FULLERTON – Democratic state Senate candidate Sukhee Kang has picked up another major public safety endorsement, this time the Fullerton Firefighters’ Association, an affiliate (Local 3421) of the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF). Kang is running in Senate District 29, which is at the confluence of Orange, Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties. Nearly three-fourths of SD 29 is in Orange County, including the city of Fullerton.
“The Fullerton Firefighters’ Association is proud to endorse Fullerton’s own Sukhee Kang for state Senate in District 29,” said Jon Fugitt, president of the Fullerton Firefighters. “As a former board member of the Orange County Fire Authority, and as a mayor, Sukhee has always fully supported public safety and first responders. He will be a great representative of this mostly Orange County-based district, and will fight at the state level to ensure that firefighters and other public safety officers have the backing and resources they need to protect and serve the public.”
“I am deeply grateful and appreciative for the endorsement and support of the Fullerton Firefighters’ Association in my race for state Senate,” Kang said. “It is particularly gratifying that so many public-safety organizations in this race have chosen to endorse me, and it’s a special honor to have the great firefighters in my own city back me. I have worked very closely with firefighters in Orange County for many years, and I look forward to continue working with them when I am in the Senate.”
Kang previously won the support of the Orange County Professional Firefighters Association, representing more than 800 professional firefighters in Orange County, which also is a unit, Local 3631, of the IAFF.
Kang also has won the support of Sen. Kevin de León, the current president pro tempore and Democratic leader of the Senate, Senate Majority Leader Bill Monning, and Sen. Connie Leyva, chair of the Senate Democratic Caucus. In addition, four past presidents pro tem of the Senate have come out in support of Kang’s candidacy.
Kang was a two-term city councilmember in Irvine, as well as a two-term mayor of the city, reelected overwhelmingly in 2010 with more than 64 percent of the vote. He and his wife Joanne, also a South Korean native who immigrated to the U.S. with him in 1977, have been residents of Orange County for 39 years and now live in Fullerton.
Kang announced his candidacy for the open 29th Senate District on April 22, 2015, the first Democrat to do so, and has since picked up dozens of endorsements from state and local officials and community leaders throughout Orange, Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties. The district is currently represented by former Senate Republican Leader Bob Huff, who cannot run again due to term limits.
Kang has been recognized numerous times for his outstanding public service and community leadership, including receiving the American Diabetes Association’s “Orange County Father of the Year Award” in 2012, the Carnegie Corporation’s “Pride of America” award in 2010, and the International Leadership Foundation’s “Public Servant of the Year” award in 2010. The Irvine Chamber of Commerce also recognized Kang in 2010 as “Business Leader of the Year.”
A veteran, Kang served in the South Korean Army, then graduated from the prestigious Korea University with a degree in agricultural economics, and in 2011 was awarded an honorary doctorate from Dongseo University in Busan, Korea. He also has served a special advisor to the chancellor of UC Irvine, and as an adjunct professor and Chancellor Fellow at Chapman University.
The Kang children, Alan, 35, and Angie, 33, attended public schools in Anaheim, where the Kang family lived for 10 years. Alan, a graduate of UC San Diego and USC’s Marshall School of Business, is a manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers, Angie, a graduate of Berkeley Law School (Boalt Hall), is senior vice president of business and legal affairs at Hulu.
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Full list of Sukhee Kang’s endorsements here: http://www.kangforsenate.com/endorsements
Happy to see Agranista, Sukhee Kang is now a carpetbagger and has taken his bag of tricks north to Fullerton. Sorry Sukhee we don’t miss you and if the voters in north county are stupid enough to elect you, they will get what they deserve.
LtPar,
Quick question. When Kang was mayor, did the Irvine POA do better or worse than when the council was a GOP majority?
They did worse. Under Larry Agran’s gang, the Cops and other City Employees went several years without a pay raise and their merit increases were also frozen. That was after I retired and the Police Association has turned into a bunch of “kiss asses.” When I was IPA President (17 years) the Cops always got along well with both Liberal and Conservative elements on the Council. While they might not have liked us, they respected the influence we had with our citizens. Some of the better contracts I negotiated were under Larry Agran. Agran did change in his later years and was not the man I had once known and supported for Council. The power had gone to his head.
Great Recession. Bush’s fault. Arnold’s fault. Pay raise while people are losing jobs….
What years was this?
If this was 2008 and several years afterward it makes sense. The economy was in meltdown mode. Did any of the officers lose their jobs? I know many in Irvine lost both their jobs and their homes.
Or do you believe that police pay shouldn’t be affected by economic downturns?
I know for a fact IPD did very well in the years leading up to the 2008 crash.
In unrelated news the Sac Bee and others are reporting the dismissal of Joe Dunn’s lawsuit against the state bar. With on publication calling it “weak” and “frivilous”.
Now I thought Gerragos was his lawyer, not Greg Diamond!!!!
Check out the Bee:
It’s all about Joe’s voting record. None of this matters. Ask Joe anout his trip to Mongolia. That was important
Ltpar, You using the term agranista is so played out. You really need to move on with your life and stop obsessing on the past.
Alan, take off the blinders and if you think the Agranistas are not still around, I have a bridge to sell you in Brooklyn. You can take it to the bank the Agranistas will be back in full force in 2016, attempting to regain control of the Council. With half the conservatives being loose cannons, non team players and at the throats of the other half, the liberal element just might have an outside shot at taking back control. It will be an interesting election to watch.
One can only hope that in the next election the Dems take back control of the city and do their best to slow down the damage that has been done by this pro development, Pro Five Point city council. 10,000 new homes at the great real estate development. Who knows maybe even more before they are done.
Because we need more bought and paid for council members like Christina Shea. What’s the name of her ticket? Emile First!
Ltpar, There are more liberal Democrats in Irvine than there were 30 years ago. That is for sure. All I am saying is stop with the name calling. If you want to debate then debate but keep it appropriate. I know the Right wing as lost all sense of professionalism starting with the Obama administration. You have been here long enough to know that Agran has done plenty of good for this city and its citizens. Just like some of the Republicans who have held office here. Both sides have done good by the City. It’s a real shame what politics in Irvine have come to. Why not set a better example for everyone?