Rep Ami Bera maintains a 53% -47% lead over Scott Jones in the District 7 race in California with 67% of the vote.
Ro Khanna maintains a 58% -42% lead over Rep Mike Honda with 43% of the vote.
Hanabusa, Gabbard win Congressional races in Hawaii
Colleen Hanabusa will return to Congress to represent Hawaii’s District 1 and replace the late Mark Takei who died of cancer. It was Takei who replaced Hanabusa who left office to make an unsuccessful run for the U.S. Senate. She beat Angela Aulani Kaaihue 73% – 22%.
Tulsi Gabbard won reelection to Congress to represent District 1 in Hawaii. She beat Shirlene Ostrov 82% -18%.
10:30 p.m. PST Results from Hawaii Trickle In
The first results from Hawaii are just coming in. Colleen Hanabusa has an early lead with 74% of the vote, but less than 1% of the precincts are reporting.
Incumbent Rep Tulsi Gabbard has 82% of the vote, but again with less than 1% reporting.
California Results Slow to Crawl
There have been no updated results for some time in the California District 7 race between Ami Bera and Scott Jones. The vote totals remain 54%-46% with 57% of the votes counted.
Challenger Ro Khanna maintains his 58% -42% lead over eight-time incumbent Mike Honda, with 41% of the precincts reporting. 9:55 p.m. PST
Asian Americans to Set new Record for Representation in Congress
With many races still to be decided, AsAmNews is projecting that Asian Americans will shatter the record for the number of Asian American and Pacific Islanders elected to Congress.
So far 12 Asian Americans have been projected to be elected to congress including U.S. Senate elect Kamala Harris from California, Congressional-elect Ro Khanna in Silicon Valley, Congressional elect Raja Krishnamoorthi in Illinois, Congressional-elect and progressive Pramila Jayapal of Washington state, and Congressional-elect Stephanie Murphy of Florida.
Rep Ami Bera holds an 8 point lead in Sacramento County and results from two Congressional races in Hawaii where Asian Americans Colleen Hanabusa and Tulsi Gabbard are expected to win are not yet in.
We could have at least 15 Asian American voting members of Congress, shattering the previous record of 12. That does not include Asian American Pacific Island non-voting representatives from the U.S. Territories.
9:40 p.m. PST
First Vietnamese American Woman elected to Congress
Vietnamese American Stephanie Murphy has beat Republican incumbent John Mica 51% -49% with 100% of the precincts reporting.
She is the first Vietnamese American women elected to Congress.
9:30 p.m. PST
Presidential race too close to call, but looking good for Trump
California’s 55 electoral votes went to Clinton as expected. She also got Oregon and Washington. Trump took Florida, North Carolina and Ohio, which wasn’t expected.
I’m stunned. The prospect of a President Trump is stomach-churning. This race is nerve-racking as the lead in Electoral votes go back and forth. No one expected the race to be this close.
The path to victory is looking promising for Donald Trump
With 65% of the precincts reporting,Pramila Jayapay has defeated fellow Democrat Brady Walkinshaw for the 7th Congressional district in Washington state. Jayapay holds a 57% – 43% lead.
8:55 p.m. PST
Doris Matsui has defeated Robert Evans 74% – 26% in the 6th Congressional District in California.
Rep. Judy Chu, the chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, has a commanding 64% – 36% lead over Jack Orswell with 15% reporting.
Rep. Ted Lieu has a 665 -34% lead over Kenneth Wright in California’s district 33 with 6% reporting.
Rep. Mark Takano, the first openly gay Asian American in Congress, is leading 61% – 39% lead and has won a second term.
No results in in Bao Nguyen – Lou Correa race in California’s District 46.
Chinese American Denise Gitshim is losing 57% -43% against incumbent Scott Peters with 15% of precincts reporting.
8:50 p.m. PST
Pramila Jayapay in dead heat in Congressional race in Washington
With just 4% of precincts reporting, Pramila Jayapay is in a 50%-50% tie with fellow Democrat Brady Walkinshaw for the 7th Congressional district in Washington state.
8:45 p.m. PST
Ro Khanna unseats Mike Honda in California congressional race.
With 41% of the precincts reporting, Ro Khanna has a 58% – 42% lead over Rep Mike Honda. It appears that Honda will lose the seat he has had for eight terms. Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported the precincts reporting.
