Last month, Evan Low broke through several glass ceilings after being elected one of the youngest Asian American and openly gay mayors in the country. On Dec. 1, the Campbell City Council in Silicon Valley promoted the 26-year-old from vice mayor to mayor of the 38,000-resident suburban city.
Low, a Chinese American who works full time as senior district representative to Assemblyman Paul Fong (D-Sunnyvale), told the San Francisco Chronicle he was drawn to politics because he felt young people’s interests, such as affordable housing and the long-term solvency of Social Security, were not being addressed. He initially lost when he ran for City Council in 2004, but won a seat two years later. His mayoral term lasts one year.
Campbell is 70 percent white and 11 percent Asian, with a small gay community, according to the Chronicle. Although Low said he received hate mail when he opposed California’s Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage, observers think the selection of Low to lead the San Jose suburb shows that sexual orientation is becoming less relevant an issue, especially among younger voters.
