A partner at a local business who’s been a vocal critic of Riley County Commissioner Marvin Rodriguez has filed to run for his seat.
Asian Market international grocery store partner and Manhattan Alliance for Peace and Justice member Fanny Fang filed a declaration of intent to run for the district 2 seat of the commission. She is running as a Democrat.
Fang has said remarks by Rodriguez in March correlating Riley County’s lack of COVID-19 patients at the time with the relatively low population of Chinese people locally promote anti-Asian racism and joined calls for his resignation prior to entering the race.
Speaking on a recent episode of the Segucated podcast, Fang says such comments from a elected official involved in the local health board made her concerned about whether she and her family would receive “fair treatment” if needed amid the pandemic.
“The future is here in Riley County,” she says. “We have the diversity, we have the talent and, most importantly, we have the work ethic to not only survive but thrive in this new COVID-19 world we live in.”
“But for us to do that, our county commission needs to equip our communities with the necessary infrastructure to do so.”
The 24-year-old candidate serves on the Manhattan Area Recovery Task Force and has a bachelor’s degree from New York University in Sports Management. She opposes incumbent Rodriguez as well as candidates Phillip Mattox and Greg McKinley.
The deadline to file is June 1st.
