Boston, August 26, 2014, — bostonese.com, the largest Asian American news website in Boston, announces today that it has endorsed Lt. Governor candidate Leland Cheung in the September 9 Democratic primaries. “Massachusetts needs an innovative leader like Leland when we build the innovation-based economy for the future in this state,” said Mr. David Li, editor-in-chief of bostonese.com.
Leland Cheung (left) talks with bostonese.com columnist and founder of Newton Chinese School Beatrice Lee in an August Moon celebration in Boston Chinatown (file photo).
The September 9 primary election is the first major election in Massachusetts after Governor Patrick signed the bilingual ballot bill (H. 4089) into law in Boston Chinatown on July 15, 2014. bostonese.com encourages all registered voters to turn out for this important election. For information about polling stations, please visit: www.wheredoivotema.com.
Leland Cheung has served in Gov. Patrick’s Asian American Commission, and understands the issues and concerns of the Asian American community. He is the first Asian American candidate running for a state-wide office in Massachusetts.
Leland Cheung was first elected to Cambridge City Council in 2009 while pursuing a Masters in Public Administration at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and an MBA at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He was the first currently-enrolled student to be elected to the Council as well as the first Asian American. Before assuming his role as City Councillor, Leland Cheung worked as a Senior Associate at Masthead Venture Partners, a Cambridge-based venture capital firm focusing on digital media, mobile, and internet infrastructure. He has used this background to guide his efforts as a board member of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative and the National League of Cities.
Throughout his tenure on the Cambridge City Council, Leland Cheung has remained committed to maintaining a style of progressive and innovative leadership that is akin to the moral, cultural, and intellectual climate of the surrounding community. As City Councillor, Leland Cheung has worked to preserve Cambridge’s culture of entrepreneurship by facilitating an open dialogue between local businesses and community members throughout the development of Kendall and Central Squares. He has fought to maintain Cambridge’s long history of promoting justice and equality by supporting measures to expand the rights of women, immigrants, and LGBT members of the community. He has partnered with local innovators to make municipal data more readily available to the residents of Cambridge through mobile applications. Most importantly, he has worked to ensure that the City of Cambridge is built on a foundation of community input – one that listens to the suggestions, criticism, ideas, and beliefs of its constituents.
As a child of immigrants, Leland Cheung knows the transformative power a strong education and secure employment have on our children’s ability to achieve their full potential. He understands the importance of ensuring that we protect our workers by ensuring that they have access to paid sick time, comprehensive healthcare, and job protections. As Lieutenant Governor, he will leverage partnerships with emerging industries in Massachusetts to make sure that everyone – regardless of race, gender, sexual identity, hometown, or educational background – has access to a modern job and a living wage – not just for the economy we have now, but in the economy we will build for the future.