Voting by Asian Americans spiked for the midterm elections

Voting by Asian Americans increased by 49% during the midterm elections in 2018, according to a report from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The almost 50% jump in voting when compared to the last midterm election in 2014 indicates an increased interest in participating in the electoral process which might be due to  aggressive voter registration drives and get-out-the-vote campaigns by AAPI community advocacy groups and ethnic media.

A poll by the Asian American Legal Defense & Education Fund (AALDEF) showed that AAPI voters overwhelmingly voted Democratic in the 2018 elections and were strongly motivated to vote against Trump because of his anti-immigrant policies.

Overall, voter turnout went up among all voting age and major racial and ethnic groups. Fifty-three percent of the citizen voting-age population voted in 2018, the highest midterm turnout in four decades, while the 2014 election had the lowest, says the data from the Current Population Survey’s Voting and Registration Supplement.

Comparing the voter turnout of men and women, there was no significant difference between the genders among AAPI voters. That was not the case in other ethnic groups.

Voter turnout for non-Hispanic black women was 55 percent, compared with 47 percent for non-Hispanic black men, an 8 percentage point gap.

Hispanic women voted at higher rates than Hispanic men, with 2018 voter turnout rates of 43 percent and 37 percent, respectively.

The difference between male and female turnout was two percentage points among non-Hispanic whites.

The biggest jump in voting was among younger voters, which traditionally had low voter turnout. Among 18- to 29-year-olds, voter turnout went from 20 percent in 2014 to 36 percent in 2018, the largest percentage point increase for any age group — a 79 percent jump.

Other findings of the report showed that voter turnout went up more in some groups than others from 2014 to 2018:

• Among men and women, voter turnout increased by 11 and 12 percentage points respectively.
• Voter turnout increased among non-Hispanic Asians by 13 percentage points, a 49 percent increase.
• Among Hispanics, voter turnout increased by 13 percentage points, a 50 percent increase in Hispanic voter turnout.
• Non-Hispanic black voter turnout increased by 11 percentage points.
• Those with higher levels of education had higher levels of voter turnout in 2018.  Those with less than a high school education had the smallest increase in voter turnout (5 percentage points). Those with a high school diploma or equivalent had the second-lowest increase (8 percentage points).
• Voting by native-born and naturalized citizens both increased by 12 percentage points. This increase is not significantly different between native-born and naturalized citizens.
• Unlike the 2014 midterm election, voter turnout among those living in nonmetropolitan areas (up 8 points) was lower than for those living in metropolitan areas (up 12 points).

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TJ Cox likely heading to Congress

SCREEN CAPTURE / ABC

Democrat TJ Cox believes he will win his congressional contest.

VIRGINIA'S REP. BOBBY SCOTT will have a fellow Filipino American serving with him in the 116th Congress of the United States.

On the other side of the country, Filipino American TJ Cox has declared victory with the narrowest of margins, 529 votes, over incumbent Republican David Valadao.

"I am elated to announce that we have won," Cox said in a statement. "Voters across the district resonated with our message of expanding health care, creating good jobs and fighting for our families' futures. I am truly humbled to have received so much support.

As the latest batch of votes from a part of Congressional District 21 that favored Valadao were counted Wednesday, Cox actually gained votes. By mid-afternoon lead, Cox was confident enough to declare victory.

The votes left still uncounted are in Fresno and Kern counties, which have consistently trended in favor of  Cox since  Nov. 6, which is why Cox declared victory before all the ballots were counted.

In his statement, Cox thanks Valadao and his family for their service for the past three terms. At press time, Valadao hasn't officially conceded with several thousand ballots still to be tallied. 

Mainstream media outlets sported headlines Wednesday afternoon declaring local businessman Cox the winner.

On election day, national media declared Valadao the winner since he had a 4,400 vote lead. As election officials began counting provisional and mail-in ballots, that lead was whittled away day by day. 

