By Brittany Chiu
The 2020 election cycle and the 2022 midterm election exit polls proved that there is much untapped potential among the fast-growing Asian American voting bloc. Those who do not pay enough attention to them risk losing out in the future.
According to the U.S. Census, the Asian American population, whether alone or racially combined, grew 38.6% from 2010 to 2020, and now represents approximately 7% of the total population. Thanks also to a 9% increase in voter eligibility since 2018, more than 13.3 million Asian Americans are 18 and older and able to vote.
There has also been notable increase in election participation among Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) voters. Almost half of all AAPI voters who cast a ballot in 2020 did not vote in 2016 and a quarter of them had never voted in an election before.
Key takeaways
- Inflation, economy, health care, crime/violence and education were the top key issues for Asian voters in 2022.
- Asian voters remain divided on important key issues. While Democrats are perceived as doing a better job on social issues such as abortion, immigration, etc., Republicans edged them out on most of the main issues in the 2022 election cycle.
- There has been a gradual shift of Asian Americans leaning Republican, despite Democrats having a stronghold on minority voters. When broken down by ethnicity, Asian Indians, Chinese, Koreans and Japanese tend to be Democrat-leaning. Counties with college towns or growing cities/suburbs with significant Asian populations are usually bluer or are turning blue. Vietnamese are the most Republican-leaning, particularly those in Texas. Filipinos can skew either way, depending on where they live.
- For Asian voters, word of mouth is the most important source of information. Family and friends are the most trustworthy sources of information, which is perhaps very different from the general market. Over half of 2022 voters said they had not been contacted by any party regarding election information and government policies. More than 40% of Asians would find it helpful if voting assistance was available in their own language.
To read more, please visit: https://www.quirks.com/articles/why-political-parties-can-t-overlook-asian-americans