Photo: REUTERS/Umit Bektas/Elisabeth Franz
West India News Desk
WASHINGTON, DC – The Asian and Pacific Islander American Voting (APIAVote) and AAPI Data released the results of the first survey of Asian American and Pacific Islander adults since President Joe Biden dropped out of the race and Vice President Harris became the Democratic nominee.
The poll, conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago, showed a dramatic increase in support for Democratic presidential candidates among Asian American voters since the group’s biannual Survey of Asian American Voters was released in July.
Key findings about Asian American registered voters include:
* Harris leads Trump by 38 percentage points.
Sixty-six percent of Asian American voters plan to vote for Vice President Harris, while 28% said they support Trump, and 6% said they will support another candidate or are undecided.
*Harris’ identity as a woman is more important than her being Asian Indian or South Asian.
Thirty-eight percent of Asian American voters said Harris’ identity as a woman was “extremely” or “very” important, compared to 27% who said the same about her identity as Indian or South Asian. Asian Americans have been rapidly growing as eligible voters in the United States over the past two decades, increasing by 15 percentage points in the past four years alone and recording record voting numbers in every federal election since 2016. In 2020, a surge in Asian American voters in battleground states, particularly first-time voters, was crucial to Biden’s victory.
*Harris’ favorability rating has increased 18 points since the spring.
62% of Asian American voters said they had a favorable view of Kamala Harris, compared with 35% who said they had an unfavorable view of the vice president. In the 2024 AAVS, conducted in April-May, 44% said they had a favorable view of Harris and 42% said they had an unfavorable view. 28% of Asian American voters said they had a favorable view of Donald Trump, but 70% said they had an unfavorable view of the former president.
* Vice Presidential candidate Tim Walz is much more popular than J.D. Vance.
Fifty-six percent of Asian American voters have a favorable opinion of Tim Walz, while 18% have an unfavorable opinion of the Democratic vice presidential nominee. 26% do not know enough about the race to form an opinion.
Twenty-one percent of Asian American voters have a favorable opinion of J.D. Vance, while 58% have an unfavorable opinion of the Republican vice presidential nominee. 22% do not know enough about the race to form an opinion.
*Asian American voters cast their ballots.
Seventy-seven percent of Asian American voters say they are “absolutely certain” they will vote in the 2024 election, up from 68% who said the same in the 2024 AAVS conducted in April-May.
*Democrats reach out to voters, Republicans don’t.
Sixty-two percent of Asian American voters said they had been contacted by Democrats, compared to 46% who said the same for Republicans. In the 2024 AAVS, conducted in April-May, 45% of Asian American voters said they had been contacted by Democrats, compared to 38% who said the same for Republicans. Twenty-seven percent of Asian American voters said they had not yet been contacted by either party, down from 42% in the 2024 AAVS, also conducted in April-May.
“These results confirm what we’ve heard and seen from the Asian American community since July: they are re-energized and ready to once again play a decisive role in the election,” said Christine Chen, co-founder and executive director of APIAVote. “It’s also clear that major political parties and campaigns are no longer ignoring or taking Asian American voters for granted, but are making a concerted effort to reach out to and engage them on the issues that matter most to them.”
“Asian American and Pacific Islander voters will play a pivotal role in this election,” said AAPI Data Executive Director Karthick Ramakrishnan. “Instead of guessing how AAPI voters and volunteers will respond to the candidacies of Harris, Waltz and Vance, we have nationally representative, language-based survey data to inform our news coverage and public understanding.”
