RECAP: AAPI Progressive Talks #4
Last week we spoke with organizers from Georgia and Pennsylvania to learn more about the AAPI voters in these key states.
We had an amazing discussion with our panelists and they reminded us that, as important as the presidential election is going to be this year, we can’t sleep on local races either. Take the time to familiarize yourself with the candidates and issues that are relevant to your district.
Panelists:
Aisha Yaqoob Mahmood, Director at Asian American Advocacy Fund
Mohan Seshadri, Political Director at Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance
Leslie Small, Georgia State Director at America Votes
Georgia
Leslie gave us an overview that we basically have a huge opportunity this year to, “flip the Georgia State House and pick up 16 State House seats and a great thing about that is that 12 of them, Stacey Abrams in 2018 either won outright or came within 3 points of money.”
And it’s a very attainable goal. “When the House formed the seats, they drew them thinking you could you know have a really low Black voter participation number but what they didn’t anticipate with the demographic gains amongst Asian-Pacific Islanders and Latinx voters.”
From an AAPI specific lens, Aisha made it clear that AAPI voters have a decisive role this year. “We also know that the Asian American vote could make or break these [battleground Georgia] elections. It was very clear in a lot of these races that because of Asian-American voters and because of Asian-American candidates, we were really able to uplift issues that don’t really get talked about, but also mobilize voters that don’t usually get touched.
What’s more is that AAPIs are making their voices heard. “Whether it’s family immigration or immigration enforcement or really addressing cuts to vital programs that our communities have been benefiting from, there’s been a massive mobilization, especially in the Indian community, in regards to the cuts to the H-1B Visas and a lot of other issues that our communities really seems to care about.”
Pennsylvania
According to Mohan, we’re seeing a similar a similar situation in Pennsylvania, “ where the AAPI population and specifically there AAPI vote is growing across the state just so happens to be pretty much every single swing legislative district in the state [of Pennsylvania] ….in every single one of those districts, there are hundreds if not thousands, of Asian American either voters or citizens who aren’t registered to vote, no one bothers talking to in 2018 or any time in the past.”
Which is why the work of progressive groups is so important in bridging the “massive gap in progressive infrastructure in the area that harms the broader movements ability to bring justice to all our people when it comes to labor rights, protections for immigrants, public education and our teacher, healthcare for everyone and you know environmental protections.”
Now more than ever, we need to build up where previous campaigns have been lacking in order to reach the AAPI voters who have long been ignored.
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Want to learn more? Keep an eye out on our Facebook and Twitter for the next installment of AAPI Progressive Talks. You can also watch some of our previous webinars where we discuss other battleground states, Covid-19’s impact on the AAPI community, and recent AAPI polling data.