Poll: Trump immigration and economic policies drive AAPI voters back to Democrats

In St. Paul Minnesota, ICE agents broke open a door and detained a Hmong elder in shorts and
 slippers in the middle of winter earlier this year.

As the Donald Trump regime ramps up its enforcement machine, a staggering 73% of AAPI adults now view ICE with pure unfavorability.

The latest dispatch from AAPI Data and the AP-NORC Center reveals a community under siege, with reports of AAPI deaths in ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) custody and the separation of families, stomach-churning treatment of detainees—from being denied basic medical care to being held in dehumanizing conditions while awaiting deportation—casting a dark shadow over the community.

A solid 61% of AAPI folks say Trump’s hardline immigration and border policies have done nothing but cause harm, a sentiment that runs much deeper than the 42% seen in the general U.S. population. While the administration beats the drum of "security," the AAPI community sees it for what it is: a direct threat. In fact, 67% of our people believe these deportation tactics have gone way too far, especially when only 2 in 10 AAPI adults actually think rounding up undocumented immigrants should be a top priority for this government.

        FYI: Read the full report from AAPI Data and the AP-NORC Center.

Nearly three-quarters of AAPI adults report that the administration’s economic policies have actively hurt their ability to survive, with 8 in 10 feeling the squeeze of a rising cost of living that seems designed to leave us behind.

When ICE agents went to New York City's Chinatown, they were met passersby and
residents rotested their presence.

A massive 76% of AAPI adults believe the administration’s aggressive tariffs have crossed the line, with many fearing these trade barriers will do nothing but drive up the price of the basic goods we need to get through the day. Add to that the 62% who say the White House’s approach to the labor market has actually strangled job creation, and you have a recipe for a community that feels economically abandoned.

A legacy of uncertainty

Roughly 71% of AAPI adults think the administration has been far too quick to use the US military to intervene in other countries and this was before the US and Israel attacked Iran. 

This hawkishness, combined with a bleak economic outlook, has left a legacy of doubt: only 29% of our community believes the next generation will actually have a better life than their parents.

A massive 72% of AAPI adults hold an unfavorable view of Trmp, and that disdain extends down the line. Whether it’s JD Vance at 65% unfavorable, RFK Jr. at 59%, or Marco Rubio at 55%, the verdict from the AAPI community is clear: this leadership doesn't represent us, and it certainly isn't protecting us.

View from the edge

What the findings suggest is that the AAPI voters who had moved rightward in 2024 are re-evaluating their choice for President and moving from the right and undecided ranks back to the progressive and center. 

The survey conducted in February of this year counters the slew of articles and analyses from so-called experts giving the false impression that AAPI communities' slight shift  to the right was permanent. Instead, the recent poll indicates that a significant segment of AAPI voters are persuadable depending on recent developments.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news, views and chismis from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X, BlueSky or at the blog Views From the Edge. 

NYC Mayoral race: Zohran Mamdani awakens AAPI voters

SHUTTERSTOCK

Zohran Mamdani had the the overwhelming support of South Asian communities.

Concerns about the economy and the prospect of electing an Asian American for mayor sparked renewed enthusiasm among New York City's Asian American voters.

The numbers are in from the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) and they're talking loud and clear! The days of taking the Asian American vote for granted are officially over in New York City. The AALDEF, working with the Asian American Federation (AAF), has just dropped the results of their massive multilingual exit poll, and the findings are historic

First up: Zohran Mamdani is your new mayor, and the Asian American community played a huge part. Nearly half (49.1%) of the 1,298 Asian American voters they surveyed backed Mamdani. That's a significant chunk of the electorate, and it clearly shows that candidates who reach out in-language and focus on specific community issues get results!

“The results of the exit poll show that Asian American voters in New York City are not a monolith — they are discerning, issue-driven, and deeply engaged in shaping the city’s future,” said Catherine Chen, Chief Executive Officer of the Asian American Federation. “When half of our community names the economy as their top concern, and at a time when SNAP benefits are being taken away, it’s a reminder that elected leaders must engage with us not only during election season but in shaping policies that secure opportunity and fairness year-round.”

        FYI: More findings of the AALDEF/AAF exit poll

And get this: the economy was the number one issue on voters' minds. It's no surprise, with the cost-of-living crisis hitting many families hard. Mamdani's platform, which included a rent freeze and universal child care, clearly resonated.

But it gets more interesting. 

The poll reveals some fascinating cross-currents. While 58.1% of those polled disapproved of Trump's immigration policies, about one in five who voted for Trump in the 2024 presidential election still pulled the lever for Mamdani in this mayoral race. That tells you Asian American voters aren't a monolith; they're savvy and willing to split their tickets based on local issues and candidates who speak to their needs.

Also, a new generation is getting involved. Twenty percent of younger voters (ages 18 to 29) were first-time voters in this election. This youth surge, likely driven by issues like affordability and representation, is a powerful new force in NYC politics.

Key findings of the NYC Asian AmericanExit Poll

• Asian American voters favored Mamdani for Mayor, including 20% of 2024 Trump Voters

• About half (49.1%) of Asian American voters who participated in the exit poll voted for Mamdani and roughly one-third (33.8%) voted for Cuomo. Notably, an overwhelming 87.2% of South Asian voters cast their ballots for Mamdani, while 9.6% voted for Cuomo.