The Central Valley district, which is largely a rural district stretches from Bakersfield to Fresno, is the last contested Congressional race in the country. If the lead for Cox holds as now expected, it means Democrats will have gained 40 seats in the mid-term election.

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Congressional election: Young Kim's lead disappears in close California contest

SCREEN CAPTURE / MSNBC

Young Kim, center, meets Andy Kim, front right, at orientation for first-year Congress members.

A GRIM-FACED Young Kim took her place on the capitol steps Wednesday (Nov. 14) to have her picture taken along with the other first-time Congress members who had just won their Nov. 6 elections. She stood behind fellow Korean American Andy Kim (no relation), who had just been proclaimed the winner in his congressional race for New Jersey.

Republican Young Kim knew full well that her lead to represent California's District 39 was tenuous. In the morning she led Democrat rival Gil Cisneros by only 122 votes. By the end of the day, Cisneros had taken the lead.

Cisneros, a Navy veteran, had taken the lead with 50.2% of the vote, just ahead of Kim’s 49.8%. The two are separated by fewer than a thousand votes.

Young Kim, who was poised to become the first Korean American woman in Congress, got cold water splashed on her face Thursday morning as she learned, as the ongoing count of absentee and mail-in ballots in California’s 39th District (Orange County) showed her ahead of Democrat Gil Cisneros by the tiniest margin so far - 122 votes, according to figures released by election officials in Orange, Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties.

Cisneros trailed by 839 votes in counting completed Tuesday.

Kim, a former state assemblywoman and an aide to outgoing Rep. Ed Royce, led by nearly 4,000 votes when the polls closed on Nov. 6th.

Young Kim's campaign also asserted that its candidate's initial lead should be reflected in the results of the remaining mail-in and provisional ballots, adding that "anything falling significantly outside of those percentages could reflect foul play," taking the apparent Republican position posed by Donald Trump in the close senatorial and governors races in Georgia and Florida.

A spokesman for the Orange County Registrar’s office told the Los Angeles Times no one had attempted to alter any ballots.

While Young Kim attended the orientation for first-time members of Congress in Washington, Cisneros stayed at home to monitor the vote counting.


Kim's camp and Trump asserts that late votes are coming out of thin air with the implication that voter fraud is taking place. So what happened?

On Thursday at 4:01 p.m., Young Kim held a slim lead over Cisneros.

 An hour later, Cisneros had pulled ahead with about a thousand vote cushion.

California encourages voting. Voters are allowed to register up to and including the day to vote. In addition, mail-in ballots are accepted up to the Friday after election day as long as they are postmarked on Nov. 6. Then, of course, the mail-in votes and other provisional votes must be counted by hand. 

The process takes time, but every vote is counted. Democracy wins.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is a developing story. Check for updates later today.

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New Jersey's Andy Kim joins the Blue Wave in Congress

AFTER ALL the votes were counted in New Jersey's District 3, will be the first Korean American to serve in Congress since 1999. 

Kim was so sure of his victory that he declared himself winner over incumbent GOP Rep. Tom MacArthur the morning after the Nov. 6 midterm elections. However the vote was so close, that the final results could not be officially called until today (Nov. 14) over a week later.

MacArthur conceded later Wednesday (Nov. 14). “Tonight, I called Congressman-Elect Andy Kim to congratulate him on his victory," the two-term congressmember wrote in his statement. "Enough provisional ballots have been counted to make the outcome clear. My staff and I will work with him to ensure a smooth transition in every way."

On the other side of the continent, the news was not so good for Republican Young Kim in California's District 39. If Kim was elected, would have become the first Korean American woman elected to Congress. That seems unlikely as yesterday, her election night lead was whittled down to only 122 votes over Democrat Gil Cisneros. Poll watchers predict Cisneros to take the lead by Thursday (Nov. 15).

The first Korean American in Congress was Republican Rep. Jay Kim representing parts of Orange County. He served several terms until 1999.

