District 20 Assembly candidate and optometrist Dr. Jennifer Ong, Democrat, hopes to steal the assembly seat from competitors this fall with a growing body of volunteers and money to challenge candidates for the assembly seat.

A 1991 CSUEB alumna before attending UC Berkeley to obtain her doctorate in optometry, Ong has since raised and sustained her own business in San Leandro for 12 years.

During this time, Ong spent 21 years lobbying for legislative bills and health related changes in California. Now she aims for assembly for District 20, garnering attention and finances with notable politicians and young voters.

Ong visited CSUEB last month to speak to Political Science majors on campaign financing and strategy with energy that prompted a positive response from students.

“I understand that many of you are pretty jaded about the political system,” said Ong, “I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t believe that there weren’t honest, well meaning elected officials out there. They are out there we just need more of them.”

Ong likes to hearken back to the Philippines, her homeland, as a comparison of corruption when speaking about America’s political landscape, grafting the opportunity for noble pursuit in California.

“Politics can be a noble endeavor,” says Ong with sincerity.

Ong’s self-alleged transparency and talkative demeanor brings students to the fold for volunteer service.

“I used to be against politics, but you changed me,” said one student to Ong after her speech.

According to Ong, it is difficult to see who her financial competitor is, since not all competitors have filed a financial report yet, but according to files with the Secretary of State, Bill Quirk, (D-Hayward), has proven to be the most financially capable candidate.

Both Ong and Quirk are pulling important state and regional support from various political fields and unions. Both have raised over six figures, granting them the staying power in a five-man race for the 20th Assembly District.

Both also stand as the only filed candidates currently with official financial and endorsement records listed with the secretary of state.

Quirk stays in lead financially with a contribution sum of $170,000 but with $96,000 self-loaned, as opposed to Ong’s significantly less self-loaned sum at $48,000 of her $126,000 contribution. Ong’s contributions without her self-loan are around $78,000.

These figures give Ong a slightly higher outside contribution sum of $4,000, as Quirk raised $74,000 outside of his self-loan.

Other candidates include Union City Mayor Mark Green, Independent, who announced his candidacy in January but with no official financial files on record yet; Sarabjit Kaur Cheema, (D-Union City,) who kicked off her campaign officially Monday and last gave a personnel report of cash on hand of $10,000 in February; and new contestant Luis Reynoso, (R-Hayward), who filed for candidacy on Mar. 9 but with no financial files.

Ong was the first to announce her run for candidacy last April, a lead over other candidates who came trickling into the race a few months after her announcement. Since then, Ong has been fortunate to see important endorsements come to her aid, offering generous financial assistance.

Bill Quirk was awarded the Democratic Party nomination last month as the preferred candidate.

Ong is unwavering though.

“I knew I wasn’t going to get the party endorsement because I am not an elected official so when I did not receive it, I wasn’t surprised, it was expected,” said Ong. “My opponents are elected officials and are embedded into the political machine so to counter that I had to raise enough money.”

Fiona Ma, Assembly Pro Tempore, is the most reputable and highest ranking official endorsing Ong, capping off at $3,900.

Other notable endorsements include assembly members such as Robert Twomey, Joan Buchanan, Mike Eng and Ted Lieu, as well as a host of former and incumbent political officials in regional and local office from council members to former senate officials.

Ong’s two decades of legislative work is an advantage that stretches her breadth of endorsement donations and notoriety for her campaign.

“Many people came out to endorse me when I announced my run for assembly because of all my years working within the legislative system,” said Ong.

Ong contributed to the development and passage of legislation that required nutritional information to be posted in restaurant chains and increase access to vision services for the needy.

But it isn’t the name of the endorsements per se that Ong believes will give her the seat, but rather her capacity to relate to working people in the East Bay, a campaign strategy that her campaign manager Richie Ross emphasizes with particular importance, according to Ong.

Ong grew up in San Leandro after emigrating from the Philippines where her mother helped contribute to finances by selling hotdogs at the Oakland Coliseum.

Richie Ross, her campaign manager, is possibly proving to be one of her most important assets given his legendary status within election processes. He was called the “warlord” for Willie Brown, the former San Francisco mayor and former Assembly State Majority Speaker.

In the 2007-08 election cycle he campaigned consulted for Christopher Cabaldon for the 9th Assembly District and Paul Fong for the 22nd Assembly District as well as a plethora of other Democratic candidates.

According to Ong, he is a professional on opponent research but some strategies that may work in Ong’s favor against competitors are kept quiet.

“He knows this area very well and he is very much a grass roots kind of person,” said Ong.

Ong’s priorities include increasing access to health care, decreasing crime and increasing accessible education for California citizens. Like other candidates she also has a campaign premise on jobs.

The election primaries will be on Jun. 5, just a few months away for candidates to ramp up their campaign focus, contributions and enough potential voters to stay viable.