INTRODUCTION

Amid a contested primary season in Howard County, Dr. Linfeng Chen, a current member of the Howard County Board of Education, announced his candidacy for the Howard County Council last week. 

At Dr. Chen’s campaign kick-off event in Cedar Lane Park on October 11, he told the AAPI Angle’s team that education was a major conc ern of his regarding Howard County families.

“I think schools are underinvested, both in their programs and school facilities. The facility side is the inflation – everything costs so much more compared to nine or ten years ago. The cost is 60% more, but the funding is not 60% more. So we need new school facilities and we need to improve public education quality,” responded Linfeng Chen. His website also highlights integrity, inclusion, and innovation as key objectives. 

However, Chen is not new to the Howard County political scene – he has a long history of community involvement and service, spanning over 15 years since he and his family moved to Howard County. 

BACKGROUND

Dr. Chen is a structural engineer with a Doctorate in Applied Mechanics from the University of Virginia, and the father of three Howard County Public School students. He has extensive prior experience in HCPSS, having previously served on various committees, including the Board of Education’s Operating Budget Review Committee and the HCPSS Science Advisory Committee.

Dr. Chen is also involved in the Chinese American community of Howard County, such as being a “member of the Board of Directors of the Howard County Chinese School and was a founding member and vice president of the Chinese American Parent Association of Howard County.” 

According to his BOE campaign website, he had also volunteered extensively with local AAPI communities. In an interview with Ballotpedia in 2022, Dr. Chen cited his background, stating, “I am an immigrant and English is not my native tongue. I understand the barriers many immigrant families face. I value the strength of diversity in our county.”

When asked by the AAPI Angle’s team at his campaign kick-off event about how he planned to continue to support and uplift the voices of minority populations, such as the AAPI community that Dr. Chen has long been an active member of, he stated, “Because minorities have less visibility, we need to create opportunities and showcase their culture and arts. 

We have an opportunity to demonstrate and ensure that everybody is humble enough to learn from one another. I think there are a lot of opportunities we can use. And as a member of the County Council, there’s one thing always on my mind – how to elevate that minority voice. If they have a potential talent, we should maximize that to benefit everybody.”

When Dr. Chen ran for BOE in 2022, he stated the following as goals: “[committing] to the quality of public education, [investing] in school infrastructure, [prioritizing] students’ physical and mental health, [promoting] the strength of diversity, and [utilizing] taxpayer money responsibly.” He won the BOE general election on November 2, 2022, with 26.5% of the votes, along with Jacky McCoy, who won with 27.6% of the votes (both ran as non-partisan candidates). They defeated two other non-partisan candidates. 

Dr. Chen also cited safety concerns. “I think we quite often hear of shootings and all those events. That causes people’s uncertainty – people are scared to [go places]. How can we use a new way to address the lessons we’ve learned, so that we can have a safe environment that benefits everyone?” exclaimed Chen.

Chen’s campaign centers on the improvement of public education, a value highly cherished by Howard County families and students, as well as the importance of diversity within a community. His story is one of how Asian Americans can step up for their communities and other groups around them through political engagement and service. Only through such actions can minorities such as the AAPI community make the changes that they want to see.