Harris looks to capitalize on momentum with Asian American voters

Vice President Harris is showing signs of strength among Asian American voters as her campaign ramps up its outreach to the country’s fastest-voting demographic.

A Tuesday poll from APIAVote and AAPI Data showed that inroads Trump had made within the AAPI community when President Biden was still the nominee have largely disappeared: two in three AAPI voters plan on backing Harris, while 28 percent plan on voting for Trump. In April, less than half of AAPI voters polled planned on voting for Biden.

The poll comes amid a concerted Harris campaign effort to reach out to 15 million eligible Asian American voters. The campaign says it has hired AAPI-focused staff in each swing state and rolled out ads targeting ethnically based newspapers, TV stations and radio outlets in swing states. 

Those polled reported that they were 25 percent more likely to have heard from the Harris campaign than former President Trump. 

“Team Harris-Walz understands the pivotal role that Asian American voters will play in this election and is well-positioned to turn their enthusiasm into action at the ballot box,” the campaign’s Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander spokesperson Andrew Peng told The Hill. 

Former President Trump appears to be betting on his record in office to win the support of AAPI voters. 

“There has been no bigger advocate for the AAPI community than President Trump,” Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung wrote to The Hill. “Anyone who says otherwise is disgustingly using the AAPI community to play political games for their own benefit. The 2024 campaign is poised to build upon the strength and successes of Asian Americans during President Trump’s first term to propel him to a histor[ic] second term victory.”

Trump surrogate Vivek Ramaswamy also weighed in, telling The Hill that “Democrats have waged a war on merit” that is “driving a lot of Asian Americans away.”

AAPI Victory Fund co-founder Shekhar Narishaman said he has seen “very little” Trump campaign effort in swing states to win over Asian American voters.  

“We’re not seeing it, so if it does exist it’s not in the places we are,” he said. “We’ve seen some spending in Michigan but that’s it…these guys are playing wedge issues not for the victory of the majority of people, and they’re not willing to make the argument to AAPI voters on policy terms.” 

Trump’s campaign or state GOP officials in swing states — Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, Nevada or Arizona — did not provide additional information on specific work being done to reach out to AAPI voters. 

Harris’s push for the AAPI vote included an ad highlighting Harris’s mother that rolled out last week and hit more than 70 TV channels in predominantly Asian communities in swing states like Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, and Wisconsin.

“We’re thrilled to see the Harris-Walz campaign making historic investments in AANHPI communities—more than any presidential campaign in history,” said Indian American Impact Fund Executive Director Chintan Patel. “This commitment reflects a deep understanding of the growing power and influence of AANHPI voters, as confirmed by the AAPI Data/APIA Vote poll, which shows a significant 16-point gap in outreach between the Democratic and Republican parties.”

Narishaman added that this is the “most comprehensive effort” by a presidential campaign to win over a constituency of voters who have not historically turned out. 

However, according to Ashna Khanna, the deputy director of the Asian American Advocacy Fund, many undecided voters within the Asian American community are still looking for more information from Harris.

“We truly believe that by effectively engaging with AAPI voters communities because if we don’t do that, we will risk losing Georgia, which could lead to us losing the White House,” Khanna added. 

According to Khanna, Georgia’s Asian American community has seen a 63 percent increase in voter registration since 2020, bringing the total number of registered Asian American voters to over 300,000. 

Many of these voters are not very politically involved, according to Georgia House Democratic Whip Sam Park, making the current campaign a “persuasion battle of instead of convincing people to vote for your side instead of the other convincing them to go vote instead of staying on their couches.” 

In its outreach, the Harris campaign is highlighting Harris’s record on supporting Asian American small businesses, lowering healthcare costs and increasing education investments for AANHPI communities. 

The campaign is also reminding voters of Trump’s rhetoric during the COVID-19 pandemic, when he called the virus the “kung flu” and “Wuhan virus.” Harris argues that Trump’s “discriminatory rhetoric” harmed Asian American small businesses. 

Trump’s statements coincided with a stark increase in hate crimes against Asian Americans, including a gunman targeting and killing seven Asian women in Georgia in 2020.