Andrew Yang leaves the Democratic Party

Andrew Yang is no longer a Democrat.

Andrew Yang, a former presidential and New York City mayoral candidate announced Monday he is leaving the Democratic Party.

“I’ve been a Democrat my entire adult life,” Yang wrote in a blog post explaining his decision. “And yet, I’m confident that no longer being a Democrat is the right thing.”

Tech entrepreneur Yang, who has never held an elected office, surprised the Democratic Party with his unconventional campaign seeking the Democratic nomination for President and the support he was able to generate, especially among young people.

"I'll admit there has always been something of an odd fit between me and the Democratic Party," Yang said in a statement. "I’m not very ideological. I’m practical. Making partisan arguments – particularly expressing what I often see as performative sentiment – is sometimes uncomfortable for me."

He made clear that he is not advocating for others to leave the Democratic Party, but by becoming an independent, he believes he will be able to reach the growing segment of unaffiliated or disaffected voters 

“I believe I can reach people who are outside the system more effectively,” he stated.

Following is Yang's statement explaining his decision:

"I changed my voting registration from ‘Democrat’ to ‘Independent’ today. It was a strangely emotional experience.

"I registered as a Democrat back in 1995 when I was 20 years old to vote for Bill Clinton’s re-election. It was a no-brainer for me. I went to a college that was very liberal. I lived in New York City. Everyone around me was a Democrat. Bill Clinton vs. Bob Dole? Clinton was one of the youngest presidents when he was elected and seemed more in tune to me, as a 20 year old.

"Keep in mind that I grew up the son of immigrants and my family did not talk about politics at all growing up. I still have no idea how or even if my parents voted. I have a vague recollection of my Mom watching a debate and saying, “I don’t like him” but I can’t remember who she was referring to. She doesn’t remember either.

"Throughout my twenties I remained a staunch Democrat, though like many others I was drawn primarily to national races. I co-hosted a small fundraiser for John Kerry’s campaign at a bar when I was 29 – I think we raised maybe $3,000. I thrilled to Barack Obama’s victory in 2008 and, to a lesser extent, his re-election in 2012. Around this time I was invited to the White House to receive recognition by the Obama White House as both a Champion of Change and a Presidential Ambassador of Global Entrepreneurship as the founder of a non-profit, Venture for America that helped create hundreds of jobs in the Midwest and the South. Bringing Evelyn to meet the President was a lot of fun.

"In 2016, I donated to Bernie Sanders’ campaign – everything he said struck me as true – but then voted for Hillary Clinton against Trump.

"When Trump won, I was surprised and took it as a red flag and call to action. Having spent six years working in the Midwest and the South I believed I had some insight as to what had driven Trump’s victory. I spent several years making the case for what I believed was the major policy that could address it – Universal Basic Income.

"As you’d imagine, as a Democratic presidential candidate, I met a lot of Democrats around the country. Literally thousands. At first, many didn’t know what to make of the odd Asian candidate talking about giving everyone money. But over time I established deep relationships with some of the local leaders who have worked in party politics for years. Al Womble in Iowa, Steve Marchand in New Hampshire, Jermaine Johnson in South Carolina and others.

"I also became friends with some of the other candidates out in the field. Cory Booker, Michael Bennet, Pete Buttigieg and Beto O’Rourke are people I’d consider friends who are motivated by the right things. As I’ve become more of a household name, I’ve worked with many senior officials. I headlined several fundraisers for the DNC and participated in fundraising appeals. I was a surrogate for Joe for months.

"I spent weeks in Georgia trying to help win the seats for Jon Ossoff and Reverend Raphael Warnock, helping raise millions to do so. I’m proud of helping to activate Asian American voters in what I believed were historic races.

"And running for mayor, I similarly met and became friends with activists and elected officials who are longtime public servants on the Democratic side. People like Grace Meng, Ritchie Torres, John Liu, Carlos Menchaca, Kenny Burgos, Vanessa Gibson and Dan Rosenthal are excellent.

"Again, I have at this point dozens of friends and confidantes who are entrenched in the Democratic Party. I’ve been a Democrat my entire adult life.

"And yet, I’m confident that no longer being a Democrat is the right thing.

