 |
| Georgia's AAPI voters will choose between Sen. Raphael Warnock, left, and Herschel Walker. |
Early voting has already begun in some Georgia counties to determine who Georgians will send to the US Senate in a runoff election between Senator Raphael Warnock and Republican foe and former football player Herschel Walker.
Asian American voters could be the difference-makers in the runoff election after neither candidate was able to win the majority needed to declare victory last Nov. 8.
Asian American voters overwhelmingly voted Democrat in the 2020 Presidential election and is largely credited for providing the margin of victory and the state's electoral votes to Democrat President Biden.
In the 2020 US Senate races, Asian Americans voted for the Democratic candidates over the Republicans by a margin of 61% to 34%, according to exit polls conducted by the Asian American Legal Education Fund.
In the 2022 campaign, Warnock garnered 49.44% of the vote to Walker's 48.49%, or difference of about 38,000votes. runoff contest, both Democrats and Republicans have focused more of their campaigns to woo this crucial demographic. The seat will determine whether the Democrats expands its thin 50-49 majority in the chamber after flipping a GOP seat in the Midterm Elections. If Warnock wins, the Democrats won't have to do the stiff negotiations with Republicans to pass Democratic policies.
Democrat State Representative Marvin Lim, the only Filipino American in elected office in Georgia, is hoping the Democratic party will do better in the days leading up to Dec. 6.
"I think for Democrats, it really hammers home the importance of meeting voters on the ground consistently, not just a month or week before an election," Lim told the Filipino American network ABS-CBN News, "and meeting on issues that they care about rather than the issues we think they should care about. I don’t think Democrats necessarily did that here."
"Senator Warnock has really been effective in actually getting things done on the issues people care about and showing that he has done that in a year and in a state where everything is swinging Republican, it’s going to be important to keep doing that leading up to the runoffs a month from now," he said.
“Our community needs to hear directly from leaders and from the candidate saying, ‘We have a real message of change that’s positive,’” Shekar Narasimhan, the founder of AAPI Victory Fund, told Politico. “And we think by doing what we’re doing and continuously doing it, we’re giving that message to them.”
"I think for Democrats, it really hammers home the importance of meeting voters on the ground consistently, not just a month or week before an election," Lim told the Filipino American network ABS-CBN News, "and meeting on issues that they care about rather than the issues we think they should care about. I don’t think Democrats necessarily did that here."
"Senator Warnock has really been effective in actually getting things done on the issues people care about and showing that he has done that in a year and in a state where everything is swinging Republican, it’s going to be important to keep doing that leading up to the runoffs a month from now," he said.
“Our community needs to hear directly from leaders and from the candidate saying, ‘We have a real message of change that’s positive,’” Shekar Narasimhan, the founder of AAPI Victory Fund, told Politico. “And we think by doing what we’re doing and continuously doing it, we’re giving that message to them.”
Largest Asian American ethnic groups in Georgia include: Asian Indian
(165,545), Korean (71,877), Chinese, except Taiwanese (71,388), Vietnamese
(66,834), Filipino (46,601) and Japanese (21,078), according to APIAVote, a nonpartisan advocacy agency. All the communities, except for the Vietnamese, leaned heavily towards the Democrats.
Voting turnout among Asian Americans almost doubled in the state of Georgia from 2016 to 2020, and the number of ballots cast by Asian Americans in Georgia went up by 60,000 votes in 2020, according to the Democratic firm TargetSmart.
Voting turnout among Asian Americans almost doubled in the state of Georgia from 2016 to 2020, and the number of ballots cast by Asian Americans in Georgia went up by 60,000 votes in 2020, according to the Democratic firm TargetSmart.
The deep political engagement of the AANHPI community in the political affairs of their state showed up in the Nov. 8 elections when six AANHPI first-time candidates won seats to the state's Senate and House of Representatives bringing the highest number of AANHPI lawmakers in the state capitol, eight Democrats and two Republicans.
Republicans have learned from the 2020 election results that also gave the state two Democratic Senators, Warnock and Sen. Jon Ossoff. Prior to the Nov. 8 election, Walker held a rally with the Indian American community in September ahead of Election Day.
“Republicans have been on the ground investing in Georgia’s Asian American community and earning votes all cycle,” said Nainoa Johsens, the RNC’s director of Asian Pacific American media.
Raymond Partolan, National Field Director of the Asian Pacific Islander American Vote, stressed to ABS-CBN News the important role Asian American voters might play in the the Senate race.
