WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris is viewed more favorably by registered voters of Asian, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander descent than the former president Donald Trumpaccording to a new poll. AAPI voters are also more likely to believe she is the candidate who best represents their race and political views.
The new investigation of AAPI Data And APIAVote The study found that about 6 in 10 AAPI voters have a very or somewhat favorable view of Harris, while about a third have a somewhat or very unfavorable view. By comparison, 3 in 10 AAPI voters have a positive view of Trump and about two-thirds have a negative view of him.
This is a surge in Harris’ popularity since October 2023, when a AP-NORC/AAPI Data Survey The results showed that about half of AAPI adults had a somewhat or very favorable opinion of her. Views of Trump among this group remained stable.
Harris is both Black and South Asian American, and has worked to rally AAPI voters In battleground states like Georgia, where their numbers are growing, the poll indicates that AAPI voters are much more likely to see their own cultural identity reflected in her than in Trump (about half of AAPI voters say Harris better represents their background and culture, while only about 1 in 10 say the same of Trump), but it’s unclear how much that influences their views of the candidates.
Only 3 in 10 AAPI voters say Harris’ Asian Indian identity is extremely or very important to them, though some AAPI Americans may feel more strongly about her background than others. About 7 in 10 Asian Indian adults see Harris as the candidate who best represents their background and culture, higher than all AAPI adults.
Ping Hackl, a 27-year-old Chinese-American independent in Tulsa, Oklahoma, plans to vote for Harris, but not because of the Democratic candidate’s race or gender.
“I don’t care. She could be anyone,” Hackl said.
Hackl said she is concerned about the preservation of democracy and divisions that could lead to political violence. She believes Trump “is very dangerous for the country.”
In fact, the poll suggests that Harris’ gender may be more important to AAPI voters than her race. While Harris’ campaign has avoided emphasizing that she could be the first female president, about half of AAPI women voters say her identity as a woman is extremely or very important to them.
AAPI women are also more likely than AAPI men to say that their own Asian or Asian American background is at least “very” important to how they see themselves, and they are also more likely to say this about their identity as a person of color. And younger AAPI voters, ages 18 to 34, are especially likely to care about Harris’ identity as a woman.
“We’ve seen a lot of organizing from young people as well as AAPI women who are really leading the different ethnic specific affinity groups like South Asians for women, South Asians for Harris, Korean Americans for Harris, Chinese Americans for Harris,” said Christine Chen, executive director of APIAVote.
The survey also suggests that AAPI voters are hearing more from Democratic organizers. About 4 in 10 AAPI voters said they had been contacted by the Democratic Party “often” or “somewhat” in the past year, while about 3 in 10 said the same about the Republican Party.
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Trump and Republican Vice Presidential Candidate JD Vance have also recently echoed Old stereotypes about Asian Americans and food have been amplified by false rumors that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, eat pets. The poll found that the issue of racism is overwhelmingly important to this group. About 7 in 10 AAPI voters say they “could never” vote for a candidate who doesn’t share their views on racism or discrimination, making it a more “decisive” issue than the economy.
However, not all AAPI voters have a negative view of Trump. Jihua Ma, a 45-year-old naturalized Chinese citizen living in Boston, is a Republican and voted for Trump in 2020. Ma believes Trump is still the most effective leader.
“I recognize that he is mean and sometimes he posts mean pictures,” Ma said. “I am electing someone to actually lead this country, not someone who will be a friend, a nice person.”
Ma wants someone who will control inflation and the border, and he is not happy with Harris’s proposals on those issues. “I don’t think her policies have a strong agenda,” Ma said, adding that he could not think of any accomplishments Harris has as vice president or senator from California.
It’s still possible that Trump could gain ground with AAPI voters, though the popularity gap between the candidates leaves plenty of ground to close. “The Republican Party could be undermining AAPI support on economic issues and on crime,” said Karthick Ramakrishnan, founder and executive director of AAPI Data. “And I think that’s where Harris has tried to mitigate some of that criticism by offering some proposals.”
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Tang reported from Phoenix.