8:40 p.m. PST
Kamala Harris headed to victory in U.S. Senate Race
With 17% of the precinct reporting, Kamala Harris has a 67% – 33% victory over Loretta Sanchez. Harris defeats Sanchez and will become the first Indian American woman elected to the U.S. Senate in California.
8:35 p.m. PST
Bera off to lead with 56% reporting
Rep Ami Bera is leading over Republican challenger Sheriff Scott Jones 54% – 46% with 56% of the precincts reporting.
This would be Bera’s third term and if the lead holds, would be his biggest margin of victory ever.
8:25 p.m. PST
Asian Americans in California back Clinton, Harris.
Asian Americans in California supported Clinton over Trump 79% -13%, according to a pre-election poll taken by Asian American Decisions and just released. Asian Americans also backed Kamala Harris over Loretta Sanchez in the U.S. Senate race 69% – 29%.
The 2,400 person Asian American election eve poll, sponsored by AAPI Civic Engagement Fund, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Los Angeles, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, and the National Education Association (NEA) includes both national figures and results from these eight target states: CA, FL, IL, NV, NC, PA, VA, and TX.
8:15 p.m. PST
Khanna, Harris off to early leads in California
Early returns in California has challenger Ro Khanna off to an early lead over longtime incumbent Mike Honda 58% – 42%. Less than 1% of the precincts have reported.
With 5% of the precincts reporting, Kamala Harris is leading 65% – 35% over Loretta Sanchez in the U.S. Senate race. Harris would be the first Indian American woman senator ever elected in California.
8:10 p.m. PST
The demographic everyone forgot
Latino voters turned out in droves; there was a surge of new voters among Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and African Americans, who although didn’t match their 2012 numbers when they voted for President Obama, were overwhelmingly for Hillary Clinton. They were joined by white, college-educated white men and women.
We were so enthralled by the coloring of America, the immigration rate from Asia and talking about the turning point for the U.S. that would make a New America.
What was underreported and took most poll watchers by surprise was the heavy turnout by White voters, who mostly supported Donald Trump’s bid for the presidency. Trump’s base included – in general terms – the White male, less educated vote. No one knew how many they were, no one knew how passionate they were to protect their privileged status, no one knew how to gauge the anger and resentment that they felt in the changing demographics of the United States.
They are sending a message to the media and to people of color: “We ain’t done yet.”
California’s polls will close in a few minutes and we’ll begin posting some of the California races.
8:00 p.m. PST
Democrats win Asian American vote in Nevada.
In Nevada, an election eve poll just released by Asian American Decisions has found Asian American voters supported Clinton 60% -34%. This follows a trend seen all night with Asian Americans overwhelmingly supporting Clinton and other Democratic candidates.
Asian American voters also supported Democratic Senate challenger Cortez Masto over Joe Heck 60% – 39%.
Asian Americans also supported Democratic House candidates by 58% -40%.
7:48 p.m. PST
Joseph Cao losing heavily in U.S. Senate primary in Louisiana.
Republican Senate candidate Joseph Cao has just 1 percent of the vote in the primary in Louisiana. The top vote getter John Kennedy has 25% of the vote.
7:45 p.m. PST
Rep. Bobby Scott Reelected
Filipino American Rep. Bobby Scott will win reelection over Republican Marty Williams 66% -34% in Virginia’s 3rd District.
7:35 p.m. PST
Jacob losing in New Jersey.
In New jersey, Indian American Peter Jacob is going down in defeat to Republican incumbent Leonard Lance 55% – 42%. Vandals had painted swastikas on the home of Jacob, who is Indian American, but has a Jewish name.
7:30 p.m. PST
Tammy Duckworth, Raja Krishnamoorthi headed to victory in Illinois
Tammy Duckworth is headed to victory in the U.S. Senate race against Republican challenger Mark Kirk. With 57% of precincts reporting, Duckworth leads Kirk 57% – 38%.
Indian American S Raja Krishnamoorthi (D) is leading Pete DiCianni 60% – 40% with 63% of the precincts reporting. Krishnamoorthi is expected to win his first term in the heavily Democratic district.
7:20 p.m. PST
Grace Meng wins New York Congressional Race
In New York’s 6th Congressional District, Incumbent Democrat Rep Grace Meng is leading Republican challenger Danniel S. Maio 62 to 29 with 392 or 413 precincts reporting.
AAPI could pick another Democratic Senator.
