Recently, I read this really interesting article by The New York Times titled “Crime Concerns Drove Asian Americans Away from New York Democrats”. This article primarily discusses the recent COVID-19-related AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islander) hate epidemic and the political responses from the AAPI community.

In New York, Asian American political bloc served as crucial and reliable voting for Democrats, but in the 2023 governor’s race in New York, Asian Americans voted for a Republican candidate for governor, Lee Zeldin. According to The New York Times, historically, Americans of Asian descent have voted Democrat, but in 2022, a large proportion of Asian voters voted Republican. Sources have found that the Republican candidate, Lee Zeldin’s platform was largely about Asian hate crimes and addressed the concern with Bill de Blasio’s plan to alter the admissions procedure for the city’s specialized high schools. Even though Mr. Seldin lost in his election, the Asian American voters encouraged Republican candidates to achieve unexpected wins in parliamentary seats on the lower ballot. For instance, Lester Chang, the first Asian American Republican to be elected to the State legislature, defeated Peter J. Abbate, a 36-year incumbent Democrat, in the southern Brooklyn districts. However, concerns over Mr. Chang’s legal status surrounding his arrival led the in-charge Assembly Democrats to explore removing him from office. Nevertheless, even though they opted against trying to have him expelled, Assemblyman Ron Kim noted that doing so would have resulted in a “huge backlash from the Asian community”. 

According to The New York Times, Asian American voters claimed that their resentment of the Democratic Party was deep-rooted and a product of years of unhappiness. Several of them expressed their disappointment in a party they felt had abandoned them. They claimed that Democratic objectives failed to take into account the critical challenges that Asian Americans deal with on a daily basis. Karen Wang, a Democrat of Asian descent, said that “[Her] vote was purely a message to Democrats: Don’t take my vote for granted” and that “Being Asian, I felt I had a bigger target on my back.”- referencing to the murder of Christina Yuna Lee and the 2021 Atlanta Spa Shooting. Attacks, prejudice, and the use of xenophobic epithets have increased as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The statistics gathered from last year in the United States are alarming. Over 3,800 instances of prejudice against Asians were reported to Stop AAPI Hate, a coalition that monitors violent crimes and harassment against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the U.S. 

When Asian Americans with political parties confronted a serious issue and the Democratic Party- which was supposed to represent them- did little to support them, they switched to the Republican Party. This demonstrates how representation is crucial in this country and that one racial group holds the power to change the political environment. 

For more information, check out the article pasted below.

Ferré-sadurní, Luis, and Ellen Yan. “Crime Concerns Drove Asian Americans Away from New York Democrats.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 10 Jan. 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/10/nyregion/asian-voters-republican-crime-nyc.html.