The Asian Vote
On the heels of John Chiang’s election as California State Controller, David Pierson of the LA Times reports on the growing Asian vote:
Democrat Chiang’s victory garnered the most headlines. But the election also resulted in a major shift at the State Board of Equalization: Four of its five members will be Asian American. They are termed-out Democratic Assemblywoman Judy Chu; board incumbent Betty Yee, a Democrat; newcomer Michelle Steel, a Republican; and Chiang, a member by virtue of being controller. The non-Asian is Republican incumbent Bill Leonard.
“There’s a new generation of Asian Americans getting involved in the community, governance and public policy,” said Chiang. “It speaks volumes about the resiliency of the community that a decade ago, it was under attack.”
The victories come on the heels of a study released by the Asian American Pacific Legal Center that showed the Asian American electorate grew by nearly a third in Los Angeles County and more than two-thirds in Orange County in the last few years.
Chu and others say that, aside from general population growth, registration drives and efforts to translate voter and campaign material in recent years have helped increase the size of the Asian American electorate. She also credited the popularity of absentee ballots. Of 22 million eligible voters in California, about 2.5 million are Asian Americans.
I bet the Asian vote is less monolithic than the Latino vote, which isn’t monolithic at all. I’m looking forward to finding some data.
