A voter fills out his ballot in a polling station at San Francisco City Hall in 2022.
In California, the state with the most Asian American residents, 88% of that demographic say they plan to vote in the coming election — but around half say they haven’t been contacted by either the Democratic or Republican parties.
Experts say that for the fastest-growing voter group in the U.S., in a state that is home to roughly one-third of the Asian American electorate, that discrepancy shouldn’t exist.
“We’re reaching a point, especially in a state like California, where parties and campaigns, including these ballot proposition campaigns, are running out of excuses,” said Karthick Ramakrishnan, founder of the nonprofit research organization AAPI Data. The group released the survey last week with two other nonprofit organizations, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders for Civic Empowerment Education Fund and Asian American Futures.
The survey authors interviewed 1,253 Asian Americans across six of the largest Asian ethnic groups in California. The survey was conducted online and over the phone in English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean and Vietnamese from April 4 to May 26.
Fifty-one percent of Asian American voters in California said they didn’t hear from the Democratic Party, while 59% said they were not contacted by the Republican Party, according to the survey.
The Republican Party did not respond to a request for comment.
In a statement provided to NBC News, Democratic National Committee spokesperson Nina Raneses said that the party “continues to meet Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander voters where they are, investing early and often in the communities that will be the margin of victory.”
“AANHPIs are America’s fastest-growing demographic, and in critical battleground states, they could make the difference between winning and losing,” Raneses said. “The stakes couldn’t be higher, and the DNC will continue to make the case for the Harris-Walz ticket to AANHPI voters and pave the path to victory in November.”
“There have been improvements in California when it comes to … outreach to Asian Americans over time, but we still have a far way to go,” Ramakrishnan said. “People are still taking AAPI voters for granted given the size of the electorate in the state.”
As for their top-of-mind issues, California Asian American voters named jobs and the economy, health care and inflation as their top three priorities. And though the subject of crime has factored heavily in previous election cycles, the survey showed that almost half of Asian Americans in California agree that local governments should shift spending from law enforcement to programs that address economic and social issues for minorities and disadvantaged communities.
As much as 86% said they favor programs designed to help Black people, and other people of color, get better access to educational opportunities. This doesn’t necessarily mean, however, that they support affirmative action specifically, Ramakrishnan said.
Ramakrishnan said the results are relatively consistent with Asian American voters in the past. However, since the survey was conducted before Harris entered the race in July, the proportion of those planning to vote in the election is likely to rise.
Though California isn’t a swing state, he added that it’s still critical for both parties and organizations to reach out to Asian Americans. There are important areas where Asian Americans could still make a difference, including some congressional races, particularly in Southern California and Central Valley, in addition to statewide ballot propositions.
In the state’s 47th Congressional District, for example, an area that has repeatedly swung between parties over the past decade, Asian Americans make up a quarter of the population. And the district’s November matchup between Democrat Dave Min and Republican Scott Baugh is slated to help determine control of the House of Representatives.
Still, there continues to be a misconception that appealing to Asian Americans, which often requires multilingual outreach, is too expensive, Ramakrishnan said. But hiring more Asian Americans on campaigns could help solve that issue.
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Publish date : 2024-09-10 11:42:00
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