Obama says Trump 'unfit' to be president

WASHINGTON - In a searing and virtually unprecedented presidential rebuke, Barack Obama declared embattled Republican White House nominee Donald Trump "unfit" to be president Tuesday and called on party leaders to disown him.

Obama piled on as Trump's campaign reeled from multiple self-inflicted scandals, calling the 70-year-old mogul "woefully unprepared" and "unfit to serve as president."

"He keeps proving it," said Obama, standing alongside the prime minister of Singapore and casting aside any pretense of domestic unity.

In recent days, Trump has criticized Muslims, babies, firefighters and the military, prompting his wincing Republican backers to issue awkward denunciations.

Congressman Richard Hanna went one step further, becoming the first Republican lawmaker to say he will vote for Trump's opponent, Democrat Hillary Clinton, in November.

"I find Trump deeply flawed in endless ways," Hanna wrote in a newspaper editorial announcing his decision.

Obama turned up the heat on Republicans who appear increasingly ill at ease with Trump but have not withdrawn their endorsement.

"This isn't a situation where you have an episodic gaffe," Obama said. "This is daily and weekly where they are distancing themselves from statements he's making."

"There has to be a point in which you say: 'This is not somebody I can support for president of the United States, even if he purports to be a member of my party.'"

"There has to come a point at which you say 'enough'," he said.

"The alternative is that the entire party, the Republican Party, effectively endorses and validates the positions that are being articulated by Mr Trump."

TRUMP HITS BACK

Leaders like House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senator John McCain may have been given further pause by Trump's refusal to reciprocate their endorsements.

Trump won the Republican primary handily, but is trailing Clinton in general election polls by around four percentage points.

Obama has already endorsed his fellow Democrat and has repeatedly pilloried Trump's populism.

But his comments in the East Room of the White House -- where Abraham Lincoln lay in state and Theodore Roosevelt today casts a painted gaze -- are a significant and highly personal escalation of presidential rhetoric.

Last week, Obama addressed the Democratic convention in Philadelphia and painted this election as a choice not between a Democrat and Republican, but a Democrat and a demagogue who threatens democracy.

"There have been Republican presidents with whom I've disagreed with, but I didn't have a doubt that they could function as president," Obama said Tuesday.

Turning to his 2012 and 2008 election opponents, Obama said "Mitt Romney and John McCain were wrong on certain policy issues, but I never thought that they couldn't do the job."

Trump hit back at Obama in a written statement, describing his two terms in office as an example of "failed leadership."

GOLD STAR FIGHT

Obama's comments came amid a roiling war of words between Trump and the father of a slain US soldier who rebuked the Republican nominee as having "sacrificed nothing."

"The notion that he would attack a Gold Star family that made extraordinary sacrifices on behalf of our country, the fact that he doesn't appear to have basic knowledge around critical issues in Europe, in the Middle East, in Asia means that he's woefully unprepared to do this job," said Obama.

On the campaign trail on Tuesday, Trump further dropped jaws by telling a mother and her crying baby to leave a rally and saying he "always wanted to get a Purple Heart," after being given one by a military veteran who supports him.

The military honor is given by a sitting president to a member of the armed forces who is killed or wounded in combat.

"This was much easier," Trump remarked.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

For China, Trump perhaps better the devil they don't know

* Clinton's tough line on S.China Sea, human rights riles Beijing

* Trump an unknown quantity in China, seen as "hands off" in Asia

* Adviser says Trump presidency would lead to respect

* Clinton as president would stand up to China - adviser

BEIJING - In 2010, then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton provoked outrage in Beijing when she pushed the South China Sea to the top of the regional and U.S. security agendas.

Now as an international court prepares to hand down a ruling that threatens China's sweeping claims in the vital waterway, Beijing is watching Clinton's presidential run with trepidation.

Combined with her tough line on human rights and role in leading President Barack Obama's Asia "rebalancing", Clinton is well-known in China - but not well liked.

While presidential rival Donald Trump has irritated Beijing with comments such as comparing the U.S. trade deficit with China to rape, he is largely an unknown quantity, a person who even privately officials shrug their shoulders over.

"Clinton will be a difficult partner," one senior Chinese diplomatic source told Reuters, having just admitted to not knowing much about Trump or what he stands for.

