Republican Janet Nguyen A Vietnamese-American, Nguyen won 60% of the vote for a California State Senate seat. Janet 2014.com |
The Coming of
Asian-Republicans
Recent US election cycles suggest Republicans have some distance to go in winning minority support in major elections. But there was some indication from Tuesday's polls that they are making headway with Asian-Americans, the fastest-growing minority group in the country.
Asian-Republicans
Recent US election cycles suggest Republicans have some distance to go in winning minority support in major elections. But there was some indication from Tuesday's polls that they are making headway with Asian-Americans, the fastest-growing minority group in the country.
While the sample included only 129 Asian respondents, the data may reflect greater Republican engagement with minority voters since 2012.
National exit polling of voters electing House of Representatives members found that almost half of Asian-Americans questioned - 49 per cent - supported Republican candidates. That is about twice the share who backed Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election.
The issues that Asian voters identified as most significant mirrored those of the general electorate - the economy first, followed by health care, foreign policy and immigration reports the South China Morning Post
More Asian voters (21 per cent) identified foreign policy as the most important issue than the electorate did generally (12 per cent).
The president's struggles in foreign policy may help to explain the relative success that Republicans had with Asian-American voters. But another explanation is that Republicans devoted more effort to cultivating Asian voters. The Republican National Committee (RNC) focused on them in key races in Virginia and Colorado, and they played a part in targeted congressional races in California and other states.
In Virginia, the Asian vote is becoming increasingly significant. A recent RNC report noted that Asian-Americans made up one-twentieth of Virginia's population, a 68 per cent increase over the past decade.
Senate candidate Ed Gillespie and House candidate Barbara Comstock led events in the Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Indian and Filipino communities. Comstock was victorious in a challenging congressional district, while Gillespie's race is too close to call.
In Colorado, the RNC held events in the Korean and Chinese communities for Senate and House candidates, who both won, and its candidate for governor, who narrowly lost.
Republican Ling-Ling Chan Chinese-American Chan pulled a massive 64% of the vote to win a Los Angeles County area seat in the California State Assembly. Ling 4 Assembly.com |
Republican Young Kim Korean-American Kim won 55% of the vote to take an Orange County, California State assembly seat. Young Kim 2014.com |
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