Elizabeth Heng
| Elizabeth Heng | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1985 Fresno, California |
| 🏫 Education | Stanford University (BA) Yale University (MBA) |
| 💼 Occupation | Business owner, politician |
| 🏛️ Political party | Republican |
Elizabeth Heng (born 1985) is an American politician. She unsuccessfully ran for election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2018 and 2022. She also led a political action committee, known for running a graphic ad highlighting the Cambodian genocide during a Democratic presidential primary debate.
Early life[edit]
Both of Elizabeth Heng's parents are refugees from Cambodia.[1] They lived through the Cambodian Civil War and left, arriving in the U.S. in 1983, giving birth to Heng shortly after.[1] Heng's parents owned and operated a market in southeast Fresno for 25 years, and Heng worked there while attending the local Fresno public schools.[1] Heng was the valedictorian of her 2003 class at Sunnyside High School. She earned her bachelor's degree in political science and American politics from Stanford University in 2007, where she also was elected student body president then returned to Fresno.[1]
After starting a retail cell phone business with her brothers, Heng moved to Washington, D.C. without a job offer. In an interview in 2018, Heng said she "knocked on doors at Capitol Hill dropping off my resume," and ended up working for Republican Ed Royce, a U.S. Representative from Fullerton, California.[2][1] She worked on Royce's campaign in 2012, worked as a staffer on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and also served on the Trump inaugural committee in 2016 before returning to Fresno in August 2017.[1]
Politics[edit]
First U.S. House of Representatives Campaign[edit]
On February 16, 2018, a campaign committee filed federal paperwork for Elizabeth Heng to run for the 16th congressional district, challenging longtime incumbent Democrat Jim Costa.[3] Heng was relatively unknown at the time, with the chair of the local Democratic Party calling her a "mystery."[1] However, she gained notoriety for aggressive attack ads, including one where she depicted a silver-haired man who resembled Costa walking on a sidewalk in red high heels, which prompted questions of sexism.[4] Heng also ran an ad featuring images of the Cambodian genocide, part of her family heritage. This ad was banned on Facebook and Twitter, leading to conservative claims of social media bias and unjustified censorship.[5][6] Both social media sites ended up reversing course and allowing the commercials.[4]
Heng received comparisons to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, with some seeing parallels as a minority, millennial female running against an established male politician.[2] However, Heng lost her general election race against Costa in November 2018, receiving 60,693 votes to Costa's 82,266.[7]
New Faces GOP[edit]
In March 2019, a political action committee (PAC) named "New Faces GOP" was formed, led by Heng.[8] The PAC spent $96,000 to run a graphic ad during the third Democratic presidential primary debate in September 2019.[9][10] The ad depicted Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's face burning while Heng narrates, talking about her family's story escaping socialism in Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge regime.[11][12] It appeared in three media markets: New York City, Washington D.C. and Fresno-Visalia, and it quickly drew criticism on social media.[10]
Ocasio-Cortez reacted to the ad on her Twitter account, saying it is a "love letter" to "the GOP’s white supremacist(s),"[13] while other Democrats directed their criticism at the network which ran the ad and caused the hashtag #BoycottABC to trend.[14]
Second U.S. House of Representatives Campaign[edit]
Heng planned on running in the 2022 United States Senate elections in California but withdrew and announced her intent to run for the U.S. House of Representatives seat vacated by Devin Nunes's resignation.[15][16] She did not receive enough votes in the special primary election, held in April 2022, to advance. Connie Conway ultimately won the seat.[7]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Calix, Brianna (May 25, 2018). "Elizabeth Heng: The daughter of refugees and former D.C. staffer now challenges Costa". The Fresno Bee. Archived from the original on August 25, 2022. Retrieved August 25, 2022. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 2.0 2.1 McGurn, William (September 3, 2018). "An Ocasio-Cortez for the GOP?". Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on September 4, 2018. Retrieved August 24, 2022. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Appleton, Rory (February 28, 2018). "Capitol Hill GOP Staffer to challenge Rep. Costa". The Fresno Bee. p. A3. Retrieved August 24, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Is Heng's 'Costa in High Heels' Ad Fair or Cheap Shot?". GVWire. October 22, 2018. Retrieved August 23, 2022.
- ↑ Garofoli, Joe (August 7, 2018). "Facebook fumbles ad ban in CA House race, prompting conservative outrage". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
- ↑ "Social media giants' record not improving". The Daily Oklahoman. November 6, 2018. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
The most notable rejection occurred earlier this year when Elizabeth Heng, a Republican congressional candidate in California, tried to place a video ad that provided her basic biography and platform...Facebook refused to place the ad, saying it violated the company's advertising policies, which ban ads that contain "shocking" content or depict "violence or threats of violence." Twitter also banned the ad, saying it had "inappropriate" content.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Elizabeth Heng - Ballotpedia". Ballotpedia. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
- ↑ Keating, Joshua (September 13, 2019). "Who Is Elizabeth Heng, the Woman Behind the Strange Ad Comparing AOC to the Khmer Rouge?". Slate. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
- ↑ Markay, Lachlan (September 13, 2019). "New Republican Super PAC Burns AOC's Likeness in Debate Night Ad". The Daily Beast. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Fieldstadt, Elisha (September 13, 2019). "Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's face is consumed by fire in new Republican PAC ad". MSNBC. Retrieved August 23, 2022.
- ↑ Powers, Laura (September 13, 2019). "Ilhan Omar Blasts GOP Ad Depicting Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Burning: 'Pull This Garbage Off the Air'". Newsweek. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
- ↑ Elfrink, Tim; Itkowitz, Colby (September 13, 2019). "Republican PAC runs debate ad comparing Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to genocidal Khmer Rouge". Washington Post. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
- ↑ "'This is the face of socialism': Elizabeth Heng's new PAC ad targets Ocasio-Cortez". Yourcentralvalley.com. September 12, 2019. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
- ↑ Nilson, Ella (September 13, 2019). "A shocking debate ad compared AOC's policies to a brutal genocide". Vox. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
- ↑ Taub, David (December 17, 2021). "Heng Enters House Race Even as the Lines Keep Changing". GVWire. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
- ↑ Irwin, Ben (February 2, 2022). "Republican millennial Elizabeth Heng to run for Congress". The Sun Gazette. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
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