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The Big Story
?️ ANALYSIS—PROGRESSIVES’ MIDTERM WARNING: Roughly 70% of Asian American voters backed Biden last year, but Democrats saw AAPI support shift to Republicans in 11 battleground states last year, according to data from the progressive group Way to Win’s post-election study—a sign that could spell trouble as the party seeks to keep control of Congress next year.
Why it matters: With Democrats relying on voters of color, the AAPI electorate’s rapid growth guarantees that AAPIs will be a deciding factor in future elections, Way to Win President Tory Gavito tells The Yappie’s Andrew Peng and Shawna Chen. In Virginia, where voters will elect their next governor in less than a month, Democrats suffered an 11.2% decline in AAPI support across the 2016 and 2020 cycles.
In the same four-year period, Way to Win’s analysis found that AAPI support for Democrats fell by 10% in Georgia, 8.5% in Texas, 7.5% in Florida, 6.3% in Nevada, 6% in both Colorado and North Carolina, and 4.2% in Michigan.
Our take: With misinformation and disinformation running rampant on ethnic media platforms like WeChat, WhatsApp, and Kakao, both parties need a more aggressive, year-round engagement strategy that doesn’t simply focus on traditional topics like immigration or education.
What to watch: The Republican National Committee has launched AAPI outreach centers in California’s Little Saigon and Georgia’s Gwinnett County—one more is planned for Atlanta—while Democrats are investing in a $25 million initiative aimed at boosting voter protection and education among communities of color.
On the Trail
? 2022 WATCH—HUGE HOUSE HAULS: The Q3 2021 FEC filings are in—and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi’s (D-Illinois) haul tops the list among AAPI House members, The Yappie’s Dan Hu reports. The Illinois Democrat took in over $1 million from July through September, bringing his total war chest to nearly $11 million. It’s an open secret that Krishnamoorthi is raising funds to run for the Senate if an Illinois seat opens up, the Chicago Sun-Times’ Lynn Sweet writes.
- Other top fundraisers include Rep. Young Kim (R-California) and her surprising $981,000 haul–which almost doubles her total cash on hand. Reps. Andy Kim (D-New Jersey), Ro Khanna (D-California), and Michelle Steel (R-California) were the only other AAPI House members to bring in over $750k.
UPDATE—DNC TARGETS VIRGINIA AAPIS: The Democratic National Committee announced Thursday that it will launch a wave of ads targeting voters of color in a bid to bolster former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe in the state’s gubernatorial race, including a campaign in Northern Virginia AAPI print outlets.
? ANTI-ASIAN POST FUELS GOP INFIGHTING: Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) is calling on the state GOP chair Jim Lyons to resign after it was revealed that Lyons knew of a GOP candidate’s anti-Asian statements but ignored calls to rescind his endorsement. Jaclyn Corriveau, the committee’s only Asian American member, said she alerted Lyons to former Boston City Council hopeful Donnie Palmer’s racist Facebook post. Palmer did not make the Nov. 2 ballot, but the GOP chair refused to intervene.
- Meanwhile… Boston City Councilor Michelle Wu (D) holds a commanding 32% lead in the city’s mayoral race–a huge margin over fellow Councilor Annissa Essaibi George (D)—per a new WBUR poll. Wu and Essaibi George faced off in their first TV debate last week, where they discussed rent-relief, Boston Public Schools, and police reform.
MAKING MOVES—The progressive AAPI political action committee CAPA21 has named actress Tamlyn Tomita, retired California politician Maeley Tom, and former senior counselor to the White House National Economic Council Ginger Lew as its new co-chairs.
?️ IN THE STATES: Asian Americans could become a majority in three California districts after this redistricting cycle, according to the Public Policy Institute of California. This year’s round of redistricting, a process that occurs every 10 years to reflect demographic changes, will be the first to take place under a new state law that aims to keep “communities of interest” together for city and county districts—including ethnic enclaves, reports CalMatters’ Sameea Kamal.
- On the other hand… Texas Republicans’ proposed map for its state congressional districts would dilute the power of Asian and Hispanic voters with “surgical precision,” the Texas Tribune reports.
- The stakes for redistricting in New Jersey, where a wave of Asian American candidates is surging in state assembly races, are also high. Candidates include Filipino American Arlito Kemal, Korean American Ellen Park and Park’s running mate, Pakistani American Shama Haider, reports the North Jersey Record’s Mary Chao.
The Biden Era
NEW CLIMATE URGENCY: Pacific Islanders were the first to sound the alarm about the climate crisis. But frustrations are building as Biden blunders his way through his climate agenda, which some activists say fail to center hardest-hit Indigenous communities, Shawna Chen writes for Axios.
- Why this matters: Pacific Islanders have borne the brunt of climate change and the toxic aftermath of U.S. nuclear experiments. They were forced to tackle the crisis long before the rest of the world opened its eyes.
- With their very existence at stake, PI nations were disappointed when the Republic of the Marshall Islands was the only Pacific voice invited to the president’s May climate summit. Indigenous people make up less than 5% of the global population but protect a third of the earth’s biodiversity, Vox’s Benji Jones notes.
- Related: Indigenous-led climate activists protested all week in D.C., calling on Biden to end pipeline projects that encroach on Native land. Protesters rallied outside of the White House and the Capitol. A group staged a separate sit-in at the Department of the Interior. Hundreds were arrested, reports Newsweek’s Rebecca Klapper.
? PULSE—BIDEN’S APPROVAL DIPS: Recent polls suggest Biden’s job approval is shrinking among key Democratic constituencies amid stalled congressional negotiations over his domestic agenda. Most voters still express strong support for his climate, infrastructure, and health care plans, however.
