small army of volunteers and supporters.

An intensive, bilingual field campaign and grass-roots organizing brought more than one hundred delegates to the convention, many of them first-time participants in the DFL endorsing process. For the first time in ward history, the DFL provided simultaneous translation for Hmong-speaking delegates, who heard convention proceedings over wireless headphones. “Small changes like this,” commented Hang, “are big steps forward for democracy and inclusion on the East Side.”

Ward Six in Saint Paul, otherwise known as the East Side, holds perhaps the most densely Hmong populated pocket in the United States. Hang, a long time political activist, has lived in the Ward for over six years and has seen a great need for a breath of fresh air, especially where inclusion is concerned.

“There’s a very protective circle of power on the East Side and the incumbent certainly hopes to keep it that way,” Hang points out. “And at the same time as I visit residents of this Ward, I am realizing that there are a lot of people who feel they are not being served adequately.”

Since graduating from Yale University, Hang has been in the trenches of some very interesting political campaigns in the state of Minnesota. As a deputy political director for the late Paul Wellstone’s re-election campaign in 2002, Hang was exposed to the core of the DFL party in Minnesota.

“Many people don’t know this, but Senator Wellstone’s last public appearance was on Hmong Wameng Radio on KFAI,” Hang somberly acknowledged. “And it was me who gave him the ride home after that broadcast. The next day, he perished in the tragic plane crash.”

It was a distraught Hang who was pictured in the award winning photograph taken by Pioneer Press photographer Scott Cohen (2002 Picture of the Year awarded by the Minnesota News Photographers Association). In the photo, Hang is visibly shaken as she holds on to a Wellstone sign not long after the news of Wellstone’s death had been announced.

Happier times were indeed waiting for Hang. In 2003 she would stand alongside former Vice-president Walter Mondale and former Governor Elmer L. Andersen as each received a prestigious “Hubert H. Humphrey Public Leadership Award”. Hang was being honored for her role as campaign manager for Sen. Mee Moua’s climb to victory. The award’s byline recognized Hang as the strategist who helped to mobilize thousands of first time voters to the polls, specifically by capitalizing “on the Hmong community's oral tradition by producing audiotapes on the political process and using Hmong radio as a grassroots organizing strategy.”

With her years of community organizing with political and community organizations, it’s no wonder Hang gets a chuckle when her opponent points to her lack of experience as a reason not to vote for her. “He says he never sees me at community events, and I’ll tell him right back, hey, ‘I go to all sorts of events and I’ve never seen you either!’”

As the long standing incumbent, it was almost expected that Bostrom would walk away with the DFL endorsement. As Ryan Greenwood, the political director of TakeAction Minnesota noted, “It is very unusual for a challenger—particularly a first-time candidate like Hang—to gain this high level of support against an incumbent.”

So when Hang’s supporters made their votes count in blocking the endorsement, it was indeed a beautiful day.

As Hang stood on the stage to address the convention, she was surrounded by about fifty supporters who represented a wide range of backgrounds and ages. Unapologetically identifying herself as an “eternal optimist,” Hang told the crowd, “I know how far dreams can take someone, because they have taken me from a refugee camp, to the East Side of Saint Paul, to the halls of the Ivy League, to this stage today.”

She then took a moment to speak frankly with delegates, noting that change, in various forms, has already come to the East Side: “The question is, how are we going to respond to that change in a way that will make the community stronger? In order for us to move forward, we need to think creatively, try new strategies, and do something different so that we don’t become change’s victims. I decided to run for the Saint Paul City Council not to oppose anyone, but to propose fresh ideas and new solutions.”

Hang’s campaign has mirrored the leadership style that she will bring to the city council. As a political and community organizer with years of experience bringing ordinary people and underrepresented groups into the democratic process, she is committed listening to residents’ concerns and staying in touch with her constituents. She told the delegates that, throughout her campaign, she has “been reminded over and over that people fundamentally want to be heard. And I have listened. I feel so grateful for the time that you have taken to speak with me. I also feel a huge responsibility to take what you have told me and do something about it. These conversations have reaffirmed my commitment to public service.”

The delegates’ decision to adjourn without an endorsement reflected the evenly divided support between Hang and her opponent, incumbent councilperson Dan Bostrom. The first vote totaled 108 votes for Hang to 122 for Bostrom, a 47-to-53 percent split. After the second and final vote, however, Hang had narrowed that gap to just five votes.

Pledging to bow out had the DFL endorsement went to another candidate, Hang is now looking forward to the uphill battle that lies ahead. She fully understands that the election is now in the hands of the voters of Ward Six.

Counting not only on the Hmong voters to support her, Hang is enthusiastic about the positive response that she has been given throughout the Ward.

“As you drive along Payne Avenue or Arcade, you see many vacant businesses and a lot of ‘For Sale’ signs,” Hang points out. “It’s clear, people do want change and they do want to be included in the process of change.”

Hang and her campaign team are energetically planning the next phase of the campaign, which will involve six months of grass-roots organizing and an energetic drive to turn voters out on November 6.

FOR MORE INFO ON PAKOU HANG AND TO SUPPORT HER CAMPAIGN, GO TO: www.pakouhang.com

Q&A W/ Pakou Hang

Pakou Hang: On election night last year when I was still working as field director for America Votes, I went to the DFL victory party and saw newly elected Congressman Kieth Ellison speak. He was so good, so real. It was the first time since Paul Wellstone that I was truly inspired to take action – I saw the need for "authentic" politicians.

I asked myself, "If I’m always criticizing the leadership, how can I stand around and just complain?" I decided then that I would run for City Council. The East Side is where I call home and it’s where I think I will be able to really make a difference. It’s time for new leadership and a breath of fresh air.

HT: Can you share a little about your personal bio?

PH: It must have been some time in October of 1976 when my family arrived in America. I was 15 days old. I am the second oldest of seven children. We first moved to Providence RI, where we lived for 2 years, then moved to Appleton, WI for over decade. That was really where I spent my childhood, building my foundation. Then we moved to St. Paul where my parents owned a restaurant for a while and it’s where we’ve been ever since.

HT: You come from one of the most influential families in the Hmong community (including her uncles Neal Thao, former St. Paul School Board member and Dr. Soua Thao and her first cousin Sen. Mee Moua.) Can you share a little about how your family background has influenced your upbringing?

PH: I’ve always had role models – uncles who went to Harvard, cousins who became doctors and lawyers—and so I’ve always had something to shoot for, which was important for us, especially when we were younger. They all played a big role in terms of our education and future outlook. At the same time, we all understood that we could only get as far as each of us were willing to work.

HT: How and when did you get involved in politics?

PH: When we were younger, my uncle Neal would bring us to political events where we would meet politicians and their supporters. Uncle Neal would make each of us raise our hands and ask questions, which really helped us break the ice. It also gave us a good understanding of the process and hard work involved in politics.

HT: What has been the biggest hurdle so far in your own campaign?

PH: Hmmm…there’s so many, I don’t know where to begin! No, seriously, I’d have to say it’s working with people in the same party who hold the power but are so obviously opposed to us. I’m not only talking about the incumbent, but all of his supporters as well, including the Ward Chair. And no, it’s not about race, it’s more about trying to keep the power within their circle of friends.

As for the incumbent, I did go talk to him before I declared my candidacy and he basically rebuked me there and then.

Now that I’m involved with this race, I have seen the entrenched power and those who are unwilling to share the power, which only drives me harder and makes me realize I’m making the right decision here.