Asian American Vote Could Determine Where Nevada Goes In The Presidential Election: First Results Of Poll On Asian Americans

Published on Thu, May 17, 2012 (5:11 p.m.)

Submitted by National Asian American Coalition

First Presidential Poll of Asian Americans
Illustrates Importance of Asian American Vote in Key Swing States

San Bruno, CA - The National Asian American Coalition, a nonpartisan nonprofit headquartered in California (with a Washington, D.C. regulatory and congressional liaison office), issued the results of what it believes is the first Asian American presidential poll of the 2012 campaign.

The in-person survey of one hundred fifty Pan-Asian Americans indicates that the Asian American vote, unlike other minority votes, is up for grabs between Romney and Obama. Most importantly, the survey indicates the Asian American vote could substantially affect many swing states such as Virginia and Nevada. (The difference between the Asian American and other minority votes may in part be explained by the fact that the Asian American population has far more college graduates and significantly higher incomes than the national average.)

Because of the difficulty of Gallup and other national pollsters in determining Asian American presidential preferences, the NAAC conducted an in-person survey (rather than a phone poll) that was geared to a Pan-Asian audience attending the Asian Cultural Festival in San Diego. The attendees were from Southern California.

The survey showed that Asian Americans, who were registered voters, preferred Romney by 56% to 44%. In contrast, in the latest New York Times/CBS poll, 46% preferred Romney and 43% President Obama.

Most significantly, the Asian American vote, unlike the Latino vote (which appears to be 2:1 for Obama) or the Black vote (which appears to be more than 9:1 for Obama) is clearly up for grabs.

The other question asked in this simple in-person survey was, “Which U.S. presidential candidate do you believe will be more likely to create jobs and promote the economy over the next four years?” Of those with an opinion, 53% believe Romney would be more likely and 47% believe that the President would be more likely to create jobs. 4% of the sample had no opinion.

Virginia is a key swing state where the Asian American population has doubled, according to the census, from 2000 to 2010. Almost 7% of the total population (6.5%) is Asian Americans. If Asian Americans voted similarly to Hispanics or even slightly in favor of President Obama, Virginia could, under many circumstances, be a swing state that the President could win.

In Nevada, which is another key swing state, the Asian American population has almost tripled from 2000 to 2010. The type of campaigning by the presidential candidates could clearly affect the outcome in this state.

Other swing states where the Asian American vote could affect the outcome in a close race are: Colorado (3.7%), Pennsylvania (3.2%), Florida (3%), North Carolina (2.6%), Iowa (2.1%) and Ohio (2.1%).

Attached are essentially identical letters to President Obama and presidential candidate Mitt Romney describing the results and the methodology.

Faith Bautista, the President/CEO of the nonpartisan National Asian American Coalition, said, “For too long Asian Americans have been ignored. But, today we are eighteen million strong. We could affect the outcomes of the presidential elections in key swing states such as Virginia and Nevada, and possibly in the swing states of Colorado, Pennsylvania, Florida, North Carolina, Iowa and Ohio, where Asian Americans represent more than 2% of the population.”

“In our letters to President Obama and presidential candidate Romney, we urge them to conduct vigorous campaigns courting the Asian American vote in eight swing states. We will also be inviting the presidential candidates to forums that we will hold with other Asian American groups in the swing states of Virginia and Nevada.”

“We are also urging that both presidential candidates campaign in California among other Asian Americans since California’s Asian Americans are often the opinion leaders for the Asian American community nationwide.”

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