"Please, keep in mind that I am NOT suggesting that you also change your voter registration to Independent, as I have done. Doing so could disenfranchise you if you live in the 83% of the country that is very blue or very red. For this reason, I considered either not making this change or not talking about it.

"So why do I feel in my heart that this is the right move?

"While it was simply a small piece of paperwork, I genuinely felt a shift in my mindset as soon as I signed it.

"My goal is to do as much as I can to advance our society. There are phenomenal public servants doing great work every day – but our system is stuck. It is stuck in part because polarization is getting worse than ever. Many of the people I know are doing all of the good they can – but their impact is constrained. Now that I’m not a member of one party or another, I feel like I can be even more honest about both the system and the people in it.

"The key reform that is necessary to help unlock our system is a combination of Open Primaries and Ranked Choice Voting, which will give voters more genuine choice and our system more dynamism. It will also prevent the spoiler effect that so many Democrats are concerned about, which is a byproduct of a two party system with a binary contest and simple plurality voting.

"I believe I can reach people who are outside the system more effectively. I feel more . . . independent.

"Also, on a personal level, I’ll admit there has always been something of an odd fit between me and the Democratic Party. I’m not very ideological. I’m practical. Making partisan arguments – particularly expressing what I often see as performative sentiment – is sometimes uncomfortable for me. I often think, 'Okay, what can we actually do to solve the problem?' I’m pretty sure there are others who feel the same way I do.

"I’ve seen politicians publicly eviscerate each other and then act collegial or friendly backstage a few minutes later. A lot of it is theatre.

"I’ve also had people publicly attack me and then text or call me privately to make sure that we were still cool. It just had to be done for appearances.

"Perhaps it’s the nature of my upbringing, but I’m actually more comfortable trying to fix the system than being a part of it.

"One very senior Democrat member of Congress texted me to say, “I’m sorry to see you go. But I know you’ll do as much good as you can from the outside. And eventually, remember the outsiders become the insiders.”

"I’ve got to say it feels really good to be building my own team. This is where I’m most at home.

"Recently, in an interview I commented that I wasn’t particularly driven by a desire to hold office. I’m working for impact.

"Breaking up with the Democratic Party feels like the right thing to do because I believe I can have a greater impact this way.

"Am I right? Let’s find out. Together."

New York City's AAPI vote split up in the mayoral race

Asian American voters turned out to vote in the Democratic primary in New York City.

If there is one thing AAPI observers can take away from the recent mayoral election in New York City, it’s to stop thinking of AAPI voters as a monolith. New York City's AAPI voters were split in voting for the city's new mayor.

The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) today released results of its nonpartisan multilingual exit poll of 1,386 Asian American voters in the NYC Primary Elections on June 22. 

“Asian Americans in New York City made their voices heard last week. As we suspected, many Asian American voters have been victims of anti-Asian violence and selected it as a top issue in deciding their choice for mayor," said Margaret Fung, AALDEF executive director.

Although Andrew Yang led in early polling, he eventually began dropping in the polls in the later months. On election evening, he dropped out early after vote counting began, finishing fourth among the crowded field. The Democratic nomination for mayor was eventually won by Eric Adams.

According to the AALDEF findings, Asian Americans (primarily Chinese and Koreans) favored Andrew Yang (68% and 50%, respectively) as their first-choice candidate in a crowded mayoral race, with Kathryn Garcia (21%) as their second-choice candidate.

However, Bangladeshi American voters favored Eric Adams (40%) as their first choice and Asian Indian voters favored Maya Wiley (33%) as their first choice.

For the first time, ranked choice voting was used in the mayoral, comptroller, public advocate, city council, and borough president races.

AALDEF volunteers, including attorneys and community advocates, surveyed Asian American voters at 16 poll sites in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens. The multilingual exit poll included questions regarding voters’ first and second choices for mayor, ranked choice voting’s ease of use, and experience with anti-Asian violence and harassment. Voters were surveyed in English, Chinese, Korean, and Bengali.

Asian Americans' mixed views on Yang "show how not monolithic the Asian American community is," Kim Neal, chief adviser for AAPI-GNY Affairs at Yang's campaign and a Taiwanese American herself, told Nikkei Asia

"Because the Asian American community is so diverse, I don't know if there is the right Asian American to take a mantle on the political front," he said. "I think the bigger question that begs to be asked is should we really define one size fits all, or do we just see more Asian Americans occupying different lanes of the political spectrum and then identify with somebody who is Asian American and fits their political needs."

