Former Vice President Joe Biden on Jan. 17 won a coveted endorsement from the Asian American Pacific Islander Victory Fund, a group that plans to spend $2 million turning out voters from AAPI communities during the Democratic primary.
The effort will target primary states with large Asian American populations, including California, Nevada and North Carolina.
“We believe that Joe Biden is the best candidate to defeat Trump and lead our country,” the group said in a statement. “Out of all the presidential candidates, he has the most experience and cares deeply about AAPI issues. In our view, Joe can lead us to a safer, more stable world, with less inequality and more justice …
“There is still a tremendous amount of work to be done in the next ten months, and AAPIs are more engaged than ever. We are committed to continuing our work for 2020 victories and delivering one million new voters for Joe Biden to win the presidency and for Democrats to increase their House majority and to take back the Senate.”
The endorsement is the result of polling commissioned by the group in September, which had Biden and Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders in a virtual tie, but Biden leading the pack in terms of perceived electability. There was also significant interest in Andrew Yang, Sen. Kamala Harris and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, all of whom have AAPI roots. Harris has since dropped out of the race, and Yang and Gabbard were absent from the latest debate.
On its Facebook page, AAPI Victory Fund said, “We make this endorsement with enormous respect for the three AAPIs who entered into the presidential race … The AAPI candidates broke new ground and excited many elements of our community, but in particular, what Andrew Yang has done is remarkable and deserves special recognition.”
The group, which aims to mobilize the 1.6 million AAPI eligible voters who didn’t vote in 2016, was encouraged by the results of the 2018 elections, where its efforts helped flip seats in heavily Asian American areas, like Orange County and Virginia.
Around 77 percent of AAPI voters nationwide voted Democratic in 2018, according to exit polls. AAPIs are the fastest-growing racial or ethnic group.
For more information, visit http://aapivictoryfund.com.