There is an ever-increasing competition between Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris to win the hearts of Asian American voters in the race for the U.S. presidential election this November. Out of 330 million U.S. citizens as of 2022, those of Asian descent took up around 7.5 percent (24.7 million), a relatively smaller share than Caucasians, Hispanics, Afro-Americans, and other races.

However, Asian-American voters have grown 15 percent for the last four years since 2020, showing a faster growth than Hispanics (12 percent) and Afro-Americans (7 percent). Added to this, the two candidates are in a neck-and-neck situation within the margin of error according to recent surveys and public polls. Given that every single vote matters to both of them, they all are determined to gain Asian American support.

What’s more, voter turnout among Asian Americans has risen considerably. The national turnout among Asian American voters was 40 percent higher in the 2020 presidential election than the previous one in 2016. According to The New York Times, Asian Americans only accounted for 4 percent of voters nationwide in 2020, which was way lower than Hispanics and Afro-Americans, who accounted for 15 percent each. However, this upcoming election will be greatly influenced by Asian voters in almost every state.

Kamala Harris, whose father is Afro-Jamaican American and whose mother is of Tamil-Indian descent, puts an extra effort into targeting Asian American voters. She is the first U.S. presidential candidate of Asian descent.

Woo-Sun Lim imsun@donga.com