By William Booth
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 3, 1998; Page A9

LOS ANGELES—At a recent Beverly Hills fund-raiser here, March Fong Eu, one of the most outspoken, liberal Democrats in the state, told an audience of Asian American donors that there was only one Republican she wanted to see elected: her son, GOP Senate challenger Matt Fong.

And checkbooks were opened.

As 1992 was viewed the Year of the Woman, which saw the election of Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif) and others, this year could be a bellwether for Asian Americans, who are increasingly returning to politics after feeling unfairly smeared by the 1996 campaign finance scandal involving several high-profile Asian American fund-raisers.

"The Asian American community has often been summarily dismissed by candidates as an electorate that is not really interested in politics," said Tom Hsieh, a political consultant in San Francisco. "But I think those days are over."

In addition to Fong's attempt to unseat Boxer, there are also high-profile races in Oregon, where state Sen. John Lim (R), a Korean American, is challenging Sen. Ron Wyden (D) and Democrat David Wu, an immigrant from Taiwan, is running against Republican Molly Bordonaro for the seat of retiring Rep. Elizabeth Furse (D).

There are now about 2,000 elected officials in 33 states whose heritage is Asian or Pacific Islander, a jump of about 10 percent from 1996.

For many Asian Americans here in the nation's most populous, most diverse state, this is the year to elect the Senate's first Chinese American from outside of Hawaii -- even if he's a Republican who in the past has taken stands against issues close to many in the Asian American community. Fong supported recent propositions to cut benefits for illegal immigrants, bar affirmative action and end bilingual education.

But Fong and his mother are well-known. Fong, who is state treasurer, has been stressing middle-of-the-road, moderate Republican positions -- pro-military, pro-business, pro-flat tax, but mostly hands-off on social issues -- that many Asian Americans might respond to.

Asian Americans are a fast-growing, well-educated group of political newcomers made up mostly of immigrants and their first-generation, native-born children, who are splitting their votes between GOP and Democratic candidates.

But if the results of California's June primary are repeated today, Fong can expect to garner strong support among both Republican and Democratic Asian American voters.

"A lot of Chinese Americans would like to see someone who looks like them in office," said Alan Chen, a leader of the group Vision 21, which is working to register Asian American voters in Southern California.

Statewide exit polls commissioned by the Los Angeles Times found that 34 percent of Asian Americans went for Boxer, while 50 percent voted for Fong in the June primary. In heavily Democratic San Francisco, a bastion of liberalism, some 81 percent of Asian Americans of Chinese heritage voted for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Lt. Gov. Gray Davis -- but then 74 percent flipped over to vote for Republican Fong over Boxer, according to exit polling.

"The crossover was amazing," said Hsieh. "It often does not come across in surveys, but ethnic pride and the desire to be represented by someone who shares your culture is strong. Many Asian Americans voted for Democrats but then crossed over for Fong. There is the sense that he is one of their own."

Such intense ethnic-bloc voting -- be it among Cuban Americans in Florida or Mexican Americans in Texas -- is increasingly a reality, as candidates of color challenge white politicians around the nation.

Both parties are searching for candidates and messages that will appeal to the growing numbers of Asian Americans and Latinos. Latino groups are hoping to see a million voters from their communities go to the polls next week, while similar -- though more low-key -- efforts are underway among Asian Americans.

A new group formed by former Delaware lieutenant governor S.B. Woo, called "80-20," seeks to organize massive bloc voting among Asian Americans for the year 2000 races.

Many Asian American activists and politicians believe they have not come close to seeing their community represented in public office. Asian Americans often come together in business or familial or cultural associations, but they have not created the same kind of political activist groups that blacks and Latinos have.

At a campaign appearance in San Francisco's Chinatown last month, Boxer sought to stem the flow of Asian American voters to Fong. But it may not be easy. Not only does Fong have his mother, a popular 76-year-old political presence, stumping for her son and pushing the Asian American media to support him, but the Fong campaign also has been running a steady stream of Bay Area advertisements in Cantonese and Mandarin.

At her event at the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, Boxer was chastised by San Francisco supervisor Mabel Teng for not coming earlier, though Teng is a stalwart supporter. Outside the hall, a group of Fong supporters challenged Boxer backers at a sidewalk news conference, clashing over who best would represent the community.

"We should not automatically give our vote to [Fong] because he's Chinese and we're Chinese," Henry Der, deputy superintendent of the California Department of Education, told the crowd. "This is not the time for the Chinese community to look at race only." But Boxer herself acknowledged the appeal of supporting a fellow Chinese American, telling the Chinatown audience that she knows, "it's hard for you in this circumstance."

In the last statewide election in 1996, Asian Americans accounted for only about 5 percent of California's voters. But they could play a crucial role in this year's close Senate race, in which late polls put Boxer slightly ahead of Fong. Moreover, as the Asian American population continues to grow here, and as more register to vote, the group could make up as much as 10 percent of the California electorate by the year 2000. Turnout among Asian Americans is expected to be about 6 percent of the total electorate today.

In recent weeks, the GOP gubernatorial contender, Attorney General Dan Lungren, opened a campaign office in Chinatown, hoping -- in essence -- to ride on Fong's coattails.

This is a strategy that Davis campaign manager Garry South says could backfire. "Going to Chinatown and getting a couple of shills and a sign out front doesn't get him anywhere," South said. "This is a relatively well-educated, well-off bloc of voters and I think candidates make a big mistake by making a specialized appeal to minorities."

Stewart Kwoh, an activist with the Asian Pacific American Legal Center here, said there is no one issue that seems to bind the Asian American communities, which include not only Chinese Americans, but those from Korea, the Philippines, Japan, Vietnam and a dozen other countries. "Ethnic pride," Kwoh said, "is a motivating factor. But there is a lot more here going on."