Andy Kim, 36, the first Asian American to represent New Jersey in Congress, has never run for elected office. He's an alum of the Obama administration where he worked at the White House as a civilian advisor on the National Security Council.

Even though Kim was born in the U.S., some of MacArthur's PACs tried to paint him as an "other." A Republican Party super PAC sent out a flyer saying "He's not one of us."

One of the flyers sent in support of MacArthur featured a picture of fish heads (alluding to a racial slur against Asians) that said "there's something fishy about Andy Kim." In some versions, a font, known as "chop suey" was used.

“Some fish on a piece of paper is suddenly racist? What is racist about a picture of fish? Now we’re politicizing fonts? It’s not a racist font, it’s a font meant to stand out,” MacArthur said to editors of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Kim tried to steer away from the racial attacks to not antagonize the mostly white district and tried to stick to the issues.

Kim reminded voters that MacArthur drafted an amendment to the Senate attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, that allowed insurance to refuse coverage to pre-existing conditions. That version was voted down with the late Sen. John McCain's dramatic thumbs down.

Andy Kim joins the so-called Blue Wave of Democrats gaining the majority of seats in the House of Representatives. The Democrats needed 23 districts to flip from Republican to Democrat. With Kim's apparent win, the number of Red-to-Blue districts number 33 and there are a few more Democrat-leaning districts awaiting voting results.
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AAPI Vote 2018: Judge strikes down Georgia's voter suppresion rule

CITIZENS bearing unfamiliar foreign names and recently naturalized citizens will be allowed to vote after a federal judge ruled against the state's strictly enforced "exact match" law.

U.S. District Judge Eleanor Ross ruled on Friday (Nov. 2) that Georgia must ease enforcement of restrictions that could prevent more than 3,000 people from voting.

The rulings are a rebuke to Secretary of State Brian Kemp, whose office oversees the voter rolls and who is the Republican candidate in the state’s hotly contested gubernatorial race.

The "exact match" law flags voter registrations that have discrepancies with other official identification documents used by the state. Mismatches can occur under the law for such reasons as missing hyphens, accent marks and middle initials. Those who are flagged can still vote if they settle the discrepancy by providing proof of identity.

Civil rights groups filed suit, arguing that the law's requirements are part of a discriminatory voter suppression effort that disenfranchises predominantly minority voters. Brian Kemp, the Republican candidate for governor who also oversees the vote as Georgia's secretary of state, says the law is vital for election integrity.

In her ruling, Ross said the requirements raised "grave concerns for the Court about the differential treatment inflicted on a group of individuals who are predominantly minorities. ... The election scheme here places a severe burden on these individuals."

Ross directed Kemp’s office to allow county election officials to permit individuals flagged and placed in pending status due to citizenship to vote a regular ballot by furnishing proof of citizenship to poll managers or deputy registrars.

“To be clear, once an individual’s citizenship has been verified by a deputy registrar or a poll manager, that individual may cast a regular ballot and the vote counts,” Ross said.

Kemp is further directed to update the Georgia Secretary of State website to provide “clear instructions and guidance to voters in pending status due to citizenship” and a contact name and telephone number that individuals may call with questions about the pending status due to citizenship.

The order further directs county boards of elections to post a list of acceptable documentation to prove citizenship, which includes a naturalization certificate, birth certificate issued by a state or territory within the United States, U.S. passport, and “other documents or affidavits explicitly identified by Georgia law and listed on the Georgia Secretary of State’s website, at polling places on Election Day.”

If proof cannot be provided on site, voters will be allowed to submit provisional ballots and provide the needed information to a registrar before the Friday after the election.

"Prior to the court's ruling, these voters, many of whom provided proof of citizenship with their registration form, would have had to physically track down a Deputy Registrar in the county to provide proof of their citizenship," said Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, one of the groups that brought the lawsuit.

 "Tracking this one individual down was a fatal requirement that would have been impossible for many to meet."