China remembers clearly a 2010 Southeast Asian security summit in Hanoi, when Clinton waded into the South China Sea dispute, saying open access and legal solutions were a U.S. "national interest" and "pivotal to regional security".

In a strongly worded response, China stressed the South China Sea as one of its "core interests", putting the issue up there with Taiwan, Tibet and Xinjiang in terms of its importance to Beijing.

China warned its rival claimants and neighbours not to be emboldened by U.S. support - a line it has repeated ever since.

An arbitration court hearing the dispute between China and the Philippines over the South China Sea is set to hand down its ruling on in the Dutch city of The Hague on Tuesday. Legal experts expect at least some substantive findings to go against China, which has vowed to ignore the ruling.

STRENGTH, RESPECT

China's military, which is ramping up its presence in the South China Sea as part of a major modernisation programme, is also watching the election closely.

"Hillary is very fierce when it comes to China," a Chinese official close to the military establishment told Reuters.

While the Chinese government has been largely quiet about the U.S. election, state media has not been so restrained, with one paper even equating Trump to Hitler.

In May, China's official Xinhua news agency noted Trump's more isolationist campaign compared to Clinton's, who it described as an "old foreign policy hand" and important backer of the Asia-Pacific "pivot" that China considers a threat.

"As far as she's concerned, being tough on foreign policy is perhaps the best way to show America's so called 'leadership'," it said in a commentary.

Laura Rosenberger, a Clinton campaign foreign policy adviser who worked with her in the State Department, told Reuters Clinton would remain tough on the South China Sea issue.

"She believes that we need to be very strong in terms of standing up to many of the actions the Chinese have taken," Rosenberger said.

"She believes in the principles of freedom of navigation in international waters, that commerce on the high seas in incredibly important to the United States, and that these are really very direct interests that we need to continue to stand up for."

Trump adviser Peter Navarro, an economist at University of California Irvine and the author of the book, "Crouching Tiger: What China's Militarism Means for the World," said a Trump presidency would lead to respect.

"The central difference between a Trump administration and the current administration or a Clinton administration is respect. The leaders of Russia, the leaders of China will respect Mr. Trump, will respect America because we will be strong economically, militarily and politically."

UNKNOWN QUANTITY

Trump may actually find some sympathy in China, even if he is seen as an unknown quantity.

"Who is Trump? We don't really know. We do know he hates Muslims though - and that will be well received in some circles here," said the Chinese official with ties to the military, pointing to what China views as its war on terror in its Muslim-populated far western region of Xinjiang.

China also views Trump as a businessmen with whom they can probably negotiate.

"It would be very transactional for the Chinese," said a senior Western diplomat in Beijing. "He's a businessman they think they'll be able to strike a deal with."

Trump may also be less tough on China over human rights than Clinton, who has frequently clashed with Beijing on the issue.

In 2011, Clinton said China was on a "fool's errand" to try to halt the march of freedom, while in 2012 she was deeply involved in efforts to get blind dissident Chen Guangcheng out of China after he fled to the U.S. embassy in Beijing.

Trump advisor Navarro said Clinton's record on human rights abuse was "sketchy at best and abysmal at worst", highlighting her first trip to Asia as Secretary of State in 2009, where other issues were given priority.

"So it's difficult to see how she would have someone would view her as credible on that issue."

Rosenberger, the Clinton adviser, rejected that view, highlighting comments from Trump in a 1990 interview referring to the "strength" of the Chinese government in its bloody crackdown of student-led protests in Tiananmen Square a year earlier.

"It's ironic for Trump's adviser to criticize Hillary's statement there when Trump himself has actually praised the Chinese for the Tiananmen massacre," Rosenberger said.

Still, China is hoping that whoever wins they will understand that both countries need each other and will have to work closely, a source with ties to the Chinese leadership told Reuters, requesting anonymity.

"It is the most important bilateral relationship in the world. China needs the United States and vice versa," the source said. "We don't know who will be the lesser of two evils."

(Additional reporting by Benjamin Kang Lim and Michael Martina in Beijing, Greg Torode in Hong Kong, and Alana Wise and Caren Bohan in Washington)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Tough road ahead for Obama after Republicans seize US Senate

WASHINGTON - Republicans rode a wave of voter discontent to seize control of the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, dealing a punishing blow to President Barack Obama that will limit his legislative agenda and may force him to make a course correction for his last two years in office.

