Applauds Armenian-American Voters for Their Activism
GLENDALE, CA — The Armenian National Committee-Political Action Committee (ANC-PAC) congratulates Mike Gatto and Sunder Ramani on receiving the most votes during the April 13 Special Election to complete former Assemblyman Paul Krekorian’s term on the State Assembly from the 43rd Assembly District.
Mr. Gatto, a Democrat, and Mr. Ramani, a Republican, will now be on the June 8 Special General Election ballot. The winner of the June 8 Special General Election will complete the term left vacant by Paul Krekorian’s election to the Los Angeles City Council in December 2009.
“We also congratulate Nayiri Nahabedian and Chahe Keuroghelian on waging an intensive campaign to educate Armenian-American voters and gain their support,” stated ANC-PAC Chairman Armen Martin.
Although the ANC-PAC applauds the thousands of Armenian-Americans voters for taking part in the Special Election, the ANC-PAC shares their disappointment in not electing a person with the best record of service to and knowledge of the Armenian-American community. However, the ANC-PAC once again expresses its disappointment with the two candidates of Armenian descent for conducting what has come to be known as “negative campaigning.”
According to the information available to the ANC-PAC, approximately 30% of the votes cast for the April 13 Special Election came from voters with Armenian-American last names. This percentage is much higher than the 15% Armenian-Americans represent out of all registered voters in the 43rd Assembly District.
“Although the estimated turnout of more than 9,000 Armenian-Americans was very impressive, it would not have been sufficient to elect a candidate even if all of these votes had gone to one candidate. The outcome of the April 13 election validates our message that a candidate cannot and should not get elected as the Assembly member from the 43rd Assembly District without sufficient support from the non-Armenian as well as the Armenian-American community,” stated Mr. Martin.
The ANC-PAC will announce, after the period of Armenian Genocide commemorative activities, its plans and endorsements for the June 8 Special General Election as well as the concurrent, but separate, regular Primary Election.