A report by The Associated Press said that under the "exact match" law, Kemp had stalled more than 50,000 voter registrations by mostly black voters. The AP also reported that through a process Kemp calls "voter roll maintenance," his office has "cancelled over 1.4 million voter registrations since 2012" and that "nearly 670,000 registrations were cancelled in 2017 alone."

Voting rights been a central issue in Kemp's race against Democrat Stacey Abrams, who is vying to become the nation's first black female governor. 

The ballots of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders were being rejected at four times the rate of White voters in Gwinnett County.

The ballots of 102 out of 404 ballots cast by Asian Americans had been rejected - a rejection rate of just over 20 percent. 

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AAPI Vote 2018: Thai American candidate has Trump defender Devin Nunes running scared.

JANZ FOR CONGRESS

Democrat Andrew Janz, center, seeks to unseat incumbent Devin Nunes in California's Contressionals District 22.

EVEN THOUGH the polls show Rep. Devin Nunes ahead of his Democratic rival, Andrew Janz, the Republican lawmaker is running nervous.

For the first time, the eight-term conservative congressman representing a district dominated by Republicans, a rarity in blue-state California, he is facing an opponent who has even stanch Republicans questioning their political loyalties.

"He's made a decision he can pretty much do what he wants and ignore local concerns...if he just nationalizes this whole race," said Liz Mair, a Republican who runs the Swamp Accountability Project and is opposing Nunes as part of her organization's effort to protect Mueller's Russia investigation.

Recent polls suggest Nunes' lead has been considerably narrowed and show him ahead  by as little as five to eight points. His challenger, Thai-American Janz, has never before run for office but has raised more than $8 million, a staggering amount for a political newcomer in a heavily Republican district.

Still, Nunes holds a fund-raising edge thanks to large contributions from outside of California. While Janz is not receiving any financial help from the Democratic National Party, he has received only about 28 percent of his support from outside his state, according to Open Secrets, Nunes has received more than half of the $11.6 million he's raised from outside California.

In the days before the Nov. 6 Midterm Elections, the Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan newsletter that analyzes elections across the U.S., downgraded the Valley district from “solid” Republican to “likely” Republican, giving more of a chance to Janz, reports the Fresno Bee. The “likely” rating means the congressional race “has the potential to become engaged,” but is still not considered competitive.

“This Central Valley race has attracted more dollars than any other in the country, yet is still one of the least competitive,” the report said in new ratings released Tuesday (Oct. 30).

Nunes' controversial actions as chair of the House Intelligence Committee have generated harsh criticism that he is covering for the president and not conducting the panel's business in a bipartisan way.  

He has not held a public town hall in years and is rarely seen in District 22 between campaigns every two years. Critics say it's difficult to get a meeting with him and his local offices are closed most of the week. This campaign year, Nunes stages invitation-only events and prefers to run a campaign from afar, using a massive amount of TV advertising and websites geared to tell his stilted  version of the news.

California's District 22

Source: U.S. Censu

His hometown newspaper, the Fresno Bee, which had endorsed him in past years, endorsed Janz when Nunes refused to meet with the newspaper's editorial board. In retaliation, taking a cue from Trump's attacks on the "fake media," Nunes mailed out a 40-page booklet, which probably cost a hefty sum, attacking the newspaper.

Rather than run on local issues, such as fixing agreements between the state and federal governments over water allocations, Nunes has chosen to play up national issues such as his role defending Trump against allegations of Russian campaign interference and stoking fear with this year's GOP boogeyman -- immigrants.

While the district has voted Republican in the last few presidential races, Janz hopes the Democrat's Blue Wave -- spurred by the women's vote and young people -- materializes enough to overcome the historically conservative district.

"The Russia issue is relevant insofar as it takes away the political capital that he has now in Washington to focus on what people care about here," Janz told NPR. Janz says he's the one who can give local representation to the district. "I think that this race is about taking back the Central Valley."