• Who respondents voted for in the 2024 presidential election made a difference in their choices for mayor. Nearly three-quarters of those who voted for Harris in 2024 cast their ballot on Election Day 2025 for Mamdani, while 65% of those who voted for Trump in 2024 voted for Cuomo. However, significantly, 20% of those who voted for Trump in 2024 voted for Mamdani.

In some neighborhoods, such as parts of southern Brooklyn with large South Asian and immigrant populations, Mamdani's local appeal and positions on specific issues drew support, sometimes even from those who had previously voted for Trump for different reasons, such as a desire for an end to foreign conflicts or lower prices.

South Asians are reliably Democratic, says Karthick Ramakrishnan, executive director of AAPI data at the University of California, Berkeley in a CNN interview. “They identify more with Democrats, and then, over time, they support the policies of the Democratic Party that go beyond, you know, race and religion.”

“This victory marks a powerful moment for our city and for immigrant communities across New York who have long deserved to see themselves represented in leadership,” Michelle Amor, president of the Filipino American Democratic Club of New York, told Inquirer.net USA. 

Key platforms and policies that resonated with Asian American and immigrant communities included:

Affordable Housing: A central pillar was a proposal to freeze the rent for one million New Yorkers in rent-controlled apartments and to build 200,000 new affordable housing units over a decade. Polling data indicated that a majority of AAPI adults in the city supported rent freezes.

Affordable Transportation: Mamdani advocated for making public buses free for riders in New York City, a policy with a pilot program initiated during his time as a State Assembly member. This resonated with working-class individuals, including many immigrant taxi drivers with whom he had previously organized a hunger strike for debt relief.

Affordable Childcare: He proposed making childcare free for children between six weeks and five years old and providing "baby baskets" of necessities to new parents.

Immigrant Rights: As a naturalized citizen himself, Mamdani advocated for strengthening sanctuary city laws and increasing legal support for immigrants facing targeted actions from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Economic Relief: Other proposals included creating city-run grocery stores to lower food costs, increasing taxes on the wealthiest New Yorkers and corporations to fund social programs, and making CUNY tuition-free.

Culturally Specific Outreach: The campaign produced materials and videos in various South Asian languages (Hindi/Urdu, Bengali, etc.) and worked with community-based organizations like DRUM (Desis Rising Up and Moving) and CAAAV (Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence) to engage voters on material issues affecting their daily lives.

This approach, focusing on universal, working-class issues, helped to dramatically increase voter turnout among South Asians and draw support from other Asian American communities.

The message here is crystal clear for any politician with their eyes on City Hall or beyond: Ignore Asian American voters at your peril. Our communities are a major force, and we're only getting stronger.

“Asian American communities are a force in New York City elections—that is undeniable,” said Bethany Li, executive director of the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund. “Our communities have too often been ignored by those in power, but elected officials and political candidates can no longer afford to overlook our voices or our priorities. ... Our city’s leaders should take note.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news, views and chismis from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X, BlueSky or at the blog Views From the Edge. 

Anti-Asian incidents in NYC may have an impact on frustrated AAPI voters; arrest made in fatal subway attack

More guards and police will patrol NYC's subways to prevent violence.

The latest attack against Asian Americans may be pushing AAPI voters towards Republicans, who are perceived to be stronger on law-and-order issues.

Data from the November elections showed a noticeable shift towards Republicans. Though most Democrats survived, a greater portion of voters towards GOP candidates in Chinatown and Queens where a large number of AAPI reside.

After the election results, Democrat Rep. Grace Meng tweeted: "Our party better start giving more of a s**t about #aapi voters and communities. No other community turned out at a faster pace than AAPIs in 2020.” 

“There was a lot of finger-pointing and blaming that led to Asian Americans here in New York City being very afraid of their safety and the safety of their family,” said John Choe, executive director of the Flushing Chamber of Commerce and former Democratic progressive candidate for District 20. “This election cycle, it became clear that many people were voting based on fears and anxieties and anger rather than policy issues that may actually align with their interests long term.”

The latest attack on the subway system added to the frustration felt by some in the Asian American communities that their concerns are not being taken seriously by the party in power.

Indeed, the administration of former Mayor de Blasio  further distanced the Democrats from the AAPI community when he implemented admission policies to specialized schools that discriminated against Asian students.

In the latest attack where 40-year old Michelle Alyssa Go died after she was pushed onto the tracks of the oncoming train at Times Square 42nd Street subway station,  newly elected NYC Mayor Eric Adams tweeted: "Today, a woman entered the subway station, like any New Yorker, just trying to get where she needed to go ... New Yorkers deserve to feel safe while riding mass transit. It's why I stood with (New York Gov. Kathy Hochul) to announce the Safe Options Support teams."

The suspect, who has a history of arrests and mental illness, turned himself in to an NYPD bureau less than an hour after the Saturday (Jan. 15) incident and was taken into custody. He was identified as 61-year-old Simon Martial, was charged with second-degree murder, NYPD said.

"We're providing more law enforcement resources and mental health services to prevent problems before they happen," the mayor added. 

