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Asian Americans are finding a ray of sunshine this year, amid the ugly and alarming racism occurring nationwide. Reason: The growing trend of candidates from both parties running for office, with Kamala Harris, an American of Asian ancestry, getting elected as the nation’s vice president last year.
In the coming November 3 elections, a total of 45 Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) candidates are running for office at the federal, city and local levels. (Scroll down for the list of candidates.)
On June 22, the frontrunner in the Democratic primary to choose the party’s official candidate for New York City mayor is Andrew Yang, an Asian American.
This political involvement, on top of demonstrating Asian American Voter Power that helped elect President Biden, as well as two senators in Georgia, has continued to lead to big steps in empowerment.
At one point, AAPI voters favored Republican candidates. But with immigration and other top issues, Asian American and Pacific Islander voters have recently been trending Democratic. And in last year’s presidential elections, they went all-out for the Biden-Harris ticket.
Voter Turn-out Surge
Writer Domenico Montanaro, in an article posted at the APIAVote website, noted that “with exit polls showing that President Biden won Asian American voters by an almost 2-to-1 margin, they very well may have been the difference in his victory – despite only being roughly 4% of the electorate overall…”
The May 22 article quoted a veteran Democratic strategist who runs TargetSmart, a Democratic election data provider, as saying, “Across all of the presidential battleground states, AAPI turnout increased by 357,969 votes, a breathtaking 48% increase in turnout.”
Montanaro cited a recently released Census data which showed that Asian Americans increased their turnout rate by more than any other racial or ethnic group between the 2016 and 2020 U.S. presidential elections. “Their turnout jumped 10 percentage points, while Hispanic and white voters each increased by 6 percentage points, and Black voters ticked up 3 points.”
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 their intensity and determination to win in 2020. 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!”
Today, at a crucial time for Americans of Asian ancestry in their fight against racism, these twin developments of more candidates and higher voter turn-out are a very big deal.
The nation’s President and Vice President can set policies on immigration, health care, law and order, housing, education, and to a certain extent, gun control, among other things. Asian American Members of the U.S. Congress can introduce bills that can become the law of the land, such as the recent “Covid 19 Hate Crimes Act.”
Candidates, Voters
Citing California, the power of these twin trends was underscored by Madalene Xuan-Trang Mielke, President and CEO of the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies (APAICS): “California represents the largest contingency of Asian American and Pacific Islanders or AAPIs that seek elected office, with over 100 running in the last election cycle.”
“AAPIs in California represent over 4 million eligible voters and 17 percent of the electorate,” she added. “At 22 percent, the growth of eligible AAPIs voters in California in the last decade was more than double the growth of the statewide eligible voting population.”
The Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies (APAICS) is a national non-partisan, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization “dedicated to promoting Asian Pacific American participation and representation at all levels of the political process, from community service to elected office. Among its programs priorities is “filling the political pipeline for Asian Pacific Americans to pursue public office at the local, state, and federal levels.”
APA Candidates
The Democratic and Republican Parties are holding primaries to select their official candidates in the November 3 elections this year. At stake are positions at the federal, state, and local levels.
So far, APAICS has listed a total of 45 Asian American and Pacific Islander candidates.
AAPI candidates in the 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.
Other States
At the federal level, Sery Kim is running in Texas for the U.S. House of Representatives. At the state level, Karishma Mehta and Irene Shin are candidates for the Virginia House of Delegates. Vin Gopal is running to be a State Senator in New Jersey. Marpheen Chan is running for the post of District Commissioner at Maine’s Portland Charter Commission.
Other candidates: Michael Vo, County Supervisor, District 2, Orange County Board of Supervisors in California;Richard Pan ,
California State Senate, District 6; Joe Nguyen, County Executive, King County Council, Washington State; Coco Alinsug, City Councilor, Lynn City Council, Ward 3, Massachusetts; Faris Zwirahn, Assemblymember, District 16, New Jersey State Assembly.
Candidate Yang
The most prominent Asian American candidate is Andrew Yang, whose parents are originally from Taiwan. Yang, an entrepreneur and political novice, is running for mayor of New York City. The New York Times and other media note that he has consistently led in the polls. Yang has a good chance of winning in the June 22 primary, and even in the November elections.
Naturally, this frontrunner status has made him a target for attacks from his rivals, who have more New York and political experience than him. It has also resulted in more media scrutiny.
A frontrunner in a crowded field: How did he get to this enviable position overnight? He has attracted a coalition of diverse voters. Also, he got early endorsements from the grandson of Martin Luther King Jr., the civil rights icon and from New York City officials, and lately, U.S. Congresswoman Grace Meng (D, NY).
Yang gained name recognition when he ran an exciting, technology-driven campaign in the Democratic primary for president in last year’s elections. He drew young voters and the media to his platform, which highlighted a policy proposal for Universal Basic Income, or UBI.
UBI would grant $1,000 a month, or $12,000 a year, to every American adult age 18 to 64, with no conditions attached. With the pandemic, this concept has gained traction, given the loss of jobs and closure of small businesses.
Several Asian Americans are running for Councilmember in NYC, which could help Yang, insuring a higher than usual Asian American turn-out. The surge in hate crimes against Asian Americans nationwide, including several incidents in New York City itself, has also helped raise his chances of winning, according to media reports.
