Harris is more popular than Trump among AAPI voters, a new APIA Vote/AAPI Data survey finds

WASHINGTON — Vice-Chairman Kamala Harris is viewed more favorably by Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander voters on record than by the former president Donald TrumpAAPI voters are also more likely to believe she is the candidate who better represents their background and policy vision, a new poll shows.

The new research of AAPI Data And APIAVote finds that about 6 in 10 AAPI voters have a very or somewhat favorable opinion of Harris, while about a third have a somewhat or very unfavorable opinion. By comparison, 3 in 10 AAPI voters have a favorable opinion of Trump, and about two-thirds view him unfavorably.

That’s an increase in Harris’ popularity since October 2023, when a AP-NORC/AAPI Data Poll found that about half of AAPI adults had somewhat or very favorable opinions of her. Opinions of Trump among this group have remained stable.

Harris is both Black and South Asian American and has worked to mobilize AAPI voters in swing states like Georgia, where their numbers are growing. But while the poll shows 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 represents their background and culture better, while only about 1 in 10 say the same about Trump — it’s not clear to what extent that affects their perspectives on the candidates.

Only about 3 in 10 AAPI voters say Harris’ Asian Indian identity is extremely or very important to them, though some AAPI Americans may connect more with her background than others. About 7 in 10 Asian Indian adults see Harris as the candidate who better represents their background and culture, a higher rate than AAPI adults overall.

Ping Hackl, a 27-year-old Chinese-American independent from Tulsa, Oklahoma, plans to vote for Harris, but not because of the Democratic candidate’s race or gender.

“I don’t really care. She could be anyone,” Hackl said.

Hackl says she is concerned about preserving democracy and divisions that could lead to political violence, which is why she believes Trump is “very dangerous for the country.”

In fact, the poll suggests that Harris’ gender may matter more to AAPI voters than her race. While Harris’ campaign has avoided emphasizing that she could be the first female president, about half of AAPI female 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 background as Asian or Asian American is at least “very” important to how they feel about themselves, and they are more likely to say this about their identity as a person of color. And younger AAPI voters, those between the ages of 18 and 34, care most about Harris’s identity as a woman.

“We’ve seen so much organizing from young people, but also AAPI women 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.

And the research suggests that AAPI voters may be hearing more from Democratic organizers. About 4 in 10 AAPI voters said they had been contacted “a lot” or “somewhat” by the Democratic Party in the past year, while about 3 in 10 said the same about the Republican Party.

Trump and Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance have also recently had ultrasounds done The poll also reinforced old stereotypes about Asian Americans and food by amplifying false rumors that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, eat pets, and found that the issue of racism is broadly 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 bigger “deal-breaker” issue than the economy.

Not all AAPI voters have a negative view of Trump. Jihua Ma, a 45-year-old naturalized citizen from China living in Boston, leans Republican and voted for Trump in 2020. Ma believes Trump is still the most effective leader.

“I realize he’s mean and sometimes he posts mean pictures,” Ma said. “I’m choosing someone who’s really going to run this country, not someone who’s a friend, a nice person.”

Ma wants someone to get inflation and the border under control, and he’s not satisfied with Harris’ proposals on those issues. “I don’t see her policies as having a solid platform,” Ma said, adding that he couldn’t think of any accomplishments Harris has had as vice president or as a senator from California.

And it’s still possible that Trump could make up ground among AAPI voters, though the popularity gap between the candidates has a lot of ground to make up. “One issue where the Republican Party could undermine AAPI support is the economy and crime,” said Karthick Ramakrishnan, founder and executive director of AAPI Data. “And I think Harris has tried to mitigate some of those criticisms at this point by making some proposals.”

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Tang reported from Phoenix.