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TWITTER / CORY BOOKER
Senators Kamala Harris and Cory Booker are rivals for the Democratic nomination for POTUS. |
A surprising finding of who the AAPI communities are supporting showed that Sen. Cory Booker has attracted the most money from Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.
An analysis by researcher and PhD candidate Sono Shah for AAPI Data Used data made public by the Federal Elections Committee, Shah determined Booker has raised just under $395,000 from Asian Americans. Gabbard has received $390,000 in support from Asian Americans while Sen. Harris has generated $322,000.
Far behind in the money race is the rest of the crowded field with Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT), $124,000 and Andrew Yang, $119,000, topping the next tier. Sanders polled very well with Asian Americans in the 2016 election, while Yang has generated more buzz and support than most analysts expected.
My takeaway is that the umbrella group known collectively as AAPI is a whole lot more complicated than outsiders might assume. Any candidate that sees the AAPI communities as a single monolithic, amorphous group would make an huge erroneous, and perhaps fatal, mistake.
Shah has a two-part analysis the the valuable data gathered by AAPI Data, an increasingly invaluable resource for anyone looking at the AAPI communities, either as a whole or separately.
It's way too early to make any concrete conclusions and these findings are likely to shift as the number of candidates is winnowed down. However, there are trends that are interesting enough to point out.
Although a relatively new community, Indian Americans, have the largest immigration rate among new immigrants coming to the U.S., surpassing Chinese and Latinos.
Their quick adaption to U.S. politics can be seen in the 2016 elections that put five Indian Americans in Congress. By comparison, Filipino Americans who have the same English fluency and have been politically active just as long as Indian immigrants, have only two Fililpino American congress members.
Shah's takeaways:
Harris has large support among Indian Americans, but many are not aware of her heritage. Her father is Jamaica and her mother is from India.
Gabbard and Yang have not polled well in national polls, yet Yang has proven proficient in raising money, especially considering his name recognition is not large.
NBC points out that FEC data does not capture contributions under $200, which could have potentially skewed Shah’s study.
The New Jersey Democrat beat out all Three Asian American candidates running for POTUS. Hawaii's Rep. Tulsi Gabbard came in second, followed by third-place finishser Sen. Kamala Harris of California.
Sen Bernie Sander of Vermont and entrepreneur Andrew Yang rounded out the top 4th and 5th spots respectively.
One can surmise that Booker is perhaps more familiar (and admired) among the AAPI communities in New Jersey than Harris is known among the larger AAPI communities in California.
Gabbard's strong showing among Indian Americans might also indicate that religion is a strong factor in deciding who to support in 2020. Gabbard is Hindu.
An analysis by researcher and PhD candidate Sono Shah for AAPI Data Used data made public by the Federal Elections Committee, Shah determined Booker has raised just under $395,000 from Asian Americans. Gabbard has received $390,000 in support from Asian Americans while Sen. Harris has generated $322,000.
Far behind in the money race is the rest of the crowded field with Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT), $124,000 and Andrew Yang, $119,000, topping the next tier. Sanders polled very well with Asian Americans in the 2016 election, while Yang has generated more buzz and support than most analysts expected.
My takeaway is that the umbrella group known collectively as AAPI is a whole lot more complicated than outsiders might assume. Any candidate that sees the AAPI communities as a single monolithic, amorphous group would make an huge erroneous, and perhaps fatal, mistake.
Shah has a two-part analysis the the valuable data gathered by AAPI Data, an increasingly invaluable resource for anyone looking at the AAPI communities, either as a whole or separately.
It's way too early to make any concrete conclusions and these findings are likely to shift as the number of candidates is winnowed down. However, there are trends that are interesting enough to point out.
Although a relatively new community, Indian Americans, have the largest immigration rate among new immigrants coming to the U.S., surpassing Chinese and Latinos.
Their quick adaption to U.S. politics can be seen in the 2016 elections that put five Indian Americans in Congress. By comparison, Filipino Americans who have the same English fluency and have been politically active just as long as Indian immigrants, have only two Fililpino American congress members.
Shah's takeaways:
- In terms of total dollars, more than 60% of Asian contributions went to three candidates, Cory Booker, Tulsi Gabbard, and Kamala Harris.
- Tulsi Gabbard has relied heavily on Asian donors, with Asian donors accounting for more than 44% of the individual contributions she has raised this quarter.
- Similarly, more than 35% of the money Andrew Yang has raised from individual donations have come from Asian donors.
- Donors in California, New York, and New Jersey make up the vast majority of Asian contributions.
Harris has large support among Indian Americans, but many are not aware of her heritage. Her father is Jamaica and her mother is from India.
Gabbard and Yang have not polled well in national polls, yet Yang has proven proficient in raising money, especially considering his name recognition is not large.
NBC points out that FEC data does not capture contributions under $200, which could have potentially skewed Shah’s study.
In addition, the study by Shah is based on surname, which means Shah may have overlooked many Filipino Americans who have Latino surnames and Asian American voters who married outside their race or may be biracial and have teh surnames of their spouses.
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