By Randall Yip, AsAmNews Executive Editor
More than half of the 1900 Asian American and Pacific Islander voters surveyed say they’ll vote in person tomorrow.
That’s the finding of a Garin-Hart-Yang Research poll taken in all the battleground states from July 25 – September 1.
“It shows that Asian American voters are very motivated, very excited to vote,” said Brad Jenkins, President and CEO of the AAPI Victory Fund, one of nearly a dozen groups to commission the poll. “I actually do think you’re gonna see an uptick in voting among Asian Americans, whether they’re voting for Democrats at the same level that they were last (midterm)cycle will be, you know, TBD,” he said to AsAmNews.
60% of young voters ages 18-34 and people who didn’t vote in 2020 (61%) say they’re more likely to vote in person. The strongest support for Democrats comes from AAPI voters against 18-34 and women aged 18-49. Support among South Asians and Persians is also strong.
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However, the poll also shows that support for Democrats dropped from 56% in 2020 to 51%, with support for Republicans climbing by two points from 34% in 2020 to 36%.
While AAPI voters still vote overwhelmingly Democrat, Republicans say they’re aggressively going after the Asian American vote.
According to Nainoa Johnson, spokesperson and director of Asian Pacific American Media for the Republican National Committee, the party has knocked on the doors of 90,000 Asian American households, called 240,000 Asian American voters and held 240 community engagement events.
It’s also opened Asian Pacific American communit centers in Westminster, CA; Berkeley Lake, GA;Coppell, TX; Las Vegas, NV; and Issaquah, WA.
“I think that voters are going to think that every time they go to the ballot box that inflation is worse. The economy’s worse,” said Johnson to AsAmNews. “I think that that’s that’s gonna be on the minds of all voters when they go and vote.”
He declined to outline the party’s plan to beat back inflation saying that’s the role of the elected representatives.
“So I think that it’s going to be up to the lawmakers after the election to figure out but look at Kevin McCarthy’s commitment to America and I think going from there that it will be the job of the newly elected officials to bring that information.”
Democrats counter that Republicans have not offered any solutions to any problems they blame on Democrats. They say inflation is a worldwide problem caused by the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, problems not unique to the United States. They also suggest that inflation in Britain where conservatives are currently in power is just as bad as it is in the United States.
Rep Grace Meng (D-NY), during a recent visit to San Francisco, told AsAmNews that Republicans “are good at fear-mongering and false news.”
“What are their solutions to addressing hate? It’s because of Republican leadership that we are targets,” she said about Asian American voters. “What are their solutions to keeping the community safe?”
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The Garin-Hart Yang research poll found that AAPI voters trust Democrats more than Republicans by wide margins on such issues as the environment, abortion and gun control. However, AAPI voters trust Republicans more than Democrats by small margins on immigration and the economy despite the party being broadly unpopular among AAPI voters.
The poll captured a large swath of the Asian American community with Chinese 16%; Indian 14%; Filipino, 8%; Vietnamese, 5%; Korean, 4%; Japanese and the smaller sub-ethnic categories, 4%; other South Asian in addition to Indian; and then 3%, Taiwanese; 3%, Hmong; and then 2%, Arab, Persian.
AsAmNews is published by the non-profit, Asian American Media Inc. Follow us on Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to support our efforts to produce diverse content about the AAPI communities. We are supported in part by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the California State Library in partnership with the California Department of Social Services and the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs as part of the Stop the Hate program. To report a hate incident or hate crime and get support, go to CA vs Hate.