For the first time, ranked choice voting was used in the mayoral, comptroller, public advocate, city council, and borough president races.

“Asian American voters were able to vote effectively with ranked choice voting, just as they did decades ago for NYC school board elections. However, there was some confusion around ID requirements at Benjamin Cardozo High School in Bayside, Queens, and voters at PS130M in Chinatown were improperly required to discard candidate palm cards, which should have been allowed to be brought into the polling site to aid in voting.” said Jerry Vattamala, AALDEF Democracy Program Director.

AALDEF volunteers, including attorneys and community advocates, surveyed Asian American voters at 16 poll sites in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens. The multilingual exit poll included questions regarding voters’ first and second choices for mayor, ranked choice voting’s ease of use, and experience with anti-Asian violence and harassment. Voters were surveyed in English, Chinese, Korean, and Bengali.

Other highlights of the AALDEF poll included: 

• The canvassers found that the top three issues influencing the Asian American vote for Mayor were: Economy/Jobs (27%) followed by Anti-Asian Violence (26%). Other (including Public Safety, NYPD Reform, and Political Representation) (16%)

• Yang was the most popular as a first-choice candidate with voters 50 years old and older: ages 50-59, Yang took 54% of the vote; 60-69, 69% and 70+, 73%

• Ranked Choice Voting (ease of use): 89% found it Easy; 5% found it Difficult/Don’t Know; and 1% found it Very Difficult

• Of all voters surveyed, 22% reported experiencing Anti-Asian violence/harassment, and of those: 60% suffered verbal harassment/racial slurs; 13% were other types of anti-Asian violence/harassment; and 8% were physically assaulted

AALDEF

Volunteers did exit polling for the Asian American Legal Defense Education Fund.

AALDEF will again conduct the Asian American Exit Poll and Poll Monitoring Program for the November 2, 2021 General Elections in New York City. AALDEF has conducted the Asian American Exit Poll in every major election since 1988.

AALDEF would like to acknowledge our community partners and volunteers: Adhikaar, Chinese-American Planning Council, Chhaya CDC, and MinKwon Center for Community Action for co-sponsoring this effort, as well as attorneys and community volunteers from Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, Hogan Lovells, Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP, Ropes & Gray LLP, Shearman & Sterling LLP, WilmerHale, and the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance.

Andrew Yang: 'I am not going to be the next mayor of New York City'

Screen Capture / NBC

Updated, June 24.

As the votes came in Tuesday night, self-proclaimed "numbers guy" Andrew Yang knew what the numbers were telling him. He had to concede.

After being the frontrunner for months, Andrew Yang's mayoral campaign floundered in the last two weeks causing him to finished a distant fourth in a crowded field of men and women who wanted to be New York City's next mayor.

“I am a numbers guy, I am someone who traffics in what's happening by the numbers," said Yang. "I am not going to be the next mayor of New York City based upon the numbers that have come in tonight," Yang said Tuesday evening in a video filmed by Shant Shahrigian, a New York Daily News reporter.

"I am conceding this race, though we’re not sure ultimately who the next mayor is going to be. But whoever that person is, I will be very happy to work with them."

Brooklyn borough president Eric Adams was leading in votes early Wednesday morning but will likely not get the 50% needed for a clear-cut victory. Following Adams, were progressive favorite Maya Wiley and former Sanitation commissioner Kathryn Garcia. 

In NYC's ranked choice voting in which voters name their top five choices in order of preference, the second and third choice votes will be counted to determine who wins the Democratic nomination for mayor.

It wasn't supposed to end like this for Yang. Yang was supposed to win and become the city's first Asian American mayor.

When Yang entered the race for the Democratic nomination to become mayor of the nation's largest city, he enjoyed months as the frontrunner, campaigning as a nonpolitician bringing in new ideas and out-of-the-box thinking.

As months passed the excitement waned and interviews revealed that Yang was not into all the details of the policies and politics of the city and voters apparently lost confidence and voted for someone they've known for his years of public service as a borough president and a former police officer.

