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12.24.2008

sam yoon making a run for mayor

In Boston, two-term City Councilor Sam Yoon has been increasingly sending signals that he intends to run for mayor. The latest evidence: in an end of the year fundraising appeal sent to relatives and friends, the councilor's wife, Christina, wrote that she has been inspired by her husband to help him raise the cash needed to "move up in Boston's political world": Signs point to mayoral run by Yoon.

Could the Councilor be gearing up for a mayoral race? He hasn't officially announced such intentions. But he, and several other potential opponents, have been raising money like crazy, and staking out positions on politically potent issues. So far, Yoon has brought in thousands of dollars from out of state, but trails his opponents significantly with just under $63,300 in the bank.

The fund-raising appeal, in which his wife set a personal goal of raising $10,000 by the end of the year, is an indication Yoon realizes he needs to make a decent showing in the first campaign finance reports of 2009 if he is to appear competitive against his opponents.

Yoon made headlines in 2005 when became the first Asian American to hold elected office in Boston. Could he become the city's first Asian American mayor? It certainly looks like he's going to try. Learn more about Sam Yoon (and donate) at his website here. The municipal election is in November 2009.