On September 30, 2022, Asian Wave Alliance (AWA) President Yiatin Chu called Assembly Member Peter Abbate as a courtesy to inform him that AWA voted to endorse his challenger, Lester Chang earlier that evening. Mr. Abbate was upset upon hearing the news, and claimed Lester Chang would not be able to serve even if he wins because he had not met the residency requirement for the position. Abbate went further to mock AWA’s naivete on election rules, and said AWA would look foolish endorsing Chang who went on to win AD49 by 5% points with 7,177 votes. Hence, we are outraged to learn that Peter Abbate, the Brooklyn and State Democratic Party groups are seeking to subvert Chang’s hard-fought victory, and deny him this win. To pursue this ugly political stunt is shameful, and will disenfranchise voters who voted Lester Chang on their ballots, and create a stain on our democracy. Asian Wave Alliance strongly condemns any further rhetoric or actions to undermine Lester Chang as the AD49 Assembly member-elect.