As of Thursday morning (June 24), Eric Adams remained in the lead, but none of the remaining candidates were able to win more than 50% of the votes. The final voting results will probably not be known until next month when all the ranked votes will be added to the totals.

And for the last word ...

Yang campaign holds on to hope in NYC mayoral race

It's election day in New York City. and Andrew Yang.

Editor's Note: This article was edited on June 22, 11 a.m. to clarity that this is a primary election.

 

It is anybody's race for New York City mayor as voter's go to the polls today to determine who will be the city's Democratic nominee for mayor.

Andrew Yang seeks to become NYC's first Asian American mayor by running as an outsider who will offer a new path and new ideas hoping that will counter his lack of political experience. 

The winner of the Democratic primary will almost certainly be New York City's next mayor because of the huge edge Democrats have no matter who the Republican nominee will be.

Yang's early lead has disappeared and in most polls, the former presidential candidate finds himself behind Eric Adams, the Brooklyn borough president..

In the finals days of the mayoral campaign, Adams, an African American, accused Yang and former Sanitation commissioner Kathryn Garcia of creating an allyship to tamp down the Black vote.

"For them to come together like they are doing in the last three days, they're saying we can't trust a person of color to be the mayor of the City of New York when this city is overwhelmingly people of color," Adams said.

Yang responded, "I've been Asian all my entire life."

"Imagine an administration that is led by someone who cuts corners and breaks rules and is constantly under investigation and then attacks whenever he's criticized and then invokes race as the rationale for any criticism that's directed toward him, and then you imagine hundreds of managers taking their cues from this person," Yang told The New York Times on Monday.

“I’m not even going to respond," to Adams' attack said Garcia, who is white who grew up in a multi-racial family. In a statement, she accused Adams of “resorting to divisive politics that erode New York City’s democracy.”

Garcia and Yang have been appearing together in the days leading up to voting day, which is not uncommon in elections that use ranked voting. The candidates hope to get their ally's supporter's second or third choice vote, which will come into play if none of the candidates receive more than 50% of the ballots. With eight candidates running for mayor, it is likely that no one will have a majority of the votes.

Yang's early lead slowly dissipated because of his inexperience in campaigning and apparent lack of knowing the weeds of public policy and critical issues resulting in some embarrassing gaffs that might seem inconsequential but played into the media portrayal of him as not a "real" New Yorker, despite living in the city for 25 years.

His supporters say the attacks are a form of the "othering" of Asian Americans, reinforcing the stereotyping of AAPI as perpetual foreigners.

TWITTER

Andrew Yang rallies his New York City supporters. "Let's win this," he said.

In a bit of a jujitsu move, Yang turned his political inexperience into an asset by claiming the city needed new leadership with new ideas, not just the same old status quo. He's campaigned on public safety and revived a trimmed down version of his Universal Basic Income idea that was so popular during his presidential bid.

“We do feel like we are getting our voters out now," Yang's co-campaign manager Chris Coffey told Spectrum News. "It’s a very strong Asian number among folks who’ve already voted, Orthodox Jewish number is pretty good, Staten Island’s a little bit higher than it usually is, not by much, but a little bit.”

Yang's campaign to get strong support from young voters and those groups who are traditionally underpolled, including Orthodox Jews and Asian Americans.

“Our team just did a poll of the people that have actually voted and it had us in the lead," Yang said Friday. "The numbers show also that 30 to 40% of the voters are new voters and we think they’re coming out in droves for change.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: VOTE! New York City polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

TWITTER

Andrew Yang's whirlwind campaign stopped in Chinatown Monday  to speak against AAPI hate.

Andrew Yang drops in poll as New Yorkers cast their ballots for the city's next mayor

 

TWITTER

New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Yang cast his ballot Wednesday.

Updated June 18.

Since he declared his candidacy for New York City mayor, Andrew Yang led in the polls. No more.

According to a new survey, Yang is in second place with Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams atop a poll conducted by the lobbying firm Capalino & Company with the Honan Strategy Group.

Adams is the choice of 26 percent of likely Democratic voters, with former presidential candidate Andrew Yang in second place with 15 percent support.

Former Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia and ex-City Hall counsel Maya Wiley are tied in third place, with 11 percent support each. The other four candidates are in single digits.

