A report by the New American Leaders Project, a nonpartisan organization, found that less than 2 percent of the 500,000 state and local political seats are held by Asian Americans and Latinos. These groups of voters make up more than a fifth of the US population, notes the report, and are key to the Democratic coalition in national races.
The report is timely, according to the New York Times, as both the Republican and Democratic parties are grooming candidates for top offices by getting their foot in the door through lower positions.
Furthermore, political representation from Asian Americans and Latinos in the conversation of immigration policy is especially important, as the subject of immigration has gotten more attention in recent presidential campaigns.
The study, which surveyed 544 elected officials from across the United States, showed that Asian American and Latino officials are more likely than the others to have an immigrant background and noted that the groups are the two largest immigrant communities in the country. Yet, less than 6 percent of all state legislators come from these communities.
The report also reported barriers members of these groups faced when running for office, including that they were less likely to envision themselves as state legislators. Usually only by suggestion from other people did they run for office.
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Sayu Bhojwani, the president and founder of the New American Leadership Project, sees hope in the report for these underrepresented groups, however.
“What we see from this report is that Asian Americans and Latinos face barriers, yes, but that despite this, they run and win,” she said to the Times. “Every individual candidate matters to us, because each one helps to close the representation gap and fights for her community. But the movement behind the candidate also matters.”
Let’s hope that campaigns like AAPI for Hillary will inspire Asian American political hopefuls themselves to run for office and close the representation gap in political seats.
