All posts filed under: News

A win for incoming Ohio senator Tina Maharath is a win for the Lao American community

Photo credit to tinamaharath.com Coming from an unexpected win as senator for Ohio’s 3rd district, Democrat Tina Maharath is relishing her success as she travels throughout southeast Asia to reconnect with family. Many are calling Maharath an underdog as she won despite unlikely circumstances. Unofficial Nov. 8 midterm election votes showed Maharath’s opponent, veteran Republican lawmaker Anne Gonzales, in the lead by just a few hundred votes and it seemed as if the race was headed toward a recount. But after Franklin County election officials counted provisional and late absentee ballots more than two weeks later, Maharath took home the win by about 705 votes. “It doesn’t feel real right now,” Maharath said in a Facebook video announcement from Bangkok, Thailand. “I couldn’t have done this without everyone’s support. Thank you for all the contributions from all over the world, everyone who voted for me, everyone who helped raise me, everyone who was there for me when I wanted to give up…” Maharath, a 27-year-old financial analyst from Canal Winchester, pulled ahead when the odds were stacked …

In the midst of a tight race, OH Senate candidate Tina Maharath shares her thoughts on the journey so far

This past Tuesday was a time full of emotions for many – it was the night of the 2018 midterm elections in the U.S. And we know many Little Laos’ers eagerly cast their ballots. Toward the end of the night, there were a few high-profile races facing possible vote recount, something that often only occurs when the results of an election are extremely close. We saw this with Georgia’s gubernatorial race and Florida’s senatorial and gubernatorial races. In my home state of Ohio, Lao American candidate for Ohio Senate District 3 Tina Maharath is also finding that her legislative race could be headed toward recount. Maharath is the Democratic candidate for the race, and she had a somewhat untraditional route to her candidacy that she discusses below. The numbers for Maharath’s Ohio Senate race currently stand at 64,176 votes for her, and 64,505 for her Republican opponent Anne Gonzales as of November 8th. Maharath is down just 329 votes, and there are still provisional ballots to be counted. We know many Little Laos’ers have been …