Witnesses said prior to the attack on Go, the suspect approached another woman who was not of Asian descent. Uneasy with Martial's behavior, the woman stepped away from the platform edge because she was afraid Martial would push her.

In a news conference earlier this month, Adams and Hochul announced an initiative to address both public safety in the subway system by sending more officers to inspect subways and stations as well as the homelessness crisis, by deploying trained mental health personnel across the city to support individuals who are homeless.

In Saturday's news conference, Mayor Adams added he was working closely with Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell on a plan which covers both minimizing crime and focusing on mental health.

“Safety throughout the subway system remains a top priority for the NYPD,” said Sewell. “This comprehensive new approach is centered on having more police officers on train cars talking with riders and listening to them because NYPD officers do not just respond to crime in our city – they prevent it and deter it.”

Under the initiative being, hundreds of additional NYPD officers from the Transit Bureau will work in tandem with Patrol Service Bureau officers and other personnel to be present across the subway system, from both their street-side and underground positions, riding the trains and meeting the passengers. Special units will continue to augment this coverage as well, in each sector, on each tour, every day.

For 2021, New York City saw an increase of anti-Asian crime of 361% last year according to  NYPD data.

In a statement on Saturday, Jo-Ann Yoo, executive director of the Asian American Federation, said the Dec. 31 death of a 62-year-old Asian man who police said was bashed in the head in an unprovoked attack in East Harlem eight months ago, is a "reminder that the fear of anti-Asian violence in our community is well-founded.

"It is imperative that New York City implements proactive, community-based solutions that prevent these crimes from ever happening in the first place," she added.

But some in the AAPI community want quicker results. “Politicians pay lip service to phrases like ‘Stop Asian Hate,’” said business owner Ken Ma (no relation to the East Harlem victim), told the conservative New York Post. “But their policies do little to help us. I fear for myself. I fear for my staff. I fear for my community.”

Stories from the conservative media like the Post, Wall St. Journal and Fox News, which endorsed Donald Trump, continue to give the appearance that AAPI voters are  dissatisfied with the Democrats, Meng tweeted: "Really? We’re gonna let the leader of the Republican Party, who tried repeatedly to pin the entire pandemic on Asian Americans, off the hook? He put the target squarely on our backs. #stopasianhate was born directly out of his inciting words."

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AAPI perspective, follow me on Twitter @DioknoEd.

Post-election punditry overlooks Asian American gains

AAPI voters flocked to the polls Nov. 2.

By Laleh Ispahani
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED BY OPEN SOCIETY FOUNDATIONS

Off-year elections typically produce rough nights for the party in power and last week’s vote was no exception. Democrats lost every statewide race in Virginia and narrowly held the governorship in New Jersey—both blue states. Pundits are parsing familiar themes of Democrats in disarray and the GOP’s ability to once again inflame the culture wars to their political advantage.

This negative narrative, though, obscures some important victories worthy of their own headlines, as they suggest landmarks on the longer march toward a truly multiracial democracy.

In Boston, Democrat Michelle Wu became the first Asian American ever elected mayor of Boston. The runner-up was fellow Democrat Annissa Essaibi George, who is Arab American. Wu will succeed the city’s acting mayor, Kim Janey, who became the first Black woman to hold the job after Mayor Marty Walsh joined the Biden administration as Secretary of Labor. This transition marks a sea change in a city not exactly famous for its racial inclusion, having been run for the better part of a century by white men

SCREEN CAPTURE

Michelle Wu won her bid for Boston Mayor with support from the AAPI electorate.

In Cincinnati, Aftab Pureval defeated David Mann, a longtime local political leader. Pureval, whose family immigrated from India, becomes the first Asian American to lead his city. In Dearborn, Michigan, state Rep. Abdullah Hammoud became the first Arab American and first Muslim to lead the city of 109,000, which has long been home to a sizable Arab population. He bested another political veteran, Gary Waronchak, a former state Representative and former Wayne County Commissioner.

And in Seattle, Bruce Harrell, a former city council president and second-generation Japanese American, became the city’s first Asian American mayor.

But those weren’t the only firsts for multiracial democracy on November 2. Change was on the ballot from Manhattan to Middle America. New York City elected five new city council members from the Asian American and Pacific Islander community, including its first Muslim (in a city of 800,000 Muslims), its first South Asian Americans, and its first Korean Americans. And Duluth, Minnesota elected its first Muslim to city office: Azrin Awal, a 25-year-old immigrant from Bangladesh.

These advances are all the more stunning given the wave of hate targeting Asian Americans during the pandemic. According to the latest FBI figures, hate crimes against Asian Americans increased by more than 73% in 2020. That number is all the more stark given a documented reluctance among Asian Americans historically to report incidents of hate to authorities.

It is also important to note that several of these electoral victories came in cities without large Asian American populations. Indeed, the AAPI community makes up a relatively small percentage of all voters in places like Boston and Cincinnati. The fact that significant numbers of white voters supported these candidates is a storyline surely as worthy of media attention as the fixation on white suburban swing voters who went Republican on Tuesday.

Pureval summed up the change nicely. When he was first starting out in politics, “[everybody] would tell me: ‘there’s no way a brown guy is going to win a county-wide seat in Cincinnati.’ Now, people tell me, ‘I can’t run and win because my name is Joe Smith.’ So there’s a tipping point by which our community’s perceived weakness turns into a real strength.”

