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Vice President Kamala Harris is speaking at the Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVote) Presidential Town Hall in Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon.
Harris, the first Asian American vice president in U.S. history, has been campaigning to reach AAPI voters throughout this election cycle. The most recent Asian American Voter Survey finds 46% of Asian American voters will vote for President Joe Biden, down from 54% in 2020, and 31% say they will vote for former President Donald Trump.
According to the survey, the economy, jobs, inflation, health care and education are among the most important issues for AAPI voters.
A recent report published by APIAVote found almost 60% of Asian American citizens of voting age cast a ballot in the 2020 election. The same survey found that 42% of eligible Asian Americans voters say they have not yet been contacted by either the Democratic or Republican parties in this election cycle.
Mina Yang, 30, came to the town hall from Eau Claire, Wisconsin, where she is working with an organization called Power Up to register and inform Hmong American voters.
Yang said it’s important to distinguish the many diverse communities within the Asian American and Pacific Islanders diaspora, such as Hmong Americans and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders.
“There’s been many groups that have been left behind. And I think that they’ve been vocal, but it’s just that no one’s really been listening,” she said. “And I think that it really does take the community to come together to do the work.”
Yang said that work is already happening.
“A lot of us Asian Americans, young people, we are wanting to get involved. And I think that we see how the anti-Asian hate has been affecting us,” she said.
