Two years ago, Republicans made unexpected gains in New York State, including in districts with large concentrations of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) voters. Our community, the fastest-growing demographic in New York and nationally, was significantly shifting toward the right.
As leaders in the Asian American community, Grace Lee, a state legislator representing Chinatown, and Trip Yang, one of the nation’s few top political strategists who identify as Asian American, we have led efforts to build the argument to meaningfully communicate with these communities, which culminated in the state party’s historic six-figure investment in AAPI voters in this November’s election.
In a December 2022 op-ed we wrote for the Gotham Gazette, we encouraged Democrats to deliver policies that lift up AAPI communities and to communicate those victories to AAPI voters. In those two years, we have met with key Democratic leaders in New York, whom we pushed to reconnect with Asian American voters. With the strong support of AAPI champions like Governor Kathy Hochul, Speaker Carl Heastie, and New York State Democratic Party Chairman Jay Jacobs, campaigns in New York are now investing in AAPI voters at an unprecedented level.
Recent elections have shown that when Democrats make a concerted effort to communicate with Asian American voters in the languages they speak and on the issues they care about, these voters can help flip key races from red to blue. This success offers an important lesson for Democrats across the country—AAPI voters can be the deciding factor in competitive elections.
The 2023 race for the competitive state Assembly seat now held by Democrat Sam Berger in Queens was a case in point. With the support of Speaker Carl Heastie and Assembly leaders like Grace, Assembly Democrats invested heavily in communicating with Asian American voters. Trip’s firm produced multilingual AAPI mailers for Berger’s campaign, helping him outperform prior Democratic results by 4% in AAPI-dense areas. Berger won by 10 points in a district that had swung Republican in the previous gubernatorial race.
We then set out to replicate that success in the special election in NY-03, a race that drew national attention. In this district, where almost 20% of voters are Asian American—more than twice the winning margin separating U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi from his Republican opponent—Trip’s firm led an independent effort to reach South Asian and Muslim voters. Post-election analysis revealed that in AAPI-heavy districts in Nassau County, Suozzi outperformed by 5.3% compared to the average district. The data also indicated that areas targeted by Trip’s firm saw a 4.6% higher turnout than those not targeted, showing the importance of culturally competent outreach.
Voters need to see real action backing these efforts and do not tolerate empty promises. In Albany, Democrats have been delivering for the AAPI community. Over the past 18 months, Grace has led efforts to pass historic legislation, including making Lunar New Year and Diwali school holidays and securing $30 million in state funding for Asian American nonprofits. She also strengthened New York’s hate crimes laws to combat anti-Asian violence and introduced a bill to ensure AAPI history is taught in schools. At the national level, Democrats have championed policies to lower costs, improve equity, and enhance safety for AAPI communities.
By being intentional in both our policy and our communications, Democrats can secure victories. In previous years, some of these wins would not have been possible because there had not been strategic investment in talking to AAPI communities. These successes laid the groundwork for us to make the case to the New York Democratic Party and other Democratic groups for larger investments in the November election.
Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York Democrats recently announced an investment of nearly $100,000 toward New York Congressional Districts 1 and 3. This money is being used to invest in culturally competent, multilingual direct mail and voter outreach with AAPI voters in six languages.
As we sprint to the finish line this November, New York Democrats will be able to see the results of our actions and investments. AAPI voters can help New York deliver key battleground Congressional victories. That work will set a blueprint for success in future elections as well. New York Democrats will show that earning the trust and the votes of this fastest-growing demographic can indeed be the margin of victory, especially when democracy is on the ballot.
Trip Yang is founder and CEO of Trip Yang Associates, a political consulting firm. Assembly Member Grace Lee represents the 65th Assembly District.
