A national progressive group focused on getting Asian Americans to vote says it is going “all in” on Texas, looking to spend $1 million in the state where Asian Americans are the fastest growing segment of the population.
It’s the first time that AAPI Victory Fund, a super PAC focused on mobilizing Asian American and Pacific Islanders, has focused its efforts on Texas, which the group believes Democrats can win if they are able to get enough Asian Americans to vote.
“We’ve just decided to go all in on Texas,” said Varun Nikore, the group’s executive director.
Much of the spending will likely be directed at the Texas suburbs, where growth in the Asian American population is especially prevalent — a development that Democrats see as providing a path to victory in November. Nikore said that a string of recent polls showing President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden neck and neck in Texas convinced the PAC it needs to start investing there.
“Texas is emerging as the battleground right underneath everyone’s noses,” Nikore said. “From a funder perspective, everyone thought this was a pipe dream but … at some point somebody’s got to say there’s something tangible going on here that we can’t completely ignore.”
The number of eligible Asian American voters in Texas grew by nearly 50 percent from 2012 to 2018, far outpacing the statewide voting population growth of 12 percent during that time, according to AAPI Data, a nonpartisan group that tracks demographic trends. Asian Americans now make up 5.5 percent of the state’s electorate, according to AAPI Data.
There was a Chron story from May on this topic as well, if you missed it. I noted that the selection of Kamala Harris as Joe Biden’s running mate has had the effect of firing up Asian-American voters, which makes an effort like this all the more worthwhile. Asian-American voters have been reliably Democratic in recent years, but as is often the case with a community that contains a lot of immigrants they do not turn out at high levels. They’re also a very heterogeneous community, and require a more nuanced and tailored approach to engaging with them. But the reward is quite clear, as there are over 700K Asian-American voters in Texas, so a boost of 100K turnout could net 50K or so votes for Dems, based on past results. More like this, please. Here’s a nice little fact sheet if you want more (source).
Considering that Trump was cheered in a standing ovation at the big ‘Hello Modi’ rally here in Houston, by Houston’s Indian community, I don’t know how much Kamala being half Indian is going to cut into that support. I mean, this is the same Kamala that made a big splash about becoming the first Indian-American Senator, but then she suddenly became black when she thought it was beneficial to her, and promoted herself as black, even though she obviously didn’t learn how to be black very well at Howard, even though she was an AKA.
But now we’re supposed to shift her back to Indian again? Lots of Indians and Asian immigrants are, or were, small business owners, and I don’t see that Kamala’s very specific encouragement of the rioters will appeal to them. Anyone who has ever owned a business can feel for the people we see who have had their livelihoods burned out by Biden/Harris voters.
Look how excited Kamala is to support the rioters:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ku_t-2LgkgM
How is this appealing to Texas’ Asian community, a community that respects hard work, and in many cases, a community that fled the same thing Kamala is giddy about happening here? The Chinese and Vietnamese specifically are very familiar with ‘struggle sessions,’ and I am sure they don’t want that to make its way to Houston, as it has to other cities.
Reminds me, I need to send my monthly amount to Biden/Harris. Already sent Ortiz, Hegar, and Johnson