What is equally heartening is how many Americans turned out to vote, despite the historic tendency for turnout in off-year and midterm elections to drop significantly from presidential election year levels. Virginia’s vote was held following implementation of historic voting reforms, including no-excuse voting, expansion of in-person voting, and removal of a photo voter ID requirement. Parts of the state saw the highest levels of turnout in recent history. Georgia and Iowa also saw substantial turnouts.

This level of civic engagement is encouraging—especially coming on the heels of Donald Trump’s endless sore-loser rants about the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election, and a massive effort to approve voter suppression measures in Republican-controlled state legislatures across the country. As the results in Virginia suggest, improving access to the ballot box, and removing impediments that make voting harder, can clearly benefit both parties—and all Americans. It’s time for Congress to pass federal protections of voting rights, to ensure free, fair, and secure elections across the country in 2022 and beyond. The future of America’s multiracial democracy looks bright, if only the people have a chance to exercise their constitutional right to choose their leaders.

Laleh Ispahani is co-director of Open Society-U.S.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AAPI perspective, follow me on Twitter @DioknoEd.

California governor receives key AAPI endorsement against his recall

GOVERNOR'S OFFICE

California Gov Gavin Newsom, left, swears in Rob Bonta as Attorney General.

California's Asian American and Pacific Islander voters could be a key demographic in the state's upcoming recall election deciding the fate of Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The AAPI Victory Fund today endorsed Newsom in his bid to stave off a partisan, right-wing attempt to recall him and urged all AAPI voters to vote “no” on the recall.

“We are throwing our support behind Governor Gavin Newsom and asking the AAPI community to send in their ballots marked NO against recalling a progressive Governor of California," said the Victory Fund's Chairman Shekar Narasimhan.

"Governor Newsom has been an ally to the AAPI community and this scurrilous effort by a right-wing minority must be defeated.”

The endorsement is likely aimed at shoring up Newsom's support among Asian American and Pacific Islander voters who helped produce Republican victories in House races in California suburbs in 2020 and are being courted by the GOP.

The diverse AAPI community makes up about 18% of Californians according to the 2020 Census. In the rest of the nation, the AAPI communities comprise about 7% of the population.

The AAPI Victory Fund will support Newsom heavily with canvassing, field organizing and fundraising, and will devote as many resources as necessary to fight back against the extreme, right-wing Republicans seeking the governor's ouster.

The governor has been reaching out to the AAPI and Latino electorate leading up to the Sept. 14 election day. Besides the Victory Fund endorsement, Newsom earlier received the endorsements from the California Asian Pacific American21 (CAPA21), a progressive political action group and 124 AAPI politicians holding elected offices in the state.

Newsom has been a dedicated ally of the AAPI community. He’s repeatedly spoken out against hateful rhetoric and anti-AAPI hate crimes, and he recently approved the first-ever Asian Pacific Islander Equity budget, a historic investment which allocated over $156 million to advocacy groups committed to using noncarceral alternatives to combat violence against the AAPI community. 

He also appointed Rob Bonta as the first Filipino American to serve as the state’s Attorney General.

Republicans are betting that anger and frustration generated by Newsom's aggressive health policies to stem the spread of COVID-19 -- masking, social distancing, -- plus, Trump loyalists and anti-tax advocates will motivate voters against the governor.

Newsom enjoys a number of advantages, chiefly the nearly 2-to-1 voter registration Democrats have over Republicans in deep-blue California. Democrats believe the danger is voter apathy and overconfident voters staying home.

Larry Elder, the conservative radio host who is leading several other replacement candidates in the polls, has also been mired in scandal over allegations of domestic abuse by his ex-fiancée.

But he also helped produce a budget surplus, some of which he used to purchase personal protective equipment for health care workers when the pandemic hit California; instituted environmental policies for cleaner air and water and  used the courts to challenge Donald Trump's anti-immigrant policies.

Polls have shown a tight contest in the recall election, with recent surveys showing Newsom narrowly beating out the campaign to oust him. Newsom has widened his lead this past week from a virtual dead heat to a 4 percentage point margin; 50.6 in his favor and 46.3% wishing to vote him out of office.

Voting day is Sept. 14, but the state has sent out mail-in ballots to all California's voters, which can be mailed in or put in designated drop boxes before election day.

Georgia's AAPI voters being woo'd like never before; Polls open until 7 p.m.

James Woo/AAAJ-Atlanta

Multi-lingual volunteers from Asian Americans Advancing Justice are going door-to-door.

For those of use who don't live in Georgia, its hard to imagine the intense battle for votes between the candidates for Senate.

In a tight, tight race, such as the state's runoff election for the U.S. Senate that is being finalized today, every vote counts.

"The power is literally in your hands," President-elect Joe Biden said Monday addressing Atlanta voters on Monday. "Unlike any time in my career, one state -- one state can chart the course not just for the next four years but for the next generation."

Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have been targeted by both Republicans and Democrats in key regions where they could be the swing votes.

AAPI voters throughout the state, 240,000 strong, could very well be the deciding factor. The stakes are enormous.

