Sign up here to receive The Yappie's weekly briefing on Asian American + Pacific Islander politics and support our work by making a donation.
Nationally, a majority of Asian Americans voted for Democratic candidates in House, Senate, and gubernatorial races in critical battleground states this year, according to preliminary data from the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund’s (AALDEF) nonpartisan, multilingual exit poll of 5,351 Asian American voters. Here's what you need to know.
Among Asian American voters in Pennsylvania, 74.4% of those surveyed chose Senator-elect John Fetterman (D) compared to 21.8% who voted for Mehmet Oz (R). Fetterman won with 51% of the state’s overall vote to Oz’s 46.6%, according to the Associated Press.
In Georgia’s Senate election, which heads to a run-off in December, 60.1% of Asian Americans chose incumbent Rep. Raphael Warnock (D) while 33.3% voted for Herschel Walker (R), who came under fire in the last few months for campaigning against abortion while former partners accused him of asking them to have the procedure.
- Data point: In a race where abortion took the spotlight, 59.2% of Asian American voters said they support access to legal abortion while 21% said they oppose it. 19.8% said they didn’t know.
In Nevada, where Asian American voters make up 10% of the state’s electorate, incumbent Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D) enjoyed high support among Asian American voters despite winning the race by a razor-thin margin.
- The breakdown: 66.9% of Asian Americans voted for Cortez Masto, while 25.6% chose Republican Adam Laxalt, who has rejected President Joe Biden’s victory in 2020. Among states with the largest shares of eligible Asian American voters, Nevada ranks third-highest behind Hawai‘i and California, according to the Pew Research Center.
The Texas exception: A majority of Asian American voters chose Republican candidates in races for the state’s congressional seats. A narrow majority also voted for incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott (R), who defeated Democrat Beto O’Rourke to win a third term.
- 51.5% of voters chose to re-elect Abbott while 45.7% of voters chose his challenger, per AALDEF’s preliminary data.
- Worth noting: The margin of votes among Asian American voters was thinner than the margin statewide, where Abbott won with 54.8% of overall votes compared to O’Rourke’s 43.8%, the Associated Press reports.
In House races across Texas, 52.6% of Asian Americans voted for Republican candidates, compared to 43.9% for Democratic ones.
- Jobs and the economy, education, and health care were top factors influencing the House vote in the state.
This story appeared as "The Big Story" in The Yappie's Nov. 14, 2022 newsletter.
The Yappie is your must-read briefing on AAPI power, politics, and influence, fiscally sponsored by the Asian American Journalists Association. Make a donation, subscribe, and follow us on Twitter (@theyappie). Send tips and feedback to [email protected].