Still other surveys, such as the Marist poll released this week, place Yang in the middle of the pack

Early voting in the contest began last Saturday and will culminate on Election Day, June 22. In NYC's ranked voting, voters pick five of teh candidates in numerical order. If none of the candidates garner more than 50% -- which will likely occur -- the second and third choices will be added to their total.

The New York Post reports that tens of thousands of New Yorkers have already cast their votes: As of Wednesday, 84,132 ballots have come in through early voting, which kicked off on Saturday, according to the city Board of Elections.

“It was always going to be a very close race,” said Chris Coffey, a Yang co-campaign manager, in a phone interview with the Gotham Gazette. He also noted that the campaign’s internal numbers on early voting are positive. 

“We think we're winning in early voting based on who has voted, and identify them as Yang voters as they have been for a long time,” he said. “We think we're winning in early voting. Does that mean we're gonna win the entire election? I don’t know. But I don't at all accept that we are where Marist has us.”

What's next for AAPIs, the least politically represented group in the U.S.?

NBC

Members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus met with
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. 

A recent report by Reflective Democracy Campaign finds that despite a dramatic increase in voting participation by Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and the rapid rise in population, when compared with other ethnic groups, AAPI are extremely underrepresented in political office.

Speaking at the AAPI Victory Alliance's unity summit about the alarming increase in anti-Asian hate and violence, Vice President Kamala Harris said, "As a member of this community, I share in that outrage and grief, and I believe we have an opportunity now to turn that pain into action."

Even as we (in the U.S.) appear to getting the upper hand in our struggle against the coronavirus, we're starting to see beyond recovery to whatever lies ahead. What's next? How do we turn the gains of visibility and activism generated by the twin viruses of COVID-19 and hate into something that will change our country in its thinking about Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders.

Even in states with high AAPI concentrations like New York, Nevada, and California, the AAPI community is drastically under-represented in office. In fact, Hawaii is the only state whose share of AAPI elected leaders is nearly equivalent to its AAPI population share, the report states.

AAPI erasure is especially stark in the criminal justice sector. While over-policing and excessive deportation are major issues for segments of the AAPI community, the total number of AAPI elected prosecutors across the country is six, and of more than 3,000 county sheriffs, only two are AAPI.

Despite their extreme under-representation, the data shows AAPI elected officials are highly electable. And their impact is greater than their small numbers might suggest. 

The first AAPI members of Congress were non-voting members from the Philippines in 1907, when that country was still a colony of the U.S. Today, there is only one Congressman of Filipino descent, Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Virginia.

Today’s AAPI leaders represent a wider swath of the AAPI communities, including influential figures like Senator Mazie Hirono (HI), Senator Tammy Duckworth (IL), Congressman Ted Lieu (CA), and Harris, America’s first AAPI Vice President.  

Not to anyone's surprise, on the flip side, the group with overrepresentation are white office holders. Although they make up only a third of the country's population, they hold 62% of the political offices, which translates into a 46% overrepresentation.

“Political power has been concentrated in the hands of white men in the United States since the very beginning. And I think we are seeing the limitations of that.” Politico quotes Brenda Choresi Carter, the director of the Campaign, which tracks the diversity of elected officials. “Voters, regardless of party identification, really want to see reflective leadership.”

Through aggressive voter education and registration in the AAPI community, voters of this ethnic group increased by almost any measure. In key states such as Nevada, Georgia, Michigan and Pennsylvania, the AAPI propensity for Democrats proved to be the winning margin for Democratic candidates and Joe Biden.

An analysis by AAPI Data found that voter turnout among Asian American citizens grew from 49% in 2016 to 60% in 2020. Among Pacific Islanders, turnout increased from 41% in 2016 to 55% in 2020. But the increases, the largest of any ethnic group, was still below the national 67% turnout.

The political parties and pollsters have noted this upward trend among AAPI, the fastest growing electorate and demographic in the U.S. They predict the AAPI vote will only gain in political influence this century.

During this same period, immigrants from Asia continued to come in at a higher rate than those coming from Latin America creating a rich pool of potential voters. However, because of the five-year waiting period to become naturalized, thus, eligible to vote, there is a lag between arriving on U.S. soil to becoming full-fledged citizens, thus eligible to vote. In the meantime, the children of both immigrants and those AAPI who are already citizens, are also growing up and becoming old enough to vote.