It could mean four more years of Washington gridlock led by Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell whose grip on the Senate leadership depends on today's outcome; or the vote could determine the ability of the President Joe Biden administration to pass the promises he made during the campaign.

Polls indicate a photo finish in both races. Democrats Jon Ossoff and the Rev. Raphael Warnock face Republican incumbents David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, respectively.

One of the highlights of Georgia's political reckoning is the new found awareness of the power wielded by AAPI voters. Although they represent only 4% of registered voters their votes are being aggressively sought by the candidates and the major parties.

Instrumental in educating and stirring up excitement about the vote is the grassroots efforts by AAPI advocacy agencies. 

Impact, a national political action committee, has put in $2.5 million in advertising -- mostly online and television -- to get out the South Asian voters, representing the largest AAPI group in the state.

"This is the first election I ever remember where it's not even one time a day, it's 20 emails a day, 10 texts or calls. It's overwhelming," Nikkei Asia quotes Angela Hsu, president of the Georgia Asian Pacific American Bar Association. "I don't think either party has focused on Asian Americans because Asian Americans [previously] didn't vote."

"What's compelling about this is that we actually voted" on Nov. 3, she said, "and now they're paying attention."

Groups like Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta are using their resources in sending out information in several Asian languages including Tagalog, Vietnamese, Hindi and Chinese.

Volunteers from Asian American Advocacy Fund, AAAJ and other local communitiy groups are going door-to-doo, staging texting and phone banks to get out the AAPI vote

Here are some of the commercials directed at Georgia's AAPI voters.

Georgia's polls remain open for a few more hours until 7 p.m. The Republican office holders have tried to dampen the vote turnout by limiting the number of polling places, especially in those communities where large numbers of AAPI reside. Get in line by 7 p.m. and poll officials are supposed to allow you to vote even when the deadline passes.

VOTE!

Asian American voters can be difference makers in Georgia

Georgia's AAPI community were energized by the 2020 Presidential race.

Now that it has been established by a host of mainstream media that the Asian American vote helped push Georgia towards Democrat Joe Biden, a coalition of AAPI organizations are joining the Democratic Party to replicate the Nov. 3 record turnout in order to elect the two Democratic candidates to the U.S. Senate.

The stakes are enormous. If Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock beat incumbent Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, Democrats would wrest control of the Senate from Republican, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. If the GOP keeps the majority in the Senate, the upper house would make it difficult for Biden to pass major legislation and reform,

FiveThirty-eight has both races a virtual toss-up with only .1 or .2 percentage points separating the candidates, well within the margin of error.

This year, Georgia saw a 91% increase in AAPI voter turnout over 2016, and exit polls showed Asian American voters preferred Joe Biden to Donald Trump by a 2 to 1 margin. 

Surveys show that 42,000 more AAPI voters voted in 2020 over 2016;  more than 30,000 of those voters voted for the first time ever.  Biden's winning margin was only 14,000 votes.

It's no wonder that the Democratic Party is concentrating to improve those numbers and Republicans are trying their best to dissuade AAPI voters from casting their ballots.

Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, who is of Black and South Asian heritage, campaigned in Georgia Monday (Dec. 21) to energize African American and Asian American voters. Her visit comes a week after Joe Biden came to the state.

Republicans have countered with Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, an Indian American.

One of the stops on Harris' itinerary was supposed to be in Suwanee, is located in Gwinett County – a county the president narrowly won in November 49.6% to 48.4%. CBS News voter files show that 17% of registered voters in the county are Asian American, a number that is higher than the state's average.However, that stop was canceled because she had to return to Washington to vote on the $900-billion stimulus bill.

But in Columbus, she was greeted with large energetic crowds. “As far as I’m concerned Georgia — Columbus — 2020 ain’t over until Jan. 5,” said Harris. “That’s when 2020 will be over. That’s when we’ll get this thing done. Because as you know, everything is at stake.”

Andrew Yang, former Democratic Presidential candidate, was among the first Asian American "names" to go all in to encourage AAPI voters to take part in the runoffs. He hosted rallies and coffee gatherings with AAPI Georgians for both Ossoff and Warnock.

“The Democratic Party couldn’t win the presidency or the Senate without Asian Americans," said IMPACT Executive Director Neil Makhija.

IMPACT, an Indian American advocacy and political action committee, has launched a historic $2.5 million campaign to turnout Asian American voters in Georgia ahead of the January 5 Senate runoffs. The funds will be spent on digital, mail, and turnout operations.

"In November, South Asian and Asian American voters were the critical difference between victory and defeat in Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Arizona," Makhija said. "The numbers are striking: Asian Americans increased turnout more than any other demographic, nearly doubling in Georgia. Asian Americans are becoming a core constituency of the Democratic Party, but they can’t be taken for granted.”

Some groups have started to focus on the AAPI vote in Georgia since Nov. 3. The AAPI Victory Fund launched a full scale Senatorial campaign in rural Georgia to mobilize the AAPI vote for Ossoff and Warnock.

“This Southern strategy has since paid off, but much work into infrastructure remains and particularly into identifying AAPI voter sub-ethnicities in order to properly target our voters. 

"In the 2020 election where Biden won Georgia by only 12,000 votes, there were 30,500 who were first-time AAPI voters. ... At least 15,000 rural AAPI voters came out to vote for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris," said the Victory Fund in a statement.

