First Chinese-American Woman Elected to Congress

Democrat Judy Chu will become the first Chinese-American congresswoman after winning yesterday’s runoff House election in California, Xinhua reports. She fills the Los Angeles county seat vacated when Hilda Solis became secretary of Labor. Chu, 56, handily defeated her Republican opponent, cousin Betty Chu, with 62% of the vote.

Chu spent the past two decades in California elected office, and has never lost a race. “I am proud of those victories and the victory tonight to be the first Chinese-American woman in the US Congress,” she said yesterday. She will fly to Washington to be sworn in tomorrow, the Pasadena Star-News adds. (More Judy Chu stories.)