The AAPI Victory Fund Focuses on Rural AAPI Voters in Georgia Run-off
Rural AAPI Voters are Critical Demographic to Flip Senate in 117th Congress
WASHINGTON - Today, early voting begins for Georgia run-off elections. Since November 3, the AAPI Victory Fund launched a full scale Senatorial campaign in rural Georgia to mobilize Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) for Democrats Jon Ossoff and Reverend Raphael Warnock. If the candidates win both Georgia Senate seats, Democrats will be able to take control of the U.S. Senate and ensure the new Biden-Harris administration will be able to pass key priorities. The AAPI Victory Fund endorsed both candidates earlier this summer. Earlier this fall, Democrats turned out in record numbers, flipping the state blue for the first time since President Clinton won in 1992. This was due to the historic turnout from the AAPI community. AAPIs represent almost five percent of the electorate, and the population has grown by almost 140 percent since 2000.
“The AAPI Victory Fund has been investing in the Georgia electorate since 2017,” said Varun Nikore, president of the AAPI Victory Fund. “This Southern strategy has since paid off, but much work into infrastructure remains and particularly into identifying AAPI voter sub-ethnicities in order to properly target our voters. In the 2020 election where Biden won Georgia by only 12,000 votes, there were 30,500 who were first-time AAPI voters. There’s still so much untapped potential from AAPI voters in these key battleground states, particularly for the 55,000 AAPIs who live in rural areas. In elections with razor thin margins, these votes matter more than ever before.”
“The AAPI Victory Fund is working with a coalition of national and local AAPI and mainstream organizations to turn out the vote for Democrats across the state,” said Katie Kalvoda, board member of the AAPI Victory Fund. “While there are concerted efforts targeting voters in urban and suburban areas, it is just as critical to focus on rural Georgia where at least 58% AAPIs cast a ballot for Biden, and more than enough to flip the two Senate seats.”
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The AAPI Victory Fund is focused on mobilizing Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) eligible voters and moving them to the ballot box.