- Biden’s rating among Asian American adults fell by 14 points between late July and September, according to the Pew Research Center. 54% of respondents say they somewhat or strongly approve of his performance.
MORE ASIAN AMERICANS TAPPED FOR KEY ROLES: Air Force veteran Ravi Chaudhary and former Asia trade executive Glen Fukushima are two of Biden’s latest picks for federal administration roles, the White House announced Thursday.
- Biden intends to nominate Chaudhary, an Indian American who served as a pilot, as assistant secretary of the Air Force for Installations, Energy, and the Environment. The former Department of Transportation executive was a member of Obama’s Advisory Commission on AAPIs and has been outspoken on the need to support AAPI veterans.
- If confirmed by the Senate, Fukushima will sit as vice chair of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation, a federally-mandated nonprofit. He previously served as a co-founder and chair of CAPA21.
On the Hill
? TAKANO, CAPAC MEMBERS DEFEND TUITION-FREE COLLEGE: Rep. Mark Takano (D-California) and 17 other members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus are urging House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D) and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D) to retain all of Biden’s America’s College Promise proposals in the Build Back Better Act, which faces cuts as progressives and moderates clash over the bill’s size.
- What’s at stake: The bill, co-introduced by Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Illinois), would provide all Americans—including Dreamers—with two years of free community college and establish a new grant program for low-income students at HBCUs and Minority-Serving Institutions.
SPOTTED—The word “Asian” appears 7 times in Biden’s 2,400+ page Build Back Better Act, notes The Yappie’s Mary Yang. The term “Pacific Islander” appears 5 times, while “Native Hawaiian” appears 32 times.
⚖️ EX-PENTAGON OFFICIAL ‘DITCHES’ JAN. 6 DEPOSITION: Kash Patel, a former Defense Department official and Trump loyalist, failed to appear Thursday for a scheduled deposition before the House panel investigating the Capitol insurrection, Roll Call reports.
- What could happen: Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-Florida), who sits on the Jan. 6 select committee, has said that the panel will likely enforce subpoenas to “the full extent of consequences that is available by the law.”
AAPI Nation
? NUMBER OF THE WEEK — 79: That’s the percentage of AAPI respondents who reported receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, with only 4% reporting distrust, according to findings from a new UCLA-led survey of nearly 15,000 people. Members of the AAPI community “exhibited the most trust in coronavirus vaccines” among all racial groups, researchers say.
Here's what else is happening across America..
- With federal COVID-19 unemployment benefits coming to an end, many AAPI California residents—particularly immigrants—are facing extra challenges in the job hunt, reports KQED’s Mary Franklin Harvin.
- Minnesota youth advocate Azrin Awal, 25, could become the first Asian American and Muslim member of Duluth’s City Council, Sahan Journal’s Hibah Ansari notes. Awal, an immigrant from Bangladesh who is currently pursuing an undergraduate degree in public health, has focused on sexual violence and housing access in her advocacy.
- Gun lobbyists have shifted their sights towards the mostly untapped market of potential Asian buyers, a development that has made some AAPI community groups nervous, Sampan reports.
- Pacific Islanders face an impossible choice: leave their island or fight to stay? A new series produced by The Guardianexplores the forces that threaten their very existence.
- Ohio state Sen. Tina Maharath (D) is sponsoring a bill to include Asian American studies in public school curriculums, reports NBC Asian America’s Claire Wang. If passed, Ohio would be the second state after Illinois to make the mandate. Three Florida lawmakers have introduced similar legislation.
- Hawai‘i’s limited-seats distance learning program does not adequately accommodate students with learning disabilities, advocates say. Many families with immunocompromised children had little choice but to keep students home last year, reports Honolulu Civil Beat’s Suevon Lee.
- The legacies of Spanish colonialism in the Philippines take a heavy toll on Filipino Americans’ mental health, Agnes Constante writes for the Los Angeles Times.
- Though diversity initiatives in tech have ignored Asian Americans, they continue to face racism in the workplace and systemic barriers to leadership roles. “I have been second-guessed as a default, until I've proven beyond a very high bar that not only do I know what I'm talking about, but I'm the expert in the room,” software executive Yeong Cheng told Axios’ Shawna Chen.
- The family of Angelo Quinto, a Filipino American man who died last year after a police officer knelt on his neck, says they’re experiencing mixed emotions two weeks after California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed eight police reform bills into law, including one named after Quinto.
- Sikh American advocates say anti-Sikh hate crimes remain underreported despite jumping 37% from 2019 to 2020 according to FBI data. Reporting is voluntary, and many communities of color do not feel comfortable engaging with law enforcement, SALDEF’s Kiran Kaur Gill tells PBS Newshour’s Frances Kai-Hwa Wang.
- Pacific Islanders in Washington state are demanding that the city of Spokane take down a 1906 statue of a sailor who killed Samoans in targeted attacks on villages. The statue also calls Samoans “savages.”
- The University of Southern California will publicly apologize to Japanese American students who attended the school during World War II and award them posthumous degrees. Japanese American alumni have pushed USC to make amends for refusing to recognize the coursework they completed before they were forced into internment camps, the Los Angeles Times’ Teresa Watanabe writes.
- More low-income Asian Americans are moving out of New York City and into the suburbs where housing is less expensive, but many still travel back to the city to access services in their native language, David Brand reports for City Limits.
- In another part of the city, Asian Americans are joining working-class New Yorkers of color to protest a planned luxury development that would cut into Chinatown.
- Finally… In a reflection published in YES!, Kyoung Mi Choi recounts her experience coming out to her mom as lesbian. It took years, but her mom “ultimately replaced her feelings of shame and guilt with deeper understanding and love.” Her mom opened up about her own stories of hardship, and the two became closer than before.
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