According to a study by by the AAPI Civic Engagement Fund, 68% of Asian Americans were contacted by a campaign, a political party or a community organization, compared to just over 50% of Asian Americans nationwide. 

Sam Park, Georgia's first Democrat state legislator of Korean American descent,  said that during the general election, the party and both candidates put forth coordinated multilingual outreach programs, conducted in-language phone banks and invested in ads in ethnic media. 

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee made a six-figure investment, hiring organizers to contact Georgia's communities of color, including Asian Americans.

"They've got some great folks on the ground who know what they're doing. They know how to organize within the Asian American community," Park told NBC News. "But also, I think, which is important to note, they have long-standing ties and relationships to Asian American communities, given that they're from these communities here in Georgia."

Anjali Enjeti, who co-leads the Georgia chapter of the mobilization group They See Blue, said the key to wooing Asian American voters, they say: a candidate they respect with a coherent plan for the pandemic.

“That's going to get them to the polls more than saying, ‘Oh, we need to flip the Senate and dethrone [Senate Majority Leader] Mitch McConnell,’” Enjeti told Politico.

SCREEN CAPTURE / CNN

Bilingual outreach was effective in reaching out to AAPI voters.

This week, They See Blue launched in-language phone banking in Punjabi, Gujarati, Nepali, and Telegu. They also, along with other Asian American groups in the state, deployed door knockers as early voting got underway -- three weeks out from the election, according to Politico.

Person-to-person outreach is critical for new AAPI voters. Before the last Presidential election campaign, neither major party paid attention to the community. But the Biden-Harris ticket and growing anti-Trump sentiment among younger voters pushed staffers and volunteers in community groups such as AAsian American Advocacy Fund and Advancing Justice-Atlanta to produce multi-lingual campaign material; bilingual door-knockers canvassed Asian neighborhoods speaking to voters in Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese and any number of Asian Indian languages.

"Language access is always a big thing for us," Yaqoob Mahmood of the Asian American Advocacy Fund told NPR. "We also make sure that outreach is available, and when we're knocking on doors, or talking to voters on the phone, that we have in-language volunteers and staff making those calls, but also having two way communication to let voters know that they can always reach back out to us if they have questions."

An important turning point for Asian-American voters came in 2018, several Democratic activists said, when Stacey Abrams in her race for governor had a staff member assigned to Asian immigrant communities. Exit polls later showed that 78 percent of Asian-American voters cast their ballots for her.

But what made the turnout in Georgia unique, said Aisha Yaqoob Mahmood, director of the Asian American Advocacy Fund, was that coalition-building across community groups eventually paid off. Through multilingual, multiethnic, multigenerational organizations, she said, the communities in the state were able to chart a new path.

As community organizations across cultures focused on issues from immigration reform to ending cash bail to getting police out of schools, Mahmood told NBC News, people of color were able to see changes occurring.

"I think the biggest value in our work is not just in how we organized in Asian American communities, but the way that we build community with other Black and Brown voters. That's the story for Georgia," she said.

"It's not just Asian voters," NBC reported her saying. "It's how Asian Americans, Latinos and Black voters really changed the electorate and changed the future of our state, and the future of our country. ... It's always tied into how can we make sure that we're achieving these victories for all of our Black and brown brothers and sisters."

“There’s a saying that the Asian American community has gone from being a marginalized community to being the margin of victory,” said Assemblyman Park. “That could be very true here in Georgia.” 

EDITOR'S NOTE: A word of caution, this is news sprinkled with opinion. Readers are encouraged to seek multiple news sources to formulate their own positions.

AALDEF Survey: AAPI voters impacted election outcomes in battleground states

 

The Asian American and Pacific Islander electorate has been a difficult demographic to define because of it's vast diversity of cultures, nationalities, religions, languages and physical appearances.

Because of the great variance, political campaigns have historically overlooked the AAPI communities and concentrated in easier-to-reach blocks of voters. As result, campaigns neglect them, polls ignore them, and they are invisible to mainstream media.

Nationwide, there are about 11 million AAPI voters representing about 23 million people. However, in 2020, it is evident that AAPI communities have concentrated in specific districts, cities and states  making their votes critical for campaigns who take the time and resources to reach out to them.

There has also been a lack on data about the voting habits of AAPI communities. The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), is one of the few groups -- besides API Vote and AAPI Data -- bothering to gather data on the increasingly impactful AAPI communities. Last week, the AALDEF released new data from its exit poll of 5,424 Asian American voters in 13 states and Washington, DC, noting the importance of the Asian American vote in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, and Nevada.

Following is the AALDEF press release.

AALDEF Executive Director Margaret Fung said, “Asian Americans, especially new voters, were part of the record turnout of communities of color in the 2020 elections. Asian American voters played an important role in close races in several battleground states, and our voices must not be overlooked in the political process.”

RELATED:

• America asks itself - Who are we?
• AAPI vote for Biden 2 to 1
• Georgia to determine control of Senate

Since 1988, AALDEF has conducted multilingual exit polls in Asian American communities on Election Day. Because of the Covid-19 pandemic and the upsurge in voting by mail, AALDEF volunteers approached voters in Nevada and Florida during the early voting period and in all other states on Election Day, November 3, 2020.

