March 2024 Newsletter
JOIN US to help Democrats get elected on Nov. 5! Ensure that your family, friends, colleagues and neighbors are registered to vote.
As in 2020, the swing states shaded in purple below — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — will likely determine control of the White House. And while the numbers of registered Democratic and Republican voters are roughly equal across the nation, the number of non-partisan, unaffiliated or Independent voters has risen greatly over the last four years, meaning they will presumably decide the presidential and many other races.
Chapter News - Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania is one of several important swing states that will likely determine the outcome of the presidential election and deliver important House and Senate seats. In the April 23 Democratic primary, the state Democratic Party endorsed President Biden and U.S. Sen. Bob Casey along with Malcolm Kenyatta for state auditor general and Ryan Bizzarro for state treasurer. There are a number of candidates for state attorney general, but none were endorsed. While Democrats have a one-seat majority in the state House and hope to hold onto it, the party is targeting districts in Allegheny, Erie and Harrisburg counties that could very well flip the Republican-controlled Senate.
Turning out the vote in the South Asian community could very well decide various races. As of 2023, there are 93,835 voters of South Asian origin with 56,000 registered Democrats, 12,542 Republicans and 25,293 Independents. In 2020, President Biden won the state by 80,555 votes. The chapter needs volunteers to help organize and run phone and text banking operations and write postcards, among other activities to get the vote out.
Our democracy is strongest when everyone participates and ... our democracy as a nation is weaker when people are left out. So this is the fight. This is the fight of our lifetime."
— Vice President Kamala Harris
Chapter News - DMV
For the DC-Maryland-Virginia (DMV) chapter, the focus will be on Virginia. In 2023, Democrats kept control of the state Senate and flipped the state House. The chapter mailed out 9,500 postcards, blasted 4,000-plus texts, made more than 500 phone calls and knocked on 350 doors. In a recent survey of the Asian community, voters said their top issues were the rising cost of living followed by gun violence, jobs and the economy and abortion rights.
In April, the chapter plans to begin writing postcards, which will be sent out in September, about two months before the general election. Text banking is scheduled for August and October, while door knocking will begin a few weeks before the Nov. 5 general election.
"In our bones, we know democracy at risk — is at risk. But we also know this: It’s within our power, each and every one of us, to preserve our democracy."
— President Joe Biden
Chapter News - North Carolina
In North Carolina, the governor’s seat, the entire state Senate and House and one state Supreme Court seat (now held by a Democrat) are up for grabs. There has been tremendous growth of the Asian American population with some districts composed of 55 percent Asian Americans. Some notable priorities for the chapter include expansion of Medicaid services and an increase to the minimum wage, which currently stands at $7.25 per hour. Democrats face a challenge since partisan gerrymandering is also a top barrier in winning races and accomplishing liberals goals.