WASHINGTON –Politicians are waking up to the importance of courting Asian-Americans, but advocates worry that Democrats and Republicans still don’t understand the issues facing the growing minority group or how to move the community to participate in elections.
“Political leaders only reach out to Asian-American voters when they need to” said Lily Qi, vice chair at the Maryland Governor’s Commission on Asian American Affairs who consults on Asian-American civic engagement.
“They don’t really understand the concerns among the Asian-American community,” Qi said. “They also assumed Asian-Americans’ votes didn’t matter and this really upsets many voters.”
That perception may be about to change.
According to the latest Census data, Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders represent the fastest-growing minority group in the U.S. Much of the growth is in swing states, places like Florida, Nevada and Virginia, which will be crucial to the fall elections.
“This is an exciting moment for us as a community,” said Toby Chaudhari, the chairman of APIAVote, one of the leading organizations in rallying Asian-American voters, “because we can figure out how with the rise of our community, we can become more involved in the political process and get our say in the government.”
Yet many Asian-Americans, especially new immigrants unfamiliar with American politics, turn away from the electoral process because they lack trust in politicians and don’t have “a sense of belonging,” Qi said.
Many Asian-American voters are not registered with either party and therefore cannot vote in the primary election, Qi said.
Despite that, according to a recent APIAVote survey, this fall’s general election may see a record turnout among the Asian-American community, as five out of six Asian-Americans in Virginia indicated they are “almost certain” to vote in November.
However, community leaders are less optimistic since many Asian-Americans lack the necessary knowledge of the entire election process.
“Asian-American voters don’t really know the differences between the Democrats and Republicans because they have not been effectively engaged by either party,” said Christine Chen, the executive director of APIAVote.
According to the survey, 28 percent of Asian-American voters in Virginia reported being contacted by the Democratic Party in the past two years, while 18 percent were contacted by the Republican Party.
With more than one-third of Asian-American voters identifying themselves as undecided in the survey, both parties are going after this untapped bloc.
Parties making a play for votes
During a recent presidential town hall at George Mason University, surrogates for both presidential candidates made their cases to Asian-Americans.
Rep. Mike Honda, a Democrat from California who is also Japanese-American, said his party is doing everything in its power to make immigration reform a priority, citing recent administration overtures.
Honda, who represents a district in Silicon Valley where about 49 percent of the population is Asian-American, also lauded President Barack Obama for extending the payroll tax cut for 7.6 million Asian-American workers and providing more than $7 billion loans to small business owners.
Virginia Rep. Thomas Davis, a Republican, made the case for Mitt Romney, hailing the GOP presidential candidate’s successful experience in the private sector, which he said would benefit more than 1.5 million Asian American entrepreneurs.
Davis argued that many Asian-American small business owners still have difficulties accessing capital, as a result of hyper-regulation, high national debt and uncertainty brought by the expiring current tax rate.
Asian-Americans often believe it’s their work ethic than helps them stand out. Take the case of Anthony Irudhayanathan, an immigrant from India who created Zillion Technologies, Inc. with just $400. The technology-consulting company is now valued at about $8 million.
Irudhayanathan, like many other Asian-American business owners, started his technology-consulting company by himself in 2002 without taking out any government or private loans. Today, his Virginia-based company employs more than 70 people and has opened a branch in India.
“We believe that it is our ideas and products that really matter,” said Irudhayanathan. “As long as our service outperforms, the others, we can win the competitions wherever we are.”
More than 1.5 million Asian-Americans own businesses in the U.S., according to Census data.
Hot button topics
Asian-Americans, just like many other Americans, care about big-ticket issues such as the economy, employment, immigration and affordable health care, which was also reflected in the APIAVote survey.
Michelle Sohn, a recent Duke University graduate who is heading to Harvard Law School in the fall, said education is the most important issue to her.
“Definitely student loans, I mean, access to anything that helps me pay for education,” said Sohn, “The current administration is working in a very difficult economic and political environment, so I think they are doing a good job given these difficulties. But I look forward to seeing more progress.”
Sohn voted for Obama in 2008 when she was a freshman, but she said she would consider more carefully this year.
“I think I am still squarely in the Obama camp, but I am more than happy to listen to the idea from the other side as well.” Sohn explained.
Raja Krishna, a sophomore from Washington University whose parents came from New Delhi, India, said the government’s most-immediate task is to get people back to work.
“I know a significant amount of small businesses in the country are owned by Asian-Americans, so anything either candidate can do to help them get on their feet is going to benefit everybody.”