Asian American Early Voter Turnout at Record Levels - Strong Numbers in Pivotal Early States Nevada and North Carolina Have Potential to Tip Election

WASHINGTON—Early vote analysis by TargetSmart indicate that Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) voters are responding against Donald Trump and the GOP by voting in record numbers. Yesterday, Hillary Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook credited Asian Americans as part of the “Clinton Coalition” of high early voter turnout. Mook further stated, “if Secretary Clinton does win this election… it will in part be because of enormous turnout… in the Asian American community.”"The miracle of our democracy is unfolding today as Asian Americans are voting in record numbers across the country and will provide a winning margin in states like Nevada and North Carolina to elect Hillary Clinton as our next president,” said Dilawar Syed, co-founder and vice chair of the AAPI Victory Fund. “Donald Trump and the GOP debased immigrants and women. They built their campaign on a platform of hate and fear against an entire faith, even denigrating an AAPI Gold Star family. It has not gone unnoticed. Our community is mobilized and poised to emerge as a powerful member of the winning coalition.”In Nevada and North Carolina, the percent of AAPI voters is outpacing Hispanic voters, who are turning out in high numbers. In Nevada, AAPI early vote is 42.7% of the registered electorate and Hispanic vote is at 39.7%. In North Carolina, AAPI early vote is 37.7% versus 30.2% for Hispanics. Furthermore, participation in the state is up 74% in comparison to AAPI voter turnout in 2012.One of the critical investments made this cycle was providing AAPI ethnicity data about our fast-growing electorate, which more than doubled the number of people identified as AAPI in the voter file. The AAPI Victory Fund made this critical voting file available during this election cycle.“There will be many story lines out of this election and the most important to us is that our early investments in registering and turning out the AAPI community has paid precious dividends,” said Shekar Narasimhan, chairman and founder of the AAPI Victory Fund. “More than anything it shows that despite the lack of targeting of our communities by establishment political entities, our vote share toward Democrat candidates is creating an emerging AAPI voting block that has profound implications on this and future elections.”Using the newly created voter file to target AAPI voters, the AAPI Victory Fund published a number of online viral informational videos, including “What Does Donald Trump Think About Asians,” targeted at AAPIs in swing states. With nearly a half million views on Facebook alone, it is the most widely viewed AAPI targeted election ad in history."With proper stewardship, AAPI’s, the fastest-growing demographic in the U.S. since 2000, along with Latinos and other persons of color and progressives have shifted how elections are played,” said Tung Nguyen, co-founder and vice chair of the AAPI Victory Fund. “AAPI’s are more progressive than the average American and the trend line of our emerging power will shift how our elected leaders governs the country.”“We have seen Virginia turn blue based, in part, on the diversity of the northern Virginia suburbs,” said Bel Leong-Hong, co-founder and vice chair of the AAPI Victory Fund. “Similar demographic trends are happening across the country, in states as diverse as Georgia, Colorado, Arizona and Texas, where the AAPI community is an emerging electoral force.”