"In the runoff election which occurred in 2021, Raphael Warnock, who is now Senator Warnock, won the Georgia runoff by just 93,550 votes. And based on our counts, there are over 270,000 Asian American voters within the state of Georgia. So you can see Asian American voters can indeed be the margin of victory," Partolan told the Filipino American news outlet.
Both parties are bringing in money and people from around the nation to rally the Asian American electorate. Maryland Lt. Gov.-elect Aruna Miller, the first South Asian woman elected to the post, said she is planning to make calls to get Asian American voters to the polls for Warnock.
She told Politico: “Look, many South Asians left their country of origin to come to the United States to seek opportunities. But those opportunities come with being engaged civically, with coming out and voting. It doesn’t just happen overnight.”
“Republicans have been on the ground investing in Georgia’s Asian American community and earning votes all cycle,” said Nainoa Johsens, the RNC’s director of Asian Pacific American media.
Raymond Partolan, National Field Director of the Asian Pacific Islander American Vote, stressed to ABS-CBN News the important role Asian American voters might play in the the Senate race.
"In the runoff election which occurred in 2021, Raphael Warnock, who is now Senator Warnock, won the Georgia runoff by just 93,550 votes. And based on our counts, there are over 270,000 Asian American voters within the state of Georgia. So you can see Asian American voters can indeed be the margin of victory," Partolan told the Filipino American news outlet.
Both parties are bringing in money and people from around the nation to rally the Asian American electorate. Maryland Lt. Gov.-elect Aruna Miller, the first South Asian woman elected to the post, said she is planning to make calls to get Asian American voters to the polls for Warnock.
She told Politico: “Look, many South Asians left their country of origin to come to the United States to seek opportunities. But those opportunities come with being engaged civically, with coming out and voting. It doesn’t just happen overnight.”
Former President Obama is scheduled to campaign for Warnock this coming week, just before the Dec. 6 deadline.
The former US ambassador to the United Nations and South Carolina governor Nikki Haley told Republicans at a rally for Walker that Warnock, should be “deported.” a message that the GOP thinks rings with the majority immigrant communities of Asian Americans.
“I am the daughter of Indian immigrants,” Haley said. “They came here legally, they put in the time, they put in the price, they are offended by what’s happening on [the southern US] border.
“Legal immigrants are more patriotic than the leftists these days. They knew they worked to come into America, and they love America. They want the laws followed in America, so the only person we need to make sure we deport is Warnock.”
Her statements drew a sharp reaction from Black leaders.
Cornell William Brooks, a Harvard professor and pastor, tweeted: “Were it not for civil rights laws Black folks died for, Nikki Haley’s family might not be in America.
“Were it not for a HBCU [historically Black college and university] giving her father his first job in the US, Haley wouldn’t be in a position to insult Georgia’s first Black senator. Warnock’s history makes her story possible.”
The former US ambassador to the United Nations and South Carolina governor Nikki Haley told Republicans at a rally for Walker that Warnock, should be “deported.” a message that the GOP thinks rings with the majority immigrant communities of Asian Americans.
“I am the daughter of Indian immigrants,” Haley said. “They came here legally, they put in the time, they put in the price, they are offended by what’s happening on [the southern US] border.
“Legal immigrants are more patriotic than the leftists these days. They knew they worked to come into America, and they love America. They want the laws followed in America, so the only person we need to make sure we deport is Warnock.”
Her statements drew a sharp reaction from Black leaders.
Cornell William Brooks, a Harvard professor and pastor, tweeted: “Were it not for civil rights laws Black folks died for, Nikki Haley’s family might not be in America.
“Were it not for a HBCU [historically Black college and university] giving her father his first job in the US, Haley wouldn’t be in a position to insult Georgia’s first Black senator. Warnock’s history makes her story possible.”
Working against the Democrats this time around are the voting restrictions the GOP-led legislature passed in SB 202, such as the reduction of drop-off boxes, and a shorter time limit for mail-in ballots. Also, instead of the nine-weeks that was in effect in 2020 election runoff, the time between the election and runoff has been reduced to four weeks giving organizers a shorter time to organize, outreach and rally its voters.
Partolan expects money and volunteers to come pouring into Georgia right up until the Dec. 6 election day. Then, it will come down to which party has better ground game in getting their voters to the polls and withstand the long lines made longer by the reduction in places to vote, another result of SB 202.
"It’s going to be a mad scramble to get as many Asian American and Filipino American voters to go to the polling place to cast their ballots again on December 6th."
"It’s going to be a mad scramble to get as many Asian American and Filipino American voters to go to the polling place to cast their ballots again on December 6th."
EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.
No comments:
Post a Comment