Kaylee May Law’s grandfather Fat Law moved to the United States from Hong Kong in the 1960s. Kaylee remembered seeing all the “I voted” stickers that her grandfather had placed proudly on the refrigerator in his Baldwin Park home.
Fat Law passed away at 92 in October, just weeks before his granddaughter’s name appeared on the ballot in the Walnut City Council election.
“He was so happy coming to the United States and running his business and making the American dream happen,” Kaylee said. “I think it was really important to see from my perspective that he cared so much he would go out and vote even though he doesn’t speak English.”
With results still pending certification, Law, 19, appears set to be elected to the City Council. The Walnut native celebrated her birthday three days before election day.
According to the latest results from the Los Angeles County Registrar’s Office, Law appeared to be third-highest vote getter out of a field of six candidates. Law led Hong Zhao by about four percentage points and more than 1,000 votes.
Incumbent councilmembers Linda Freedman and Nancy Renne Tragarz have remained the top two vote-getters.
Law has already earned associates degrees from Mt. San Antonio College, a bachelor’s degree from Grand Canyon University and a master’s degree in government from Johns Hopkins University. She’s always had an interest in local government going back to attending City Council meetings with her mom.
“I just really like local government because you can see the changes and see the difference more tangibly,” Law said.
After pulling papers, Law vowed to run a campaign where she would not look back and regret anything. She said just as important as planning the logistics of the campaign was reading the municipal code, familiarizing herself with the general plan of the city and learning about the history of Walnut.
“Once you have that down, when you’re knocking on doors and people ask you questions it’s a lot easier to connect with them because you have the background instead of just going into it blind,” Law said.
A competitive swimmer who had been retired for a couple years, Law said the rigor of the campaign got her back into shape through old fashioned door-knocking. She pulled up a digital map on her laptop which showed a sea of green markers over a map of Walnut indicating houses she contacted on her walk list.
“Walnut has some hills,” Law said.
The door-knocking campaign began in August, Law said. When someone would not answer, Law left a door hanger instead of the traditional flyer. She estimated that she knocked on around 4,500 to 5,000 doors during the campaign.
On election night, Law and her brother were out retrieving lawn signs when the first round of results were posted online. Law held about a 600-vote lead, which has steadily increased with each subsequent update.
“I’m really happy and just really humbled and grateful that everyone in the community is participating in the government process and is choosing me to represent them, hopefully,” Law said.
Now that being elected to City Council has become more of a reality, Law reflected on her family’s work and sacrifice. She said her grandfather moved to the United States with a sixth-grade education and supported Law’s academic path.
In Hong Kong he owned a restaurant and when he moved to New York worked with his uncle at Law’s Laundry. In California Fat Law owned Panda Garden, a restaurant located in Baldwin Park on North Puente Avenue, for almost 20 years.
“It’s just continuing on that legacy and they made so many sacrifices to come here for me to be able to pursue my education and even pursue this,” Law said. “That’s really important to me.”
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