Jerry Vattamala, AALDEF Democracy Program Director, said “Despite the challenges of the pandemic, we dispatched more than 400 volunteers to polling places, interacting with voters in English and nine Asian languages through paper surveys or by providing voters with QR codes to complete the surveys online.”

Among all Asian American voters polled:

• Asian Americans favored Joe Biden over Donald Trump by a margin of 68% to 29%.
• There was no gender gap between Asian American men and women, with 67% of women and 66% of men voting for Biden and both groups supporting Trump at 31%.
• The only ethnic group to favor Trump were Vietnamese American voters, by a margin of 57% to 41%.

The breakdown of voters by ethnicity was as follows:

First-Time Voters, Political Party, Nativity, English Language Proficiency, and Gender

• 27% were first-time voters; 73% were not first-time voters.
• 14% were registered Democrats; 16% were registered Republicans; 27% were not enrolled in a party; and 3% were enrolled in another party.
• 27% were native-born U.S. citizens; 73% were foreign-born naturalized citizens.
• 7% were limited English proficient (LEP); and 63% spoke English well.
• 52.9% were Female; 46.7% were Male; 0.4% Non-Binary.

BATTLEGROUND STATES

Pennsylvania

• Asian Americans decisively chose Joe Biden over Donald Trump by a margin of 63% to 36%.
• All Asian ethnic groups supported Biden over Trump, except for Cambodian American voters (50% for Trump and 45% for Biden) and Vietnamese American voters (73% for Trump and 27% for Biden).
• Among voters not enrolled in any party, the breakout was 56% for Biden and 40% for Trump, and among voters affiliated with other parties, 54% for Biden and 39% for Trump.
• First-time voters supported Biden by a wide margin, 62% to 36%.

Georgia

• Asian Americans decisively chose Joe Biden over Donald Trump by a margin of 62% to 36%.
• In the U.S. Senate races, Asian Americans voted for Democratic candidates over Republicans by a margin of 61% to 34%.
• All Asian ethnic groups in the state supported Biden over Trump except for Korean American voters (60% for Trump and 39% for Biden).
• Among voters not enrolled in any party, the breakout was 63% for Biden and 30% for Trump, and among voters affiliated with other parties, 60% for Biden and 20% for Trump.
• First-time voters supported Biden by a wide margin 61% to 36%.
• Asian Americans decisively chose Joe Biden over Donald Trump by a margin of 85% to 13%.Michigan

Michigan

• In the U.S. Senate race, Asian Americans voted for the Democratic candidate over the Republican by a margin of 85% to 9%.
• All ethnic groups overwhelmingly voted for Biden, with 100% of both Arab and Pakistani American voters supporting Biden and 0% supporting Trump.
• Republican voters in Michigan crossed over much more frequently than voters in other states to support Joe Biden and did not vote along party lines as in other states (64% for Trump and 21% for Biden).
• Among voters not enrolled in any party, the breakout was 63% for Biden and 33% for Trump; and among voters affiliated with other parties, 67% for Biden and 33% for Trump.
• First-time voters supported Biden by an overwhelming margin 89% to 15%.

Nevada

• Asian Americans decisively chose Joe Biden over Donald Trump by a margin of 57% to 40%.
• Unlike other swing states, voters not enrolled in any party did not favor Biden over Trump, voting 46% for Biden and 46% for Trump.
• First-time voters supported Biden over Trump (63% to 37%) by wider margins than non-first-time voters, 53% for Biden and 42% for Trump.

EDITOR'S NOTE: A word of caution, this is news sprinkled with opinion. Readers are encouraged to seek multiple news sources to formulate their own positions.

Georgia On My Mind: AAPI voters could decide who will rule the U.S. Senate

NPR

ANALYSIS:

Asian American voters played a key role in battleground states, according to exit polls taken during the Nov. 3 elections, according to an analysis by a an AAPI advocacy coalition. They can again play a crucial role in Georgia's Jan. 5 runoff elections for U.S. Senate.

Georgia's two senate  runoff between the GOP's Sen. Kelly Loeffler and Democrat Rev. Raphael Warnock and Republican Sen. David Perdue against Democratic challenger Jon Ossoffs could determine which party will have the majority in the U.S. Senate during Joe Biden's first term as President starting Jan. 20, 2021.

Bloomberg News quoted  Sam Park, the first Asian American Democrat elected to the Georgia General Assembly: “There’s a saying that the Asian American community has gone from being a marginalized community to being the margin of victory.That could be very true here in Georgia.”

New data released by the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) noted the importance of the AAPI vote in Georgia and three other battleground states: Pennsylvania, Michigan and Nevada.

“Asian Americans, especially new voters, were part of the record turnout of communities of color in the 2020 elections. Asian American voters played an important role in close races in several battleground states, and our voices must not be overlooked in the political process,” said AALDEF Executive Director Margaret Fung.

Except for the Vietnamese and Hmong communities, all other Asian ethnic groups and nationalities voted overwhelmingly for the Democratic ticket of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris over the Republican incumbents Donald Trump and Mike Pence.

The four states in the survey, which for voted for Trump in 2016, flipped and went Democratic earlier this month.

