After serving in the Peace Corps and an eight-year stint with the U.S. Agency for International Development, Eng worked for General Electric for 20 years in China, Pakistan and Russia. He moved to Colorado from GE's offices in Appleton, Wis., in 2005, after his wife, Lindsay, landed a job here. Eng has worked for two engineering firms since the move, including one job that took him back to Asia and another that involved classified government work that he can't discuss. Darrell Cozen, a city planner in Pasadena, Calif., a friend for more than two decades, said living abroad demonstrates Eng's self- confidence and people skills. "I can't imagine the courage that takes to go and live in places where you don't even know the language, much less have friends and relatives living there," Cozen said. It takes the same kind of courage to run as a Democrat in a Republican district, Cozen said. Eng was between jobs last November when he decided to run for Congress. The decision was "not precipitous," he said. He has believed for some time that President Bush has "taken this country down the wrong path." The "final straw" was the move in Congress to grant legal immunity to telecommunication executives who let the government monitor phone calls without warrants. "I just got more and more upset with what the administration had been doing all along," he said.
Congressional Candidate Hank Eng has spent much of his life in foreign lands
No stranger to the world
Engineer Eng has spent much of his life in foreign lands
By Berny Morson, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Published October 10, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.
When a Littleton High School student asked Hank Eng how he would change America's image abroad, the Democratic congressional candidate said he would start by getting a foreign policy.
"My personal opinion is, we don't have a foreign policy," Eng told a senior civics class. "We've been lunging from one crisis to another. A crisis happens, and all of a sudden you're all scurrying how to meet it."
Eng, 60, an engineer who is no stranger to foreign lands, is hoping his candidacy will catch fire among people frustrated by the past eight years.
He faces an uphill battle.
Eng is running in the heavily Republican 6th Congressional District. The seat has never been held by a Democrat since its creation following the 1980 census.
The district includes Douglas and Elbert counties, plus parts of Arapahoe, Jefferson and Park counties. Few Democrats hold any office in that area.
In addition, Eng faces Colorado Secretary of State Mike Coffman, a seasoned campaigner who defeated three rivals for the GOP nomination in the Aug. 12 primary.
But Eng believes a decisive shift of independents to the Democratic column can overcome the Republican advantage.
"I think the ideology of what was the majority party when they drew the (district) lines is no longer resonant with a majority of the people who are living in this district," he said. "Times have changed."
People don't want ideology, he said. "The message they like is the fact that I'm an engineer and I process data. I process information, rather than ideology," Eng said.
Eng grew up in the New York City borough of Queens. His parents emigrated from China after World War II. They ran a laundry.
After serving in the Peace Corps and an eight-year stint with the U.S. Agency for International Development, Eng worked for General Electric for 20 years in China, Pakistan and Russia.
He moved to Colorado from GE's offices in Appleton, Wis., in 2005, after his wife, Lindsay, landed a job here.
Eng has worked for two engineering firms since the move, including one job that took him back to Asia and another that involved classified government work that he can't discuss.
Darrell Cozen, a city planner in Pasadena, Calif., a friend for more than two decades, said living abroad demonstrates Eng's self- confidence and people skills.
"I can't imagine the courage that takes to go and live in places where you don't even know the language, much less have friends and relatives living there," Cozen said.
It takes the same kind of courage to run as a Democrat in a Republican district, Cozen said.
Eng was between jobs last November when he decided to run for Congress.
The decision was "not precipitous," he said. He has believed for some time that President Bush has "taken this country down the wrong path."
The "final straw" was the move in Congress to grant legal immunity to telecommunication executives who let the government monitor phone calls without warrants.
"I just got more and more upset with what the administration had been doing all along," he said.
Living in Colorado for only three years should not be an impediment to winning, Eng said, adding that many voters in the fast-growing district have arrived even more recently.
Eng has put more than $105,000 of his own money into the race, mostly in the form of loans. He has raised at least $95,000, including some $40,000 after the last federal reporting period, said campaign manager Aaron Cohen.
Those amounts will be enough to give Eng an advertising presence on television, Cohen said.
Hank Eng
* Age: 60
* Family: Wife, Lindsay; children, Kendall, Jesse, Jamie, John
* Born: New York City
* Residence: Arapahoe County
* Web site: hankeng.com
10 things you might not know about Hank Eng
1 He helped build 400 miles of rural roads to bring medical supplies, food and other daily needs to drought-stricken people in Tanzania.
2 He was a Peace Corps volunteer in Kenya.
3 His favorite book is Centennial by James Michener.
4 Favorite movie: The American President
5 Favorite musical group: The Beatles
6 He was elected to the Common Council in Appleton, Wis., in 2000 and also served on the city's public library board of directors.
7 He graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., with a degree in management engineering.
8 Biggest accomplishment: Raising his four children
9 Biggest regret: "I've led my life the way I wanted to and I have no regrets."
10 His hero: "My father - just knowing how hard he worked and never complained."
6th Congressional District at a glance
Voter registration as of Monday
* Unaffiliated 160,076
* Democrat 134,584
* Republican 223,544
DEMOGRAPHICS * Population 760,635
* White 83%
* Hispanic 8%
* Black 3%
* American Indian 0.4%
* Asian 3.7%
* Two or more 1.6%
* Median age 37.4
* High school graduates 95.7%
* Median household income $102,916
Subscribe to the Rocky Mountain News