Nevada AAPI voters could help place another Democrat to the U.S. Senate.
Days before Democratic Senate hopeful Catherine Cortez Masto appeared at a reception honoring Asian American labor activists, Republican Donald Trump proposed expanding his controversial immigration ban to natives of the Philippines.Cortez Masto — running against GOP Rep. Joe Heck in one of the nation’s most competitive Senate races, and in a rare state where Asian American voters could tip the election — took advantage of Trump’s statement.
“Under a Trump presidency, no immigrants from the Philippines would be able to come to the United States,” she told the crowd.
“With Donald Trump in power and Congressman Heck enabling him and supporting him, the (Asian American and Pacific Islanders) community here in Las Vegas and across the country would suffer.”
In a state where AAPI make up ten percent of population, the timing couldn’t be more perfect for Cortez Masto, who is running to replace Democrat Sen. Harry Reid.
In 2010, Sen. Reid upset his Republican opponent and beat the poll predictions by garnering over 80 percent of the AAPI electorate.
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6:30 p.m. PST
AAPI voters are showing up in record numbers
Key battleground states have seen a hike in early voting from Asian-Americans, according to theHuffington Post.Florida, Arizona, Virginia and North Carolina saw about twice as many early ballots from Asian Americans this year compared to 2012, according to Catalist, a Democratic analytics firm. In Georgia, that number was almost triple.
“It’s possible in several of these states, the Asian American population could mean the difference between victory or defeat,” Karthick Ramakrishnan, the founder of AAPI Data, a research group that focuses on Asian American and Pacific Islander demographics and policy, told The Huffington Post. “When it comes to battleground states, it becomes a battle of yards and inches.”
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6:15 p.m. PST
CNN predicts Texas for Trump
Donald Trump has won Texas’s 38 electoral votes. Trump has 250,222 more votes than Hillary Clinton, with 3 percent reporting. Donald J. Trump is up by 5 points with 3 percent of precincts reporting.Trump was expected to win the Lone Star State but in order to do so, he had to overcome an early wave of Latino votes concentrated along the border. The urban and suburban areas around the cities went with Trump.
At this point, Trump has more electoral votes than Clinton. I’m starting to worry. My heart rate is up.
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6 p.m. PST Nevada will play a key role
ABOUT HALF of Nevada’s electorate is either African American, Latino or AAPI. Filipino Americans make up almost half of the state’s Asian-American population.
Nevada is one of those battleground states contested by the Hilton and Trump campaigns.
“We are the biggest Asian community population here in Nevada,” said Cynthia Diriquito, Executive Director of NAFFAA Nevada.
The National Federation of Filipino-American Associations estimates there are about 120,000 Filipino-Americans living in Nevada, but many of them aren’t registered voters.
“We are trying to mobilize the force of the Filipinos here in the United States to become registered voters, and for our voices to be heard,” Diriquito said.
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6:00 p.m. PST
In Texas, Asian American voters backed Clinton over Trump by a 73-19% margin.
Asian Americans supported Democratic House candidates by a 70-30% margin in Texas.
The 2,400 person Asian American election eve poll, sponsored by AAPI Civic Engagement Fund, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Los Angeles, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, and the National Education Association (NEA) includes both national figures and results from these eight target states: CA, FL, IL, NV, NC, PA, VA, and TX.
5:55 p.m. PST
In Pennsylvania, an election eve poll by Asian American Decisions just released shows Asian Americans backed Clinton 83% -15% over Trump.
In the U.S. Senate race, Asian American voters in PA supported Katie McGinty over Pat Toomey by a 77-24% margin.
Asian Americans supported Democratic House candidates by a 80-20% margin in PA.
The 2,400 person Asian American election eve poll, sponsored by AAPI Civic Engagement Fund, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Los Angeles, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, and the National Education Association (NEA) includes both national figures and results from these eight target states: CA, FL, IL, NV, NC, PA, VA, and TX.
5:50 p.m. PST
The pattern is continuing in North Carolina, another battleground state. Asian American voters, according to a election eve poll by Asian American Decisions, supported Clinton over Trump 73% – 22%
In the Senate race, Asian Americans supported Democrat Deborah Ross over Richard Burr 77% – 21%. Among the general electorate, with 16% of the precincts reporting, Ross and Burr are tied 48% to 48%.
In the Governor’s race, Asian American voters in North Carolina supported Democrat Roy Cooper over Republican Pat McCrory by a 76-24% margin. Among the general electorate with 16% of precincts reporting, Cooper has a 52% to 46% lead.