The Republican rout was wide and deep in what was bound to be seen as a sharp rebuke to Obama, who has lurched from crisis to crisis all year and whose unpopularity made him unwelcome to Democratic candidates in many contested states.

The Republicans also strengthened their grip on the House of Representatives. When the new Congress takes power in January, they will be in charge of both chambers of Congress for the first time since elections in 2006.

The Republican takeover in the Senate will force Obama to scale back his ambitions to either executive actions that do not require legislative approval, or items that might gain bipartisan support, such as trade agreements and tax reform.

It will also test his ability to compromise with newly empowered political opponents who have been resisting his legislative agenda since he was first elected. And it could prompt some White House staff turnover as some exhausted members of his team consider departing in favor of fresh legs.

Obama, first elected in 2008 and again in 2012, called Democratic and Republican leaders of Congress to the White House on Friday to take stock of the new political landscape.

He watched election returns from the White House, and saw little to warm his spirits.

Before the election results, the White House had signaled no major changes for Obama. Officials said Obama would seek common ground with Congress on areas like trade and infrastructure.

"The president is going to continue to look for partners on Capitol Hill, Democrats or Republicans, who are willing to work with him on policies that benefit middle-class families," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said on Tuesday.

Obama, a one-term senator before he became president, has often been faulted for not developing closer relations with lawmakers.

He will find one familiar face in a powerful new position. Republican Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who won a tough re-election battle against Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes, will replace Democrat Harry Reid as Senate majority leader. Reid has been one of Obama's top political allies and helped him steer the president's signature healthcare law through the Senate in 2010.

"Some things don't change after tonight. I don't expect the president to wake up tomorrow and view the world any differently than he did when he woke up this morning. He knows I won't either. But we do have an obligation to work together on issues where we can agree," McConnell said in his victory speech in Louisville.

TOSS-UPS BECOME REPUBLICAN WINS
In Tuesday's comprehensive rout, Republicans won in places where Democrats were favored, taking a Senate race in North Carolina, pulled out victories where the going was tough, like a Senate battle in Kansas, and swept a number of governors' races in states where Democrats were favored, including Obama's home state of Illinois.

Of eight to 10 Senate seats that were considered toss-ups, Republicans won nearly all of them. They needed six seats to win control of the 100-member Senate, and by late evening they had seven.

The winning margin came when Iowa Republican Joni Ernst was declared the winner over Democrat Bruce Braley and Republican Thom Tillis defeated incumbent Democratic Senator Kay Hagan in North Carolina.

The Iowa race was particularly indicative of Republican fortunes. Ernst came from behind and surged in recent weeks despite herculean efforts by powerful Democratic figures to save Braley, including a campaign visit by Obama's wife, Michelle.

Republican Senate candidates also picked up Democratic seats in Montana, Colorado, West Virginia, South Dakota and Arkansas.

'RESPONSIBILITY ... TO LEAD'

Once the euphoria of their victory ebbs, Republicans will be under pressure to show Americans they are capable of governing after drawing scorn a year ago for shutting down the government in a budget fight. That will be a factor in their ambitions to take back the White House in 2016.

Republican Senator Ted Cruz, a conservative firebrand who may run in 2016, told CNN: "The American people, they're frustrated with what's happening in Washington, but now the responsibility falls on us to lead."

While there was talk of conciliation, no major breakthrough in Washington's chilly climate is expected soon.

Partisan battles could erupt over immigration reform, with Obama poised to issue executive actions by year's end to defer deportations of some undocumented immigrants, and over energy policy, as Republican press the president to approve the Keystone XL pipeline carrying oil from Canada.

Jay Carney, Obama's former spokesman, said he expects Obama to make an "all-out push" on his priorities regardless of the makeup of Congress.

Whatever the case, Obama will face pressure to make changes at the White House. A Reuters/Ipsos poll showed 75 percent of respondents believe the administration needs to "rethink" how it approaches major issues facing the United States. Sixty-four percent said Obama should replace some of his senior staff after the election.

