Support for Biden declines among Asian American voters, new survey says

VP Harris, Asian American leaders address AANHPI community in Philadelphia

A new survey from a coalition of Asian American advocacy groups shows that Biden is losing support from AAPI voters—the nation’s fastest growing voting bloc.

The 2024 Asian American Voter Survey—conducted between April 4 to May 26—found that less than half (46%) of Asian American voters would select Biden if the election were to happen at the time of the survey. In the same scenario, a third (31%) of Asian Americans would vote for Trump.

Nearly a quarter (23%) said they were undecided, would vote for a third-party candidate, or refused to share an answer.

The survey—which polled just under 2,500 registered voters by phone and online—was released Wednesday, July 10 by AAPI Data, APIAVote, Asian Americans Advancing Justice and the AARP.

The survey aims to guage the voting attitudes and behaviors among the Asian American voting bloc’s largest communities: Indian, Filipino, Japanese, Vietnamese, Korean, and Chinese.

For Filipino American voters, 40% would have voted for Biden — among the lowest percentages of the surveyed groups — and 33% would have voted for Trump.

Although Asian American voters still prefer Biden over former President Donald Trump, support for Biden dropped from 2020, when 54% of Asian American voters planned to vote for Biden.

When it comes to favorability, 44% of Asian American voters view Biden either “very” or “somewhat” unfavorably while 62% view Trump either “very” or “somewhat” unfavorably.

Voting trends for other key congressional races remain the same with a majority of Asian Americans preferring Democratic candidates (51% for Democratic House candidates, 50% for Democratic Senate candidates) over Republicans (30% for GOP House and Senate candidates, each).

The survey also found that 86% of Asian American voters say that the job market and the economy are a top policy priority, and tied for second, were inflation and health care. Moreover, 85% of voters say that these issues were either “extremely” or “very” important factors in how they decide to vote.

Although the Asian American Voter Survey took place months before the infamous CNN debate between Biden and Trump, the survey shows that waning interest in Biden precludes recent instances of the president’s verbal stumbles.

“Even before the June presidential debate, President Biden had lost confidence among many Asian American voters,” Karthick Ramakrishnan, executive director of AAPI Data, said to Axios. “The diminished enthusiasm American Asian American Democrats and Independents could spell trouble for Biden in critical swing states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, Arizona, and Georgia.”

The survey was released at a time when Biden’s cognitive welfare has become a central focus of this race. Suggesting a declining lack of enthusiasm for Biden, the survey emphasizes the trouble that the Biden campaign is currently embroiled in.

Historically, polls overestimate voter turnout overall, according to Janelle Wong, senior researcher at AAPI Data, who said that the results of this survey could represent problems for Biden going forward.

“Although we are not seeing a mass movement toward Trump in our community, we are seeing a potentially problematic trend for the Biden campaign among this fairly loyal bloc of Democratic-leaning voters,” Wong said.

Harris, AANHPI leaders addresses voters in Philly

As previously reported in the Asian Journal, speculation over whether Vice President Kamala Harris may be a better fit as the Democratic candidate continue to percolate.

The survey found that 44% of Asian American voters have either a very favorable or somewhat favorable opinion of Harris, who has been making more appearances.

The Biden-Harris administration earlier this month rolled out Asian Americans Native Hawaiians Pacific Islanders (AANHPI) for Biden-Harris campaign to court the vast voting bloc months ahead of the election.

At the Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVote) Presidential Town Hall in Philadelphia on Saturday, July 13, Harris — who is of Indian descent and is the first Asian American to serve as vice president—affirmed her confidence in the current administration.

Last week, Biden reinforced his intent to keep running — despite pressure from Democrats. At Saturday’s town hall, Harris continued to boost the Biden-Harris ticket for November.

“We always knew this election would be tough, and the past few days have been a reminder that running for President of the United States is never easy, nor should it be,” Harris said in her keynote address. “But one thing we know about our President, Joe Biden, he is a fighter, and he is the first to say, when you get knocked down, you get right back up. So we will continue to fight, we will continue to organize, and in November, we will win.” n