Asian Americans supported Democratic House candidates by a 73-26% margin in NC.
The 2,400 person Asian American election eve poll, sponsored by AAPI Civic Engagement Fund, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Los Angeles, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, and the National Education Association (NEA) includes both national figures and results from these eight target states: CA, FL, IL, NV, NC, PA, VA, and TX.
5:25 p.m. PST
NBC Chicago is projecting that Tammy Duckworth will defeat Incumbent Mark Kirk in the Illinois U.S. Senate race. If true, Duckworth’s victory moves the Democrats one seat closer of overtaking Republicans in the Senate.
5:20 p.m. PST
In Illinois, an election eve poll by Asian American Decisions found Asian Americans supported Clinton over Trump 84% – 12%.
Asian American voters in Illinois supported Tammy Duckworth over Mark Kirk for U.S. Senate by 78-21%.
Asian Americans supported Democratic House candidates by a 66-32% margin in Illinois.
The 2,400 person Asian American election eve poll, sponsored by AAPI Civic Engagement Fund, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Los Angeles, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, and the National Education Association (NEA) includes both national figures and results from these eight target states: CA, FL, IL, NV, NC, PA, VA, and TX.
5:15 p.m. PST
An election eve poll by Asian American Decisions just released shows in Virginia, Asian American voters backed Clinton over Trump by 78% – 21%. Asian Americans supported Democratic House candidates by 66% – 32%.
The 2,400 person Asian American election eve poll, sponsored by AAPI Civic Engagement Fund, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Los Angeles, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, and the National Education Association (NEA) includes both national figures and results from these eight target states: CA, FL, IL, NV, NC, PA, VA, and TX.
4:45 p.m. PST
Polling by Asian American Decisions has found Asian American voters in Florida supported Democrat Patrick Murphy 67% – 33% over former presidential candidate Marco Rubio in the U.S. Senate race. Overall among all voters, with 4.1% of the precincts reporting, Rubio currently leads Murphy 52% – 44%.
This is an indication of Asian Americans leaning democratic even in a state split between the two parties. Polling by Asian American Decisions has also found Asian American voters in Florida supported Democratic House candidates over Republican candidates 71% – 21%.
The 2,400 person Asian American election eve poll, sponsored by AAPI Civic Engagement Fund, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Los Angeles, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, and the National Education Association (NEA) includes both national figures and results from these eight target states: CA, FL, IL, NV, NC, PA, VA, and TX.
3:40 p.m. -PST George Takei busy on social media
Mr. Sulu – AKA actor George Takei- has been busy on his social media accounts from the moment the polls opened back east. Here’s his Twitter account and his Facebook page.
Last night, on Facebook, Takei tried to calm some of his nervous fans. He wrote:
From Selma to Stonewall, Seneca Falls to Standing Rock, the history of America is often forged in a crucible of conflict and courage. Today, it is no different. We may face setback, or we may face triumph, but the direction will remain clear so long as our vision and our convictions do. You need only take measure of the passion of America’s youth–more cosmopolitan, more diverse, more rooted in science, more aware of their responsibilities as stewards of this Earth than any generation before them–to regain confidence in our national future. Look to them. We will win.
3:30 p.m.
Polling by Asian American Decisions has found that 46% of Asian American voters cast their ballots before election day in early voting or vote by mail.
Exit polling has also found that Asian American voters support executive action on immigration for dreamers by 57 -24%. They also support executive action to prevent deportation of undocumented parents of U.S. citizen children by a 59-21%.
A whopping 87% of Asian American voters listed the economy and jobs as either the most important issue (36%) or one of the most important issues (51%) when deciding which candidates would get their vote.
The 2,400 person Asian American election eve poll, sponsored by AAPI Civic Engagement Fund, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Los Angeles, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, and the National Education Association (NEA) includes both national figures and results from these eight target states: CA, FL, IL, NV, NC, PA, VA, and TX.
3:15 p.m. – PST AAPI civil rights advocates worked relentlessly
In less than a couple of hours, the polls will start to shut down on the East Coast. In this election cycle, the drive by AAPI nonprofits to step efforts to register, educate and mobilize the Asian American & Pacific Islander electorate has been unprecedented. We’ll soon find out how effective that push has been.