The Republican victory had been widely predicted ahead of Tuesday's voting to elect 36 senators, 36 state governors and all 435 members of the House of Representatives.

Obama and other White House officials blamed the electoral map - noting that many key Senate races took place in conservative states that Obama lost in 2012.

Election Day polling by Reuters/Ipsos found a dour mood among the electorate with less than one-third of voters believing the country is headed in the right direction.

Roughly 40 percent of voters said they approved of the job Obama is doing as president, though they were split over whether they expected the economy to improve or worsen in the coming year.

In a consolation for Democrats, Jeanne Shaheen won re-election over Republican Scott Brown in New Hampshire in what polls had forecast as a tight race.

In Virginia, heavily favored Democratic incumbent Senator Mark Warner found himself in a surprisingly close fight against Republican challenger Ed Gillespie, with much of the vote counted. By late evening, he claimed victory but Gillespie had not yet conceded.

In the most closely watched governors' races, Florida's Republican Governor Rick Scott edged out Democrat Charlie Crist, and Republican Scott Walker survived a challenge from Democrat Mary Burke in Wisconsin.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Bay Area voters to decide fate of Fil-Am candidates

REDWOOD CITY, California – Former Daly City mayors and current council members, Ray Buenaventura and Mike Guingona are running against two other candidates for the three available seats.

Both candidates are supportive of each other despite running separate campaigns.

"While I see there are some similarities between myself and Ray Buenaventura I just think this is a sign that our community is moving forward," said Guingona.

"I think even though we are running separate campaigns because we have to, I think the Filipino vote is there and will be united in the end," said Buenaventura.

Guingona and Buenaventura are confident in their campaign but hopes that all registered Filipinos will be at the polls.

"If Filipinos don’t exercise their right to vote then we won’t be able to make the strides that we’ve made over the years in raising our bench and being able to raise our profile in the community," said Guingona.

"The only way you’ll be able to do that is to come out and vote and get involved in the process, speak to your legislatures, maybe even run for office yourself," said Buenaventura.

Meanwhile, in Milpitas, where Filipinos make up about 14 percent of the population, two Filipino-Americans are at odds in a new measure for the city.

Measure E, if approved, will allow Bay 101 Casino to relocate from San Jose to Milpitas pending state legislation.

Former Mayor Henry Manayan is for the measure because he says it will create jobs and provide over $8 million in revenue for the city.

"This is going to offer more jobs, up to 900 new jobs, that’s going to not only be able for working for the card club but also in construction and landscaping and other types of jobs," said Manayan.

Current Mayor Joe Esteves originally supported the measure but recently changed his mind and found that it would not benefit the city.

"It will destroy the great character of Milpitas as a family oriented city," said Esteves. "Plus, it will be accompanied with a lot of potential crimes and people from all areas coming into the city."

Manayan said that Esteves changed his stance on the measure due to a political strategy to help Esteves win his re-election as mayor.

"His opponent is anti-gambling so he thinks this is going to dampen his chances at being re-elected," said Manayan.

"For my position I am protecting my kababayan because I love them and they are like my family," said Esteves. "I am doing it without any payment. This is from my own heart. "

Over 400,000 Filipinos are registered to vote in California making 2% of the state electorate. Since November 2010, Filipino voter registration increased by 80,000 or 24%.

Read more from Balitang America.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Will the Fil-Am vote have an impact in US midterm polls?

OAKLAND, California – There are only a few days to go before the midterm elections and people in America are about to cast their votes for all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 33 of the 100 seats in the U.S. Senate.

Current forecasts show that Democrats are struggling to save the Senate majority, while trying to prevent more losses in the House, which the GOP already controls by a 234 to 201 margin.

The Democrats control the Senate by a 55 to 45 margin.

The question is: will the immigrant vote have an impact on the elections?

Asians are now the largest immigrant group in the state. And community leaders say they’re really becoming more politicized and more aware of the benefits of being politically empowered.

The group, Filipino Advocates for Justice, which is part of the Mobilize the Immigrant Vote Campaign, believes Filipinos are a force to reckon with in the midterm elections.

In California, more than 417,000 Filipinos are registered to vote, comprising two percent of the state’s registered voters.

“California is still where almost half of the Filipino population, and that’s without even counting the undocumented reside,” said Lillian Galedo, of Filipino Advocates For Justice. “So there’s a long history of Filipinos being active politically in California, which continues to this day.”