The states were among the last counted and their electoral votes pushed Biden-Harris over the top, giving him enough electoral votes to proclaim the Democrats victors in the closer-than-expected presidential contest.

Georgia's flip is a tribute to the groundwork in registering voters by Stacey Abrams, a former member of the state's House of Representatives and who barely lost in her gubernatorial bid. 

None of the state's top-two vote-getters in the Senate races achieved more than 50% of the votes so by state law, a runoff is necessary. Survey findings may give an indication how Georgia's AAPI electorate will vote in the Jan. 5 runoff. 

The Asian American population has soared in counties surrounding Atlanta in recent years, drawn to the area by jobs in tech, science and medicine. The surge in AAPI voters -- almost a quarter million registered voters, or about 5% of the total voters -- have made them a critical demographic for politicians and marketers.

Highlights of the AALDEF survey of AAPI voters in Georgia:

• Asian Americans decisively chose Joe Biden over Donald Trump by a margin of 62% to 36%.
• In the U.S. Senate races, Asian Americans voted for Democratic candidates over Republicans by a margin of 61% to 34%.
• All Asian ethnic groups in the state supported Biden over Trump except for Korean American voters (60% for Trump and 39% for Biden).
• Among voters not enrolled in any party, the breakout was 63% for Biden and 30% for Trump, and among voters affiliated with other parties, 60% for Biden and 20% for Trump.
• First-time voters supported Biden by a wide margin 61% to 36%.

For the Presidential election, AAPI voters turned out in historic numbers. Despite facing a pandemic, hours-long lines at the polls, language barriers, and heightened fear and intimidation about voting, Asian American and Pacific Islander communities overcame unacceptable barriers to exercise their right to vote. 

Leaning heavily towards Democrats, the chief concerns of AAPI voters are in line with most other Democrats centering on economic issues income inequality and the call for higher taxes on the rich, pollsters say.

They heard the racist rhetoric from the White House and aware of the rise of attacks against their kids in school, the flagging economy shutting down their businesses and the toll the coronavirus has taken on healthcare providers.

Early voting was favored by many of elderly who had to overcome their fear of contracting COVID-19 in order to cat their ballots. 

"Being able to cast my vote with an absentee ballot means my voice still counts.” said 76-year-old Ok Hui Kim, who chose to vote absentee to decrease the risk of being exposed to the virus

The high vote total among AAPI can be attributed to an aggressive and unprecedented multi-lingual registration and get-out-the-vote drive. In the three months prior to the November vote, Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta (Advancing Justice-Atlanta) dialed 92% of the estimated 238,000 eligible AAPI voters across the state. 

AAPI communities across Georgia showed up to vote early and began Election Day having already flexed our power - 50% of registered Asian American voters had already cast their ballots, increasing turnout by 141% since 2016. In Gwinnett County alone, there were three times more AAPI early voters than in 2016, over 30,000 compared to 9,500. Of those, 43% did not vote in 2012, 2016 or 2018, according to Advancing Justice. 

Besides having an impact on the Presidential and Georgia's U.S. Senate races, the huge turnout helped elect Marvin Lim, the first Filipino American to the state legislature. Lim won the primary with 62% of the vote and since the GOP didn't have a candidate to run against him, Lim's Nov. 7 victory was a foregone conclusion.

Lim will represent House District 99, an Atlanta suburb comprised of 85% minorities, 53% of whom are immigrants.

The nation's attention will be on Georgia this Jan. 5, 2021. Both Republicans and Democrats are mobilizing their people and devoting resources to the runoff contest. Already, 6e00,000 voters have requested absentee ballots, tweeted Abrams.

Georgians who didn’t get signed up in time to cast ballots in the Nov. 3 presidential election now have until Dec. 7 to register to vote in the Jan. 5 runoffs. Early voting for the runoffs starts Dec. 14 after a record of nearly 5 million Georgians voted in the general election. Qualified voters can register online with a valid ID through the Georgia Secretary of State’s office.

Democrats worry that without Donald Trump on the ballot to motivate anti-Trump voters, it will be difficult to energize Democratic voters for the Jan. 5 runoffs. Historically, conservative voters tend to turn out more in extra-inning contests.

Andrew Yang, a Presidential candidate during the Democratic primaries, said he'll be going to Georgia to help drum up excitement in the January election. “It looks like Democrats have an uphill climb in Georgia,” Yang told Yahoo Finance Live last week. “It seems like it’s because Democratic voters actually need a little bit more awareness raising to the fact that there is a special election on January 5, and conservatives are more plugged in to voting in Georgia.”

“The case to make in Georgia is exactly identical to the case that was just made with Joe at the top line,” continued Yang. He argues that the Democrats message should be getting a functional government.  “In this case, we need to deliver a Senate that will actually be looking to pass laws and not have a replay of Mitch McConnell being the obstructionist during the Obama years.”

 “AAPI communities are showing up at the polls and redefining what Georgia’s electorate looks like, said Stephanie Cho, executive director of Advancing Justice-Atlanta. "As the nation’s fastest growing population of immigrants eligible to vote, AAPI communities in Georgia will continue to grow in influence. We are only just beginning to come into our power. We will continue to show up and vote up and down the ballot for our issues, our rights, and our communities.”