"This second generation is coming of political age and especially during this moment of COVID and the increase in anti-Asian racism and hate incidents, you are seeing a kind of political consciousness that's forming that will likely last a generation," said Karthick Ramakrishnan, the director of AAPI Data. 

"So I think looking ahead, we're going to see a lot more civic engagement, political activism among the younger Asian American population, and especially given the circumstances of the past year."

With this new-found acknowledgement of the growing power of the AAPI vote, the next logical progression should be getting more AAPI running for office. But, first, there are some obstacles to achieving this goal.

Madalene Mielke, president of the Asian Pacific Institute for Congressional Studies, told NPR that part of the reason there have been fewer Asian elected officials is due to historic barriers.

"There wasn't a lot of Asian Americans running in the past because when you think about immigration, being U.S. citizens, having that opportunity to actually be a part of that electorate, there have been many public policies in the past that have excluded Asian Americans," Mielke said. "You start to think about how these types of public policies discriminated and excluded the community itself and how the community then basically had to turn around and catch up."

In the 2020 primaries, there were three AAPI candidates running for the Democratic nomination for President: Senator Harris, Andrew Yang and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, giving the AAPI a much higher profile than in previous elections. What their candidacies also did was give the younger AAPIs candidates who looked like themselves and opened the dialogues within families about career choices, a cultural barrier that prevented some from bringing attention to themselves by seeking office.

"In many Asian American families with resources, parents typically are encouraging their children to become doctors or engineers; becoming an elected official isn't even on the radar," said Stephanie Chang, Michigan State Senator and the first Asian American woman to serve in the Michigan Legislature. "I needed a lot of encouragement to decide to run for office. I shadowed Rashida (Congresswoman Rashida Talib from the 13th District in Michigan) at the State Capital so I could visualize myself doing the job."

Asian Americans must also overcome stereotypes such as the model minority myth. Part of that stereotype is that if you put your head down and work hard, you will eventually achieve success. The troubling aspect of that myth is that one does not make waves or draw attention to ones self and although AAPI make good worker drones, they don't make good leaders.

One finding in a recent survey by  Leading Asian Americans to Unite for Change (LAAUNCH) may point to a hurdle baked into America's perception of AAPI: 92% of Americans polled said they were comfortable with Asian Americans as doctors or friends, but only 85% said they were comfortable with an Asian American as a boss and 73% as a president of the United States.

The same survey validates the feeling among AAPI that they are invisible in American society and institutions. Despite the upsurge of hate-based attacks on AAPI and the media coverage that generated, most Americans believe that Asian Americans do not suffer discrimination.

Four out of 10 Americans could name one Asian American of prominence despite Kamala Harris being their Vice President. The most common response was "Don't Know" followed by Jackie Chan, who is not even an American.

All this points to the importance of having AAPI politicians in the room when policies are hammered out affecting education, health care, justice reform and the economy.

There are AAPI in the pipeline working on politicians' staffs, the state and federal bureaucracy gaining the experience needed to take that next step into the limelight. After decades of grassroots organizing, registering and educating voters, organizations and nonprofits have been training scores of young AAPIs to work in public service.

Andrew Yang is one of the leading candidates for New York City mayor.

In 2020, there was a record number of AAPI candidates from local city councils to the federal level.

Filipino American Gloria T. Caoile is a founding member of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA), where she currently serves as the Director of Civic Engagement in Nevada. She described in an email interview with Fortune, said of the AAPIs' intensity and determination in the 2020 campaigns. APALA teams registered voters and mobilized voter turn-out across the country. She said during the campaign period, “We’re in every state of the country – gearing up for the fight of our lives!”

Riding the wave of activism generated by fighting hate and political success, there are signs that a new generation of activists in the AAPI community are no longer satisfied sitting on the sidelines and see the benefits being more active participants.

If New York is an example of this new energy and wish to take the leap, 2022 should see a repeat. So far, Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies has listed a total of 45 Asian American and Pacific Islander candidates.

AAPI candidates in New York's June 22 primary are led by Andrew Yang, who is running for mayor of New York City (NYC). Reshma Patel is running for New York City Comptroller. 

