Democratic candidate Yee Leng Xiong is determined to make history as the first Hmong American lawmaker in the Wisconsin Legislature as the race for the 85th Wisconsin Assembly District seat heats up.
“The Hmong… are strong, resilient people. They are a group of folks that have gone through hardships, but have been able to demonstrate that they can overcome,” Xiong told The Daily Cardinal. “I'm a person who's very impatient, who wants to see progress, who wants to see action.”
Located in north-central Wisconsin, the 85th Assembly District is entirely contained within Marathon County and covers the cities of Wausau and Schofield as well as the village of Weston. Earlier this year, the district lost several townships in the eastern part of the county following Wisconsin’s redistricting process.
Wisconsin has the third-largest Hmong population in the U.S., with more than 58,000 Hmong residents. The greater Wausau area, home to more than 8,000 Hmong residents, has the highest per-capita Hmong population of any city in the U.S.
The AAPI and the Hmong community is “the marginal victory” in Wisconsin, Xiong said, noting that President Joe Biden won the state by a little over 20,000 votes in 2020.
In his challenge against incumbent Patrick Snyder, R-Schofield, Xiong is running on abortion rights, affordability issues including housing, health care and increased funding for first responders.
“When I am out there knocking on doors and talking to folk about issues that matter the most, these are the most common items that are brought up,” Xiong said. “That’s my platform.”
Both Xiong and campaign volunteers have been on the ground talking directly to voters through canvassing, Xiong’s campaign manager McKinley Falkowski told the Cardinal. He said the campaign is built “around listening to folks,” something Xiong has done throughout his career.
This isn’t Xiong’s first election, though it is his most high-profile one. Citizens elected Xiong to the D.C. Everest School Board in 2014 at age 19 and later elected him to the Marathon Board of Supervisors in 2016 and the Village of Weston Board of Trustees in 2018, on which he served two terms.
Xiong currently serves as the executive director of the Hmong American Center in Wausau, a role he has held since 2016, and plans to step down from the role at the end of the year.
‘A historic milestone’ for Wisconsin’s Hmong community comes with sacrifice
If elected, Xiong would be the first Hmong American lawmaker to serve in the Wisconsin Legislature. This is not something lost on Xiong as a first-generation Hmong American.
“My parents came to the United States here to escape persecution and communism because of the Hmong role during the Vietnam War…They knew that there were going to be a lot of sacrifices, big sacrifices, but they still wanted to make sure that they gave a better life to their kids,” Xiong said.
One of those sacrifices included the loss of Xiong’s oldest brother while his parents crossed the Mekong River.
“He was sick. He was hungry and he kept crying. The group leaders gave an ultimatum to my parents. One, give him opium to sedate him or two, to be left behind. And my parents didn't know what to do, so they surrendered him over, and the group leaders gave him opium,” Xiong said. “Towards the end, my mom realized my oldest brother was no longer breathing. They ended up having to mourn his loss and buried him at the shores of the Mekong.”
Xiong told the Cardinal his family’s story not only better represents issues affecting north-central Wisconsin but can give the Hmong community a seat at the table.
The Hmong community is often aware politicians show up only to “court the vote,” Xiong noted.
During a campaign fundraiser in June, Falkowski said he was shocked to see the number of checks coming in from the Hmong community, with individual contributions ranging anywhere from a few dollars to $1,000, the maximum amount an individual can donate to a campaign. Among the professions Falkowski has seen: teachers and machine operators.
“This is the first time that the Hmong community in the state of Wisconsin is truly donating to campaigns,” Falkowski said. “We have the real chance to elect a Legislature that looks like the state of Wisconsin and is diverse.”
Given the stakes of the race, the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC), the party an organization that works to elect Democrats to state legislatures, listed Xiong as a top candidate to watch whose candidacy “represents a historical milestone.”
“State legislatures create the pipeline of future leaders, which is why it’s so impactful that trailblazing candidates like Xiong are running in must-win races this year,” Sam Paisley, DLCC interim communications director, told the Cardinal.
Assembly District 85 is a competitive seat, a researcher says
Assembly District 85 has been a red seat in the Wisconsin Legislature since Snyder was elected to his first term in 2017. But with Wisconsin’s new legislative districts, Assembly District 85 is now one of the most competitive battleground districts in the state, according to Marquette Law School Research Fellow John Johnson.
Johnson told WMTV15 in late August that of the eight “truly competitive assembly seats,” four are located in districts won by both Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson and Democratic Gov. Tony Evers in 2022.
Those districts include District 85, District 88 in Green Bay and De Pere, District 92 that makes up the Eau Claire and Chippewa Falls area and District 94 in La Crosse.
“We have a Republican opponent in this race who has been in office for a couple of years now, and he is now finally facing voters in a truly competitive sense,” Falkowski said.
Xiong and Snyder will face off for the 85th District Assembly seat on Nov. 5. Voters can find their polling place by visiting the My Vote Wisconsin website.
Anna Kleiber is the state news editor for The Daily Cardinal. She previously served as the arts editor. Anna has written in-depth on elections, legislative maps and campus news. She has interned with WisPolitics and Madison Magazine. Follow her on Twitter at @annakleiber03.
