ALBANY, N.Y. -- At more than 1 million strong, the Asian-American community in New York is the second largest in the nation.

Yet, not a single politician of Asian descent has ever been elected to the New York state Legislature.

That is almost certain to change Nov. 2, when a 61-year-old immigrant from Taiwan named Jimmy Meng, is expected to be elected in the state Assembly's 22nd district in Flushing, Queens.

Meng won a Democratic primary this week, unseating incumbent Barry Grodenchik and positioning himself to make history. Meng faces Meilin Tan, a Republican who has raised little money and done little campaigning, on the general election ballot in a district where Democrats outnumber Republicans nearly 5-1.

The 22nd district boundaries were redrawn during the 2001 reapportionment to achieve this very result, said Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.

"We clearly had in mind to carve an Asian district and ultimately that's what prevailed," Silver said.

The district is 51 percent Asian-American and it now contains more people of Asian descent than does famous Chinatown in Manhattan.

Meng nearly achieved the political milestone for Asians when he lost to Grodenchik by just 126 votes in the 2002 Democratic primary. A second Asian in that primary race probably sapped the decisive votes from Meng.

New York has hardly been a trailblazer for Asians politically, even though Asians have lived in the state since at least the 1830s and New York has been a Mecca for immigrants from Asia _ and just about everyplace else _ for generations.

Wing Ong became the first Asian-American elected to a state legislature in 1946, from a district in Arizona, and Hawaii first sent Hiram Fong to the U.S. Senate in 1959.

There are currently five Asian-American representatives in the state legislature in California, which has the largest population of Asian descendants in the nation at 4.2 million.

And while New York has never had an Asian-American mount a major-party campaign for statewide office, Gary Locke has been Washington state's governor since 1996.

Even New York City, with its roughly 800,000 residents of Asian descent, has been slow to elevate Asian candidates to office. No Asian-American had been elected to the city council until John Liu, also from Flushing, Queens, won a seat in 2001.

In a sense, Silver himself may well be responsible for an Asian-American not being elected to the Legislature sooner. He has held a stranglehold over his Manhattan district, which includes Chinatown, since 1976. Asian-American candidates are likely to emerge in his district once the 60-year-old speaker relinquishes his seat.

Meng said he wants to represent the "entire community of Flushing" in Albany. But Margaret Fung, executive director of the New York City-based Asian-American Legal Defense and Education Fund, said the lumber store owner might find himself being much more than that.

When Liu joined the New York City Council, he became not only his district's councilman but the de facto representative for all Asian-Americans in the city, she said.

"I think many in the Asian community will be approaching him (Meng) to express their concerns," Fung said.

She predicted it could be a "rough" workload on Meng being the Legislature's highest profile advocate for an Asian population that now totals about 1.4 million in the state and is growing.

Meng's daughter and campaign manager, Grace Meng, said the Asian population of the 22nd Assembly District is comprised predominantly of first-generation immigrants, many of whom are trying to scratch out livings and get used to living in America.

"Their priorities are probably more survival in terms of making a living" than voting, she said. "A lot of people come to the country to fulfill their American dream and think that money is enough. They have to learn _ and hopefully they are learning _ that voter participation and participation in the political process gives them more of a voice."

Fung said that unlike California, New York's Asian immigrant population is newer to this country and less accustomed to its political processes.

"It takes a longer period of time to get more engaged in the process and get experience in how to build coalitions in order to win elections," she said.

Fung said voter registration drives by Democrats in a presidential election year are causing more and more Asian-Americans in New York to become engaged in the political process.

"Asian-Americans in the city have become a definite voting force," said Rachel Leon, executive director of Common Cause-New York.