Several candidates aspire to be NYC Councilmember. They are: Whitney Hu, Shahana Hanif, Julie Won, Mohammed Mujumder, Jaslin Kaur, Neeta Jain, Moumita Ahmed, Soma Syed, Deepti Sharma, Mohammed S. Uddin, Dilip Nath, Felicia Singh, Fatima Baryab; Shekar Krishnan, Suraj Jaswal, Misba Abdin, Jenny Low, Gigi Li, Hailing Chen, Richard Lee, Tricia Shimamura, Neng Wang, John Choe, Heajin “Hailie” Kim, Edwin Wong, Donghui Zang, Yu Lin, April Somboun, Linda Lee, Amit Singh Bagga, and Steven Raga.

“This will be a pivotal moment in Asian American political participation for decades to come, where you’re seeing a community getting politically activated in a way they never have been before,” said Karthick Ramakrishnan, founder of the research group AAPI Data.

NYC Mayoral candidate Andrew Yang battles "perpetual foreigner" stereotype

SCREEN CAPTURE / NBC

Andrew Yang could become mayor of New York City, the financial hub of the U.S.

Andrew Yang, New York City mayoral candidate, has slipped in the polls after being the frontrunner for weeks.

Yang, who gained national attention while running an underdog campaign seeking the Democrats' nomination for President in 2020, is now third in a field of eight, according to a new poll conducted by Emerson College and PIX11 News.

During his campaign, Yang has had to contend with the "perpetual foreigner" trope even though he's lived in New York City for 25 years. The question arises: "How long does one have to live in the city to be called a New Yorker?"

An editorial cartoon in the Daily News showed Yang emerging from a subway station while a nearby storeowner says, " The tourists are back."

Yang responded to the cartoon Tuesday in a social media post, writing, “Every time you say that I’m not a real New Yorker, you’re telling another Asian American that they don’t belong.”

The cartoon, being a cartoon, did not portray Yang in a good light. Critics and Yang supporters called it racist, depicting Yang with small, slanted eyes. The cartoon drew sharp criticism from the AAPI community, already reeling for a surge of racist attacks for the past year.

"I will be the first to tell you that I’m open to different opinions and will always welcome conversations on policy. And I am a proud son of immigrants," Yang continued in his post. "But to paint me in the media as a perpetual foreigner to this city is wrong and subtly approves racism at a time when people are being beaten on the street on the basis of who they are."

The Asian American Journalists Association wrote a letter to the Daily News criticizing the cartoon.

"We want to be clear that we don't take sides in political races," said AAJA executive director Naomi Tacuyan Underwood. "We want to hold media organizations accountable in terms of the candidate coverage without feeding into or perpetuating stereotypes and historical tropes."

Evelyn Yang, the candidate's wife, was driven to tears in a press conference Tuesday denoucning the cartoon. “It’s not funny. It’s racist. It’s toxic,” she said. 

Underwood said exaggerated, mangled depictions of Asian Americans were used to fuel arguments for the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.

In response to the critical salvos, The Daily News had the artist redrew the cartoon by adding pupils to the eyes. but retained the message.

The change in the redrawn editorial cartoon was subtle.

Following is Andrew Yang's social media post:

Andrew Yang officially running for Mayor of New York City

TWITTER / ANDREW YANG
Former presidential candidate Andrew Yang is running for NYC Mayor. His co-chair is
newly sworn-in Rep. Ritchie Torres, right.

No one can accuse Andrew Yang of not being bold. Yang, who was virtually unknown before launching his Quixotic run in the Democratic presidential primaries in 2019, has thrown in his hat in the crowded race for New York City's next mayor.

Fresh from campaigning in Georgia for the two Democrats who successfully upset their GOP incumbents, Yang made his announcement in Manhattan's  Upper East Side near Columbia University, his alma mater.

"I'm running for mayor for a very simple reason," said Yang. "I see a crisis and believe that I can help."

Whether or not Yang, who was born and raised in upstate New York, can reproduce the magic that allowed him to outlast seasoned politicians during the campaign is an open question.

He has an enviable list of contacts of his supporters across the nation that rallied to his side known as the Yang Gang and helped him raise record amounts of funds. 

