Due in large part to Orange County voters, Democrats were prevented this month from taking supermajority control in both chambers of the state Legislature. To the Senate, voters sent Orange County Supervisor Janet Nguyen; to the Assembly, they sent Young Kim, a former high-level staffer for popular Fullerton area Congressman Ed Royce.
But the success of these two Republican candidates is part of a larger story: Asian Americans found resounding success