The Filipino Party affiliation in California is 40 percent Democrats, 26 percent Republicans, 31 percent non-partisan or decline to state, and three percent other.

“Here in California, we’re seeing a new trend,” said Galedo. “There’s almost as many people who are declining to state. They’re neither declaring themselves Republican or Democrats. They’re wanting to sort of keep their options open and not declaring allegiance to the party system and beginning to look at what people have to say.”

Christina Halog has been a U.S. citizen since 1973 and has never missed voting in any U.S. election since. More than casting her vote, she encourages other kababayans to vote through phone.

She is also a poll worker.

“It’s important so I can have a voice and to be able to contribute,” she said. “To give back.”

Mona Dating has practiced her right to vote since she became a U.S. citizen in 1982. She says being too busy is not an excuse to cast your ballot.

“Sa Filipino community, tayo ang largest, one of the largest minorities in the U.S.,” said Dating. “We need to exercise our right to vote.”

So are Filipinos politically empowered? These community leaders and volunteers say we’re getting there. But there needs to be more effort and more work if Filipinos truly want their voices heard and their votes to count in this adopted country.

Read more from Balitang America.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

New York chooses new mayor on US election day

NEW YORK - New Yorkers went to the polls Tuesday to choose a new mayor, as voters across the United States cast ballots in the first major round of elections since President Barack Obama was re-elected last year.

The race in the Big Apple -- in which progressive Democrat Bill de Blasio is widely tipped to replace billionaire Michael Bloomberg -- is one of several seen as a barometer of public opinion ahead of congressional elections in 2014.

Also closely watched are the elections in New Jersey and Virginia for state governors, with Republican incumbent Chris Christie -- a possible presidential contender in 2016 -- a virtual shoo-in in New Jersey.

Before a meeting with business leaders, Obama cautioned against making early election calls.

"Never predict elections," the president said. "That's a losing proposition -- better to predict the World Series than elections."

De Blasio, 52, and his black formerly lesbian wife promise a new style in a city transformed by 12 years of tough love under Bloomberg, who is stepping down after a record three terms.

He is one of the most progressive politicians in the country and has left Republican rival Joe Lhota trailing in the dust in the biggest city in the United States by tapping into the worries of the economically vulnerable middle class.

The city of 8.3 million has six times as many Democrat voters as Republicans, yet a win for de Blasio would make him the first Democrat elected mayor since 1989.

"I think the people of this city know that so many New Yorkers are struggling just to make ends meet," he said after voting with wife Chirlane in his gentrified Brooklyn neighborhood of Park Slope, accompanied by their teenage children Chiara and Dante.

"We need to make very serious progressive change and move away from Bloomberg-era policies and I'm ready to do it and I need the support of New Yorkers to get it done."

De Blasio has focused on the yawning gulf between rich and poor in a city with more than 440,000 millionaires but where 21 percent live in poverty on $30,944 a year for a family of four.

He promises to raise taxes to fund universal pre-kindergarten education and after-school programs, and build 200,000 affordable housing units.

His family has featured prominently in his campaign, an effort to connect to a diverse New York where 33.3 percent are white, 25.5 percent black, 28.6 percent Hispanic and 12.7 percent Asian.

Lhota was upbeat Tuesday despite trailing in the polls.

"Doing well, doing well. Very optimistic about today," he said after voting in upmarket Brooklyn Heights.

He served as deputy mayor under Rudy Giuliani and is a respected former chairman of the city's Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Before being public advocate, de Blasio was on the city council for eight years, a housing official under President Bill Clinton and managed Hillary Clinton's New York Senate race in 2000.

There are questions about whether he has the experience to lead a city hall staff of 300,000 and a budget of $72 billion.

There are also concerns that New York politics will again fall victim to cronyism and election-cycles after Bloomberg, whose vast wealth left him beholden to no one, steps down.

Adriana, 63, who works for a charity, said she had voted for de Blasio as a life-long Democrat but had some reservations.

"I don't know whether he is going to embrace the arts. I don't know whether he will have the pull at City Hall the mayor had. Yes, I am a little concerned, but he is better than the alternative," she said.

