Are Democrats Taking Asian American Voters for Granted?

When DNC Vice Chair Shasti Conrad told Fox News, “We lost ground with many of our communities … The Asian American community was one of them,” she wasn’t just rehashing a tough presidential campaign loss back in 2024. She was issuing a very specific warning for the 2025 gubenatorial battle happening in New Jersey — a warning for Democrats not to ignore Asian American voters there, but also in upcoming elections happening in Virginia and New York, as well.

Conrad pointed out where the shift began: “Where we found … more votes that did go towards [Donald Trump] … there was a dip in the support for Democrats.” That dip didn’t happen in a vacuum. She warned that the lack of sustained outreach to Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) voters could jeopardize Democrats’ hold on what’s assumed to be a reliably blue seat.

“I’ve certainly seen there’s been a greater play from the Republican Party to reach Asian American voters,” Conrad added, citing efforts by the GOP to “tap into fears around the economy, around the impact of taxes on the Asian American community,” and to show up in “Asian community spaces.”

 “There are a million Asian Americans in New Jersey,” she continued. “We as Democrats have not invested as much as we could have into the community at our own peril.”

Conrad’s critique underscores how the Garden State’s AAPI population is large enough to shift outcomes if Democrats underperform. Also nationally, it’s a signal that the old presumptions about AAPI voters might be collapsing. Asian Americans are among the fastest growing communities in battleground and emerging-swing states like Georgia, North Carolina, and Texas. What happens with outreach, candidate recruitment, and messaging in New Jersey may not stay in New Jersey.

"When we're talking the importance of really building that coalition, we have to continue to say and include Asian Americans in that as well," she said. "And I think sometimes we get left off, as you know, not even considered or thought about or remembered as a really important community to engage with." 

The AAPI voter bloc isn’t monolithic. It represents different nationalities, languages, generations, and political priorities. Some care most about education, others about taxes, some about visa and immigration policy, others about healthcare or small-business climate. Ignoring that complexity is a mistake.

And that, in essence, is what Conrad is warning against: that Democrats may be assuming too much and doing too little. When she says, “The Asian American community was one of them” in referring to communities where ground was lost, that’s not just a passing remark. Because what’s happening in New Jersey might not just decide a governorship. It might reveal where American politics is headed next.

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