Among the first time contenders for the House of Representatives race in the November general elections is Arianna Princess Auvaa of Malaeloa.
She has announced her candidacy for the House seat for District #17, Leasina Aitulagi.
“This journey is to inspire our younger generation, our female leadership, and young fa’afafine leaders to step up and not be afraid to use your voice,” she told KHJ News. “My passion is to serve our veterans and our military community, and the people and island of American Samoa.”
Princess, as she’s popularly known, shares that she has known in her heart for a long time she’s meant to serve; and she’s been preparing for the role of public servant by building a platform, serving in the United States military and training to continue her service to people and country.
Princess says her main focus is to tackle the drug problems now prevalent in her village and to “achieve equality of voice and representation.”
“Some folks feel the voices that count the most are those that have the power,” she observes. “And when I am my most negative, I feel the same way, [but] democracy is about all voices counting.”
She also feels that the voices of young people are not being heard or considered, yet they have so much to contribute to making the territory better.
“Young educated minds who have seen the world and were exposed to world views who can help take American Samoa to the next level with upgrades to make our island a state of the art place to see and be. Yet, we limit and suppress the young voices because we are so afraid of change and losing power to the younger generation who want nothing but the best for American Samoa. We have let greed and corruption stop us from moving forward.”
For her campaign to become faipule she is not just targeting the youth vote, a group that she mostly works with, but every voter in her district.
“Every person in my district matters. Every vote counts. So the entirety of my district is my target population.”