Bloomberg campaigned for a change in New York's term limits law and was allowed to stand for and win a third four-year mandate.

He will go down as one of New York's most transformative mayors but leaves behind an electorate divided by his legacy.

There has been a continued reduction in violent crime and his aggressive public health policies, such as banning smoking in bars and restaurants, have been copied in many cities.

In New Jersey, Christie was set to cruise towards a landslide victory riding high on a wave of popularity at odds with the crisis of his party at the national level.

He is increasingly seen as a contender to win the Republican nomination for the White House in 2016 given his pragmatism, charisma and ability to command cross-party support.

But in Virginia, Democrat Terry McAuliffe is expected to beat Republican Ken Cuccinelli, the state's attorney general and darling of the right-wing Tea Party movement.

Virginia's changing demographics, rural-suburban split and significant military and government employee populations make it a litmus test for the political mood ahead of 2016.

If Christie wins and Cuccinelli loses, as expected, it is likely to solidify thinking that Republicans would be better served with ditching deeply ideological candidates.

"They've got to stop with the Tea Party message because it just doesn't resonate," a party supporter and federal contractor who identified himself as Kellen said after voting in Arlington, Virginia.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Obama gets endorsement from Colin Powell

LAS VEGAS -  As he did in 2008, President Barack Obama again won the endorsement of General Colin Powell, a Republican who served as Secretary of State during the presidency of George W. Bush.
Powell told CBS he is sticking with Obama because he believes the economy is improving.

The endorsement comes at a time when both Obama and his Republican rival Mitt Romney are pounding on battleground states in the hopes of coming ahead in this very close presidential race.

Both candidates were in swing state Nevada, convincing the state ravaged by severe unemployment and home foreclosures that their economic plan can save America.

At the Obama campaign, recording artist Katy Perry tried to help deliver that message.

“Hello, Nevada. Are you fired up?" he addressed a crowd of 13,000 Nevadans waiting for the president at Doolittle Park.

“Nevada, you know me by now, you know I say what I mean, and I mean what I say. We haven't finished everything we set out to do in 2008. But you know that every single day I sit forth in that office I am thinking about you,  I'm fighting for your families, with your help I am keeping the commitments I made,” Obama told supporters.

Filipino Americans in the crowd say President Obama's policies affect middle class families in Nevada. Obamacare provides affordable insurance to more than 200,000 hispanic residents who were previously uninsured.

“I don't know anything he does bad for me. He is good. People don't appreciate him if Romney would get in there, this people they think different, I think Obama is for the poor people,” Richard Muniz said.

“When I shook his hand he even squeezed my hand. He wouldn't let go. That's when I know that's the right president to have,” another Filipino American, Paul Michael Sison added.

Hoping to encourage other democrats to vote ahead of the November 6 election, Obama cast his ballot early in his home town of Chicago on Thursday.

source: abs-cbnnews.com

Fil-Am bet from Ohio likens Obama to Hitler

REDWOOD City - A Filipino-American pediatrician in swing state Ohio is running for Congress.

“I’m Dr. Marisha Agana and there are a few things you should know about me. I do not like Barack Obama, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and their systemic destruction of this nation,” Agana said in her first video campaign advertisement.




On her Facebook page, Agana describes herself as one who values liberty, having grown up in the Philippines under martial law.

“When I immigrated to America in 1987, I fell in love with this country. I’ve realized that freedom is so fragile. And I see our freedoms and opportunities beginning to diminish in our country today,” Agana said in a video uploaded on YouTube during the Tax Day rally last April 15, 2012.

But what made this conservative mother of 3 a hot topic in social media is her controversial tweet in which she put President Obama in the company of Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin and Chairman Mao Zedong.

History, she said, has a way of repeating itself: Stalin, Hitler, Mao Tse Tung and now Obama, sending netizens up in arms.

Agana clarified that she was criticizing Obama’s so-called pro-abortion stand.

The president has consistently said that he believes that it’s a woman’s choice what to do with her body. His health reform act mandates free access to contraceptives.

But Agana stands by her statement saying she is 100 percent against abortion and is excited that the issue has come in the forefront of her campaign.

This is Agana’s first run for public office and she’s challenging incumbent democrat Tim Ryan for the house seat.

source: abs-cbnnews.com