cumming, georgia
CNN
—
The moment Kanan Udayarajan decided to become politically active is etched in his memory.
It was four years ago that Republican Sen. David Perdue repeatedly mispronounced Kamala Harris’ name at a Donald Trump rally, making a mocking remark. As he stretched out his words, the Middle Georgia crowd laughed along with him. ”
The remarks were a call to action for Udayarajan, 42, who now leads the Forsyth County Democratic Party and is part of the changing face of Georgia.
“When I saw people justifying that mispronunciation, I felt the need to stand up and speak out because this kind of behavior should not be normalized,” Udayarajan said. Ta. India. “That’s what first inspired me to mobilize myself and my friends.”
That mobilizing power is on full display here in Forsyth County, about 30 miles northeast of Atlanta, where the Asian American population has more than doubled in the past 20 years, along with neighboring counties. I am doing it. These voters are a key part of Harris’ strategy in the race against Trump.
“When Joe Biden won Georgia by 11,780 votes in 2020, Forsyth County brought in 16,000 new Democratic votes,” Udayarajan said. “It’s been four years and the county’s demographics have changed significantly.”
These changes could contain important clues about the outcome of November’s election.
With voter registration deadlines approaching in many states and early voting already underway in several others, the Trump and Harris campaigns are hoping to gain an advantage in a closely contested race across the country. are struggling to maximize their strengths among various demographic groups.
Both sides are looking to increase their populations in battleground states like Georgia and North Carolina, and offer opportunities to Asian American voters, who are the fastest-growing electorate of any major racial/ethnic group. I think there is. Far from being a monolith, voters come from more than 20 countries, each with their own unique political views.
“Our numbers are still small, but we could be the deciding factor in terms of margin of victory,” said Atlanta, which supports voter registration for all political parties and encourages participation in elections. said James Wu of Asian Americans Advancing Justice, a bipartisan group. “We constantly communicate that to our community members who understand that every vote makes a huge difference.”
The extremely close results of the last presidential election in Georgia (Biden won by less than a quarter of a point out of nearly 5 million votes) made the adage that every vote counts a reality. It is said that Wu said that while many Asian Americans may have far less loyalty to political parties, people’s backgrounds often help determine their votes.
“The economy is a big issue,” Wu said. “Many of the community members we work with are small business owners. The economy has a direct impact on them because they work 24/7 in mom-and-pop stores.”
Over the past 20 years, Wu has witnessed remarkable changes in the Atlanta suburbs. The one Asian supermarket of my childhood has been replaced by bustling shopping malls, bakeries, shops, churches, and countless restaurants. South Asians from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh often have different views than members of the Korean, Vietnamese, and Chinese communities, and their diverse backgrounds open the door to very different politics. he said.
One morning last week, an elderly man walking to his car at an upscale shopping mall said he planned to vote for Trump. A woman who works at a nearby coffee shop said she supports Harris. They, along with several others here, declined to give their names to CNN to discuss politics.
“It’s not completely black and white when it comes to how immigrants vote,” Wu said. “We also need to look at a number of issues and specific areas of concern for them.”
National surveys show that Asian American voters tend to lean toward the Democratic Party.
A poll released last week by AAPI Data, a data analytics firm focused on Asian Americans, found that 66% of Asian American voters plan to support Harris, while 28% plan to support Trump. It is said that The same survey found that 62% of Asian American voters have a favorable opinion of Harris, compared to 35% who have an unfavorable opinion.
According to the Pew Research Center, approximately 15 million Asian Americans will be eligible to vote in 2024, an increase of 15% from the 2020 election.
According to AAPI data, there are approximately 328,000 Asian American and Pacific Islander voters in Georgia, a significant number given the expected close presidential race. That presents an opportunity for both political parties, Wu said, even as he has seen Democratic and Republican advocacy efforts differ significantly.
“I definitely think the Democratic Party will do AAPI-specific advocacy and events,” Wu said. “I haven’t been watching much of the Trump campaign.”
The Republican Asian American Community Center, which opened in 2021 and served as a campaign stage during the 2022 midterm elections, is now closed. An innovative sex shop has moved into the city of Norcross in Gwinnett County, which has the largest Asian American population in Georgia.
Republican officials did not elaborate on efforts to reach Asian American voters.
“The 2024 campaign will build on the strength and success of Asian Americans during President Trump’s first term and lead President Trump to a historic second term,” campaign senior adviser Stephen Chan said in a statement. We are ready to push towards victory.”
A spokeswoman said the Harris campaign has three full-time staff members at its national headquarters dedicated to reaching Asian American voters, with additional staff in Georgia and other battleground states.
Harris, the first black and South Asian woman to be elected president, is also drawing attention to her Indian-American roots through pay-TV ads. Her latest ad is a biographical spot featuring a photo of her mother, whom Harris describes as a “5-foot-tall, brown, intelligent woman with an accent.”
Candidates who voted against
Forsyth County, Georgia, is deep red, and Trump won by more than 30 points in 2020. But that number is down from when they won the area by nearly 50 points four years ago, and for the first time in years, Democrats are putting voters on the ballot, including Ashwin Ramaswamy, who grew up in the area. We are fielding candidates for the upper and lower positions.
Ramaswamy is challenging Georgia Sen. Sean Still, a Republican who was indicted last year along with Trump on charges of trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election. During a visit one day last week, Mr. Ramaswamy said that the excitement that Ms. Harris is at the top of the Democratic field will resonate not only with Asian Americans but with other voters as well.
“Georgia’s suburbs and exurbs have long been a traditional power base for the Republican Party,” he said. “It’s not a question of if Georgia will turn blue, it’s a question of when.”
Over the next five weeks, Sonjui Kumar and her South Asians for Harris group will be working around the clock to elect Harris and the remaining Democratic candidates in Georgia.
One night last week, she hosted a virtual phone bank from her kitchen and said she believes Asian American voters can make a difference in southern battleground states.
“Our community is not that big. It’s 4% of the state’s population,” Kumar said. “But in some counties it’s 122,000 people, in some counties it’s 60,000 people. It’s definitely enough to make a difference when you’re talking about those numbers.”
With the Oct. 7 deadline for new voter registration and early voting in Georgia approaching, Udayarajan is spending time between his IT company and the Forsyth County Democratic Party headquarters, where Harris campaign organizers have rushed. is divided.
“Forsyth County is a huge opportunity for Democrats,” Udayarajan said. “Just looking at the data is strategically important.”
Beyond the data, the ridicule surrounding Harris’ name, which first brought her into politics four years ago, has only intensified since she rose to the top of the Democratic field. That, he said, is a driving force for him and many other Indian Americans.
“Many people here, aunts, grandmothers, mothers may have that name,” Udayarajan said. “The mispronunciation of the name kind of triggered the community’s involvement in the political process. More and more people started showing up.”