In 2016, close to 600 organizations participated in voter registration efforts specifically targeting Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders
Over 32 APIAVote partners participated in 2016 voter registration efforts and continue to be involved in nonpartisan voter education and voter turnout
Thanks to these and other efforts, researchers at AAPI Data expect nearly 5 million Asian American and Pacific Islander voters in 2016, up from 3.9 million in 2012
Voting for the first woman president? California’s Attorney General Kamala Harris cast her vote today for Hillary Clinton. She’ll be awaiting the results of the Golden State’s votes to find out if she will be California’s first Indian American U.S. Senator.
12 p.m. – PST
Turnout strong among Asian American voters
Asian Americans in early voting have turned out in record numbers in two key battleground ground states, according to the AAPI Victory Fund.
The fund is an Asian American Super PAC which has come out in support of Hillary Clinton in the presidential election.The Fund says a vote analysis by TargetSmart,a political data firm, found the early AAPI vote is 42.7 percent of the registered electorate in Nevada and 36.7 percent in North Carolina.
“There will be many story lines out of this election and the most important to us is that our early investments in registering and turning out the AAPI community has paid precious dividends,” said the AAPI Victory Fund in a statement.
“More than anything it shows that despite the lack of targeting of our community’s by establishment political entities, our vote share towards Democrats is creating an emerging AAPI voting block that has profound implications on this and future.“We have seen Virginia turn blue based, in part, on the diversity of the northern Virginia suburbs. Similar demographic trends are happening across the country, in states as diverse as Georgia, Colorado and Texas the AAPI community is an emerging electoral force.” – AsAm News
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10 a.m. Voice of America
Voice of America had an article yesterday about the impact of the AAPI voters. Here’s a snippet:
The levels of immigration from Asian countries now, of course, outpace the number of immigrants coming from Latin America,” Schnur said.
“The American political community hasn’t quite figured that out yet, and so as a result, Asian American voters are not getting as much attention from either party as the increased number of immigrants coming from Pacific Rim countries would suggest.”
In California, the large numbers of Asian voters translate to political power, Ichinose said, referring to the finding that in the last presidential election, Asian Americans comprise 25 percent or more of the electorate in 25 legislative districts in California. There are 38 legislative districts statewide where Asian American voter registration exceeded the margin of victory.
“Not only are Asian Americans concentrated in these legislative districts, but they’re concentrated in a way that means that they have real influence in the outcome of elections,” Ichinose said.
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No longer disenfranchised
Do you think the significance of Hillary Clinton’s candidacy is not lost on women? This morning hundreds of people were lining up to honor the suffragette Susan B. Anthony whose efforts helped give women the right to vote.
The United States’ Founding Fathers (my emphasis), forgot a few people when writing the first version of the U.S. Constitution, i.e. women and people of color.
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Local races matter, too!
8 a.m.
Local races matter
If you see a bald-headed Asian American man waving signs for Contra Costa County Supervisor Federal Glover in California, stop and say hello – or at least honk your horn or wave. That’s me!
We know what the stakes are in the presidential race – the future of our country for the next few decades.
Local races may not have the glamor of the national races, but they are critical. Who we pick for our school boards, city councils and county supervisors have a more immediate impact on our lives: what is taught in schools, what policies are created for our quality of life, who will fix the potholes in our streets.
I’m proud to work for a man who recognized October as Filipino American History Month and issued a countywide proclamation for the recognition, study and celebration of Filipino American history in Contra Costa, where the 1st & 2nd Filipno Infantry Regiments trained before being shipped out of Camp Stoneman in Pittsburg, California to fight in the Pacific Theater during WWII; where FilAm farmworkers helped establish the agricultural industry in the county.
Filipino American History Month was observed for the first time in Contra Costa County, California.The county Board of Supervisor take a historical photo with leaders in the local Filipino/American community.
7 a.m. Voting matters
I still don’t get the reasoning for voting on a Tuesday. People have to take off from work, or rush home, or get up extra early to stand in line in order to cast their ballot. It was like a regular polling site with individual booths for voting in privacy.
Most states, including California where I live, have early voting and it was great voting on a Saturday. Apparently, it was convenient for a whole lot of people as the voting poll site was busy, busy, busy.
I’ll post periodically during the day as our democratic process rolls out. If any anomalies turn up (especially against AAPI voters) I’ll try to report it. More in-depth pieces will have to wait a day because today is breaking news all day. Keep checking in.