"As mayor, we will launch the largest basic income program in the history of the country. Right here in New York," Yang said referring to a program that was successful during his presidential campaign that advocated giving $1,000 to every adult in the U.S. 

"We will lift hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers out of extreme poverty, putting cash relief directly into the hands of the families who desperately need help right now."

Yang's political aspiration was well known in the city for weeks and was always a question of "when," not "if." The tech entrepreneur made his announcement on his 46th birthday.

The universal basic income proposal, his signature plank on the presidential trail, is back in a scaled back version. His belated entry in the crowded race for mayor of the financial capitol of the U.S. gave some of his opponents time to introduce the issue as their own. at least five out of the dozen rivals have some version of the UBI in their platforms.

Yang's new UBI plan gives the extra income to only the 500,000 of the poorest New Yorkers.

Yang lives in NYC and his two sons attend public schools.

" He pledged to improve access to high-speed internet, "take back control" of the subway system and "reopen intelligently."

"I'm running for mayor for my two boys, for you, and for every New Yorker," Yang said. "Let's fight for a future New York City that we can all be proud of."

The Democratic primary is in six months. The winner in that contest will likely win the mayorship of the city.

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.

Who are the Asian Americans likely to be on Joe Biden's Cabinet?

Tammy Duckworth was sworn in by then-Vice President Joe Biden.

OPINION:

Between now and Jan. 20 when Presidnt-elect Joe Biden will be installed, he will be  building his Cabinet, a cohort of trusted advisors. One thing for certain, his Cabinet will be a lot more diverse than Donald Trump's. Biden said that his administration will be made up of men and women who look like America.

There are several Asian Americans who might find a spot in Biden's inner circcle.

SEN. TAMMY DUCKWORTH: The Illinois senator was among the finalists for Biden's choices for Vice President. Duckworth, a decorated veterans of the Iraq war, has a compelling story as an immigrant.. She was a  helicopter pilot in the U.S. Army, losing both her legs when her copter was shot down.  Before turning to politics, she headed the Illinois Department of Veteran Affairs. While serving in the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives, she built a reputation as a strong advocate for veteran rights. She would fit in as head of Veterans Affairs or Secretary of Defense.

DR. VIVEK MURTHY: As soon as Biden's won the majority of electoral college votes, one of his first actions was to name the Indian America to head his coronavirus task force. Murthy served as the U.S. Surgeon General in the President Barack Obama administration so he and Biden already have a working relationship.

JULIE SU: California’s current Sec. of Labor and Workforce Development and a former California labor commissioner, she also served as litigation director at Advancing Justice L.A. and has spent 17 years of her career as a civil rights lawyer with a focus on protecting low-wage workers and immigrant victims of crime and human trafficking. She'd would make a good Secretary of Labor.

ARUN MAJUMDAR: Majumdar was the first director of DOE's flagship agency for innovation, the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy. A Stanford University engineering professor, he was named Tuesday to lead the Biden transition team for the agency. Observers said he would bring both scientific credibility and political expertise as the Secretary of Energy, which would be high profile position in a Biden administration's plans to transition to clean energy.

NEAL KATYAL: Katyal, who is currently professor of National Security Law at Georgetown University Law Center, served briefly as Acting Solicitor General of the United States during the Obama administration.  He also held the position while the Trump administration was trying to find their own person. Most recently, the Indian American has been an outspoken critic of the Trump administration policies. If he were to lead the Department of Justice, he would have a massive job of rebuilding a culture utterly destroyed by Trump and AG William Barr.

VANITA GUPTA: Another possible candidate for the DOJ or Homeland Security, Gupta left the public sector when Trump came into office, Gupta has kept her finger on the pulse of policy making, fighting against Trump's egregious violations of civil rights, as CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. In the Obama presidency, she served as Acting Assistant Attorney General and Head of the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division.

ANDREW YANG: By the time Yang left the Democratic primary campaign for POTUS, Biden began using Yang's vocabulary about a "third industrial revolution." Yang also was very active campaigning for Biden, attracting and exciting the young voters least likely to vote. Biden and Yang were often seen talking one-on-one after the debates. Biden reportedly told Yang that there would be a position for Yang in a Biden administration. A new cabinet position might be created to fit Yang's forward-looking ideas. Department of Innovation & Technology, anybody?

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.