SCREEN CAPTURE

A billboard in California's Congressional District 22, jabs at incumbent Devin Nunes'  attacks of the Mueller probe.

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Non-Voters Anonymous PSA features Darren Criss, Randall Park and Kumail Nanjiani

SCREEN CAPTURE / NRDC

A scene from the turn-out-the-vote PSA, 

LEADING UP TO THE MIDTERM ELECTIONS,  there's been a lot being written about the Asian American and Pacific Islander vote and how influential it can be in key Congressional districts and states. 

"Voting is the most powerful way to have a voice in the future of your community,” said Rhea Suh, President of the National Resource Defense Council. “We want to show people how easy it is to register to vote and motivate them to exercise their right on November 6th. It’s never too late to be a first-time voter.”

Perhaps it's no coincidence that one of the first PSAs about voter registration included  three Asian Americans: Randall Park, Kumail Nanjiani and Darren Criss, because Asian Americans also have the reputation for not showing up at the polling stations. The AAPI community has the poorest turnout among voters.

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is teaming up with Funny Or Die, Park, Nanjiani and Criss along with Mandy Moore and Billy Eichner for the latest iteration of their “Glam Up The Midterms!” campaign. Together, they are releasing a new video dispelling commonly used excuses by nonvoters. The campaign will make it easy to register to vote, find the right polling site and pledge to vote in the upcoming election.

“There's nothing more important right now than encouraging young people to vote in the Midterm Election on Nov 6th,” said Billy Eichner. “This is without a doubt the most important election of our time. That's why I started the Glam Up the Midterms campaign with Funny or Die. I'm so grateful to NRDC for partnering with us and to Mandy Moore, Kumail Nanjiani, Darren Criss and Randall Park for joining me in our latest Glam Up video."

(Watch the PSA vdeo, below.)

To motivate participation in the midterm elections, from now until November, NRDC and Funny Or Die will engage the public through online video and social media. A recently released poll from the Public Religion Research Institute and the Atlanticshowed that at this stage in the 2018 election cycle, half (50%) of Americans report that they are absolutely certain to vote in the upcoming midterm election. 

NRDC was founded in 1970 by a group of law students and attorneys at the forefront of the environmental movement. Today's leadership team and board of trustees makes sure the organization continues to work to ensure the rights of all people to clean air, clean water, and healthy communities.

Learn more about NRDC's efforts to get out the vote here: www.nrdc.org/vote.For more information about Funny Or Die’s ‘Glam Up the Midterms visit: http://glamupthemidterms.com/

To register to vote, go to www.nrdc.org/vote2018
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AAPI Vote 2018: Asian Americans look towards midterms after primary victories in Arizona and Florida

THREE ASIAN AMERICANS, running as Democrats for seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, won their party primaries today (Aug. 28) and now must gear up for the November mid-term elections.

DR. HIRAL TIPERMENI

Indian American Hiral Tipimeni will challenge incumbent U.S. Rep. Debbie Lesko for Arizona's 8th congressional district just months after they ran against each other in a special election to replace disgraced former U.S. Rep. Trent Franks.

Since Lesko has been in Washington, she cemented her conservative credentials by joining the Freedom Congress, the radical right wing of the GOP.

Tipirneni, a physician and cancer-research advocate came within 5 percentage points of Lesko in April in the conservative district even though Republicans have a 17-percentage point registration advantage.

Tipirneni, who was unopposed, said she looks forward to have the chance to face off again against Lesko. She says the race for the special election was only eight weeks long, and will build on the momentum for the November contest.

“I’m really excited to do this again so quickly,” she said. “We are ready to take on that challenge.”

The close result in the special election was seen as evidence that Democrats are newly competitive in Arizona districts where they haven’t won in a generation.

REP. STEPHANIE MURPHY

In Florida, Rep. Stephanie Murphy, a Vietnamese American, easily won her primary to run for a second term representing congressional district 7.

She soundly beat her opponent, Chardo Richardson, who was endorsed by Social Democrat Alexandria Ocasio Coretez, who unseated incumbent.

"I look forward to a civil general election campaign based on ideas, values, and our different visions for the future of this nation," second-term congresswoman Murphy said in a statement. 

"My campaign is about jobs, security, and equality, and I’m proud of the grassroots support we've received across central Florida. In a time of historic dysfunction, I have a proven record of working with both parties to get results, standing up to the president when he’s wrong, and always putting people over politics."

Republicans have targeted Florida's district 7 as a district it could flip. Republican state Rep. Mike Miller will be Murphy's challenger this November.

SANJAY PATEL

Sanjay Patel, an Indian American activist and organizational transformation consultant is running for Congress in Florida's 8th Congressional District fter winning the Democratic primary Tuesday.

Patel, who was a 1-year old when his family immigrated to the U.S., has two decades of experience in the government, corporate and nonprofit sectors.

“Alexandria Ocasio Cortez has proven that a campaign for the people can be won by the people – even against long odds and established incumbents,” Patel stated in a news release, citing the upstart progressive Democrat who won an upset primary victory over an incumbent in a New York congressional district this spring. “I hope our community will continue to support us as we move our campaign to the streets to knock on doors across the district.”

Although District 8's incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Bill Posey‘s has better name recognition, Patel's grassroots appeals have outraised campaign funds by almost three to one.

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AAPI Vote 2018: After the dust settled, Hawaii voters stuck with familiar faces

Hawaii Gov. David Ige thanks his suppporters for the vote of confidence.

HAWAII VOTERS opted for the familiar based on last Saturday's primary election.

They decided to keep incumbent David Ige as the Democratic nominee for governor, who had to beat back strong challenges from Rep. Colleen Hanbusa. 

Hanabusa gave up her Congressional seat for District 1 in order to campaign for governor leaving a void that attracted a whole host of hopefuls. In the end, voters picked Ed Case, who used to be the congressional representative for District 2.

Meanwhile, voters decided to keep Rep. Tulsi Gabbard as the Democratic nominee despite being pilloried by the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.

Progressive challengers didn't fare well in deep blue Hawaii. Endorsements from progressive candidate Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez from New York failed to cross the Pacific in behalf of state Rep. Kaniela Ing, who hoped to generate a wave of grass-roots excitement for an upset win. 

In a tweet after it was clear that an upset was not in the cards for Ing, he wrote, "Campaigns end, but movements don’t we won’t stop the #FightForAloha"

But Case, who describes himself as a moderate Democrat, won with 40% of the vote, followed by Lt. Gov. Doug Chin, who was instrumental in challenging Donald Trump's Muslim travel ban, and state Sen. Donna Mercado Kim. Kaniela Kim finished a distant 4th with only 6% of the vote.

Hawaii is so deeply Democratic, that the nominee for the Democratic Party in any of the races is expected to win in November.
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AAPI Vote 2018: Washington Primary features host of AAPI candidates

REP. PRAMILA JAYAPAL

OUTSIDE of Hawaii and California, the State of Washington might have the most Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) on the ballot for its August 7 Primaryi.

Washington
Primary, August 7

At the top of the ballot, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, the first Indian American woman elected to the House of Representatives, will be running for her second term in the 7th Congressional District. A Democrat, she faces no challenger in the primary but in November will have a Republican Craig Keller, who was unsuccessful the three other times he ran for the same position.

Jayapal has been an outspoken critic of Trump policies in immigration and health care. She was among the first Congressional reps to visit a detention center for parents seperated from their children.

