Asian American voters could decide New Jersey gubernatorial election
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A Democratic National Committee (DNC) official warned that the Democratic Party is not doing enough to support Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) voters and could jeopardize the party’s gubernatorial bid in the deep blue state of New Jersey, home to one of the nation’s largest Asian American populations.
“We’ve lost ground with a lot of our communities,” DNC Vice Chair Shasti Conrad told the Democratic Party’s Fox Digital following their 2024 election loss. “The Asian American community was one of them. Where we found … more votes went to Donald Trump, not overall, but there was a decline in support for Democrats in terms of change from 2020 to 2024.”
“I’ve certainly seen the Republican Party make a greater effort, especially in the last few years, to reach Asian American voters,” Conrad added. “And, you know, while there’s a lot of anti-Asian rhetoric and anti-Asian hate coming out of the Republican Party, it’s also really tapping into fears about the economy, about the impact of taxes on the Asian American community, and there are actually more Republicans going into Asian community spaces.”
The year 2025 is an off-season election year, with only Virginia and New Jersey holding gubernatorial elections and New York City’s highly anticipated mayoral race.
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Rep. Mikie Sherrill and Jack Ciattarelli face off in the gubernatorial debate as they compete to become New Jersey’s next governor. (Heather Khalifa/Associated Press)
New Jersey was a long-time Democratic stronghold before former President George H.W. Bush voted for a Republican presidential candidate during the 1988 election. But Trump has won the support of New Jersey voters in the 2024 elections, sparking new enthusiasm among Republicans to turn the state red.
New Jersey votes to elect former Vice President Kamala Harris He was elected president in the 2024 race, but post-election data showed Trump and the GOP flipped five counties red. As a result, Trump narrowed his 2020 loss from 16 points to six in 2024.
Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill has been named the party’s nominee for governor and will face Republican Jack Ciattarelli in the Nov. 4 election.
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New Jersey has a huge Asian American population of just over one million in the state, with a total population of approximately 9.5 million. 2024 voting data shows there are 584,236 eligible Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) voters in the state.
Conrad, who is also chairman of the Washington State Democratic Party, told Fox Digital that a lack of access to the voting bloc could hurt the Democratic Party’s efforts to retain the governorship. He said he reminded party members that “there are a million Asian Americans in New Jersey” and that “we, as Democrats, have not invested as much in the community as we could at our own peril.”
(From left) Sophia Danenberg, Shasti Conrad and Junelle Cavero attend the “Our Future, Our Freedom” DNC celebration concert in Chicago in 2024. (Jeff Schear/Getty Images)
AAPI voters “are the fastest-growing demographic in this country, and we are growing in states we need to win,” he added. “We’re growing in the South. We’re a growing population in North Carolina, Georgia, Texas.”
On the national stage, 57% of Asian voters backed Harris in 2024, but Trump also increased his margin in the voting bloc compared to 2020. While Trump won 30% of the Asian vote in 2020, he saw a quarter of the Asian vote cast in his favor in 2024. Pew data.
The DNC leader said the party needs to meet AAPI voters in their communities and listen directly to their concerns, whether at temples, churches or Asian-owned businesses.
The voting bloc has many cultural backgrounds and is therefore a very nuanced group. Conrad noted the group’s diversity when listing the top common voting concerns among AAPI voters, including the economy and immigration; most importantly their relationship to H-1B visas.
Conrad said Republicans have recently met with Asian voters at their churches, workplaces and other cultural events, and the party is increasingly backing Asian candidates.
“They did more,” Conrad said of the GOP. “They’re also running more Asian candidates, which … is sometimes confusing for voters, especially for Asian Americans, a community that prides itself on having leadership that comes from the community.”
He called on Democrats to include Asian voters in their joint campaign platform focusing on Black, Latino, rural and young voters.
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Indian American signs for Donald Trump rally Hindu Indian-American rally for “Humanity United Against Terrorism” in Edison, New Jersey. (Universal Images Group via Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Getty Images)
“As we talk about the importance of really building this coalition, we have to continue to include Asian Americans in that,” he said. “And I think sometimes, as you know, we’re not even considered or thought about or remembered as a really important population that needs to be taken care of.”
“Throughout the campaign, Mikie partnered directly with Asian communities and shared his vision of lowering costs, increasing support for small businesses, and ensuring people have the opportunity to achieve the American dream right here in New Jersey,” Sherrill campaign spokesperson Sam Chan told Fox News Digital when asked about his AAPI endorsements.
“As governor, Mikie will work to ensure Trenton serves everyone,” Chan continued. “Mikie will work to make starting and growing a small business easier and lower costs, ensure our schools are fully funded, and defend our constitutional rights and uphold legislation. Mikie’s Saving You Time and Money Agenda will help business owners start and expand their ventures, while the State of Emergency on Utility Costs will end rate hikes and reduce utility bills.”
Chan also criticized Trump in his remarks, saying Ciattarelli “applauded Trump as he attacked our communities, ripped billions of dollars from our schools and public transportation system, and raised prices with his unaffordable tariffs, while Mikie rushed to fight for all New Jerseyans.”
Fox News Digital also spoke with New Jersey Democrat Parul Khemka, who is running for re-election on the Livingston Board of Education. Parul Khemka said the Sherrill campaign is increasingly participating in cultural events, including the Diwali celebration.
“Even Bergen County has a large East Asian population, so it benefits from that, too. It’s just New Jersey that’s a little weird. You’d think it’d be one party, one thing… But different counties have their own different characteristics, so you have to figure that out as you go along.”
He added that Sherrill has participated in cultural events in the congressional district, which includes parts of Essex, Morris and Passaic counties in North Jersey, and that his office has historically been accessible.
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While Khemka said the top priorities for the AAPI community are generally education, immigration and visas, and the economy and affordability, he also noted that the mass voting bloc is nuanced and diverse. He said AAPI voters have always moved further to the left, but as Trump campaigned to get the economy back on track in the wake of rising inflation, voters have moved further to the right.
President Donald Trump arrives at a campaign rally on Saturday, May 11, 2024, in Wildwood, NJ. (Matt Rourke/Associated Press)
Kehmka said Democrats are better positioned to appeal to AAPI voters because they understand the nuances of voters’ political concerns as opposed to broad issues.
“The Democratic Party, frankly, is a little better at understanding these nuanced issues than the Republican Party, and they don’t put everyone in the same boat,” he said, adding that New Jersey’s AAPI community could make or break Democrats holding the governor’s mansion.
The Sherrill campaign, for example, launched multilingual phone banking and campaign programs in towns with large Asian voters; Sherrill himself also met with voters in his communities.
Conrad said the Sherrill campaign has made more headway among AAPI voters in recent months, pointing to outreach events over the weekend that included DNC chairman Ken Martin traveling to the Garden State to drum up support for the ticket.
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“We laid out an AAPI-focused canvas. And then…DNC Chairman Ken Martin hosted an AAPI roundtable to meet with AAPI leaders and demonstrate that commitment. What I’ve heard is, even in just a month, I’ve heard a huge shift from the community in terms of feeling like they’re becoming more directly engaged with the Sherrill campaign, and we feel better about that,” Conrad said.
“I think it’s happening,” he added, praising the efforts of the DNC’s AAPI group, particularly South Asians for America, to rally support from Democrats ahead of high-stakes elections in New Jersey and Virginia.
The New Jersey gubernatorial election will be held on November 4.
Fox News Digital reached out to Ciattarelli’s campaign on Thursday for comment about AAPI support but has not yet received a response.