Other AAPI candidates running for state offices Jinclude:

• Immaculate Ferreria, Democrat, 31st State Senate District, 
• Kun Wang, Republican, 33rd State Sente District
• Joe Nguyen, Democrat, 34th State Senate District
• Sofia Aragon, Democrat, 34th State Senate District
• Manka Dhingra, Democrat, 45th State Senate District
• Mona Das, Democrat, 47th State Senate District
• Cindy Ryu, Democrat, 32nd, State House District. Incumbent
• Mia Su-Ling Gregerson, Democrat, 33rd State House District, Incumbent
• Sharon Tomiko Santos, Democrat, 37th State House District, Incumbent
• My-Linh Thai, Democrat, 41st State House District
• Vandana Slatter, Democrat, 48th House District 

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Indian American CEO of Democratic Party bats for working class.

TWITTER

Seema Nanda takes over CEO post for the Democrats.

INDIAN AMERICAN Seema Nanda, who took over as the CEO of the opposition Democratic National Committee (DNC) on July 23, has vowed to fight for the “soul of the country.”

"Our party is strong because it's built on forging positive solutions that include everyone. I'm proud to be the first Asian American in recent memory to lead the DNC. Democrats are leading with our values and empowering people from diverse backgrounds to speak up and make our voices heard," Nanda said.

She takes her new position in the midst of the critical mid-term elections in November when Democrats hope to take over the House of Representatives and/or the U.S. Senate.

RELATED: Seema Nanda named CEO for Democrats

“We are fighting now for the soul of our country — for our democracy and for opportunity,” she said. Ms. Nanda is the first Indian American ever to be the Chief Executive Officer of national committee of either of the two parties.

“Democrats are offering the positive solutions so desperately needed right now — solutions forged by the strength of our diversity, the rigour of our ideas, and the decency of our values,” she said. “Since (Donald) Trump took office, it’s been clear that the number one best way for us to set our country back on track is to elect Democrats in every corner of our country. That’s why I took this job,” said Nanda, in her first message to Democratic supporters.

Nanda said supporting the Democratic party is synonymous with building a future for the children that they can be proud of.

“My promise to my two teenage boys is to do all I can to create an America that is bright, fair, and that works for everyone — where opportunity for all means something,” she said.
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Asians, Blacks, Latinos and Native Americans could reshape Congress

ASAM NEWS

REPUBLICANS could be in trouble going into the 2018 Midterm elections in just 13 weeks and people of color might play a crucial role in their downfall.

A new poll of 2,045 voters from Latino Decisions finds the majority of those polled would vote for the Democratic candidate in 61 battleground districts that could determine if the House and Senate flips to the Democrats.

Findings indicate a majority of Blacks, Asians, Latinos and Native Americans would vote for the Democratic candidate if the election were held today.

Forty-eight percent of Whites say they would vote for the Republican candidate versus 41 percent for the Democrats. Overall, 51 percent would vote for the Democrats.

The poll has a margin of error of 2.1 percent and was conducted July 5 -14.

Seventy-nine percent overall, including 77 percent of Whites, support passage of the DREAM Act, which would allow undocumented immigrants who came as children to earn a path to citizenship.

Sixty-four percent overall, including 73 percent of Asians, think building a wall along the Mexican border, is a bad idea. Opposition is lowest among Whites, 59 percent.

The separation of children from their parents makes 73 percent of those polled angry, including 79 percent of Asian voters and 69 percent of Whites. An overwhelming majority associate the policy with Republicans and the Trump administration.

When asked to rate on a scale of 1 to 10 their likeliness to vote in the midterm elections, with 10 being the most likely, Asians on average rate their likeliness to vote at an 8.

“In 2012, an election that demobilized many voters, 1.14 million Asian American voters mobilized. Going into these midterms, AAPI voter turnout will increase further. As the data shows, AAPI voters find it much more important to vote in 2018 when compared to 2014," said Taeku Lee, Principal, Asian American Decisions.

"Minority voters are the reason for the strong presence of democratic votes because of both the issues and the ways in which the Trump administration has affected them specifically. The poll shows upwards of 70% of AAPI voters are likely to support issues of democratic candidates, and this constituency believes that Trump is increasing hate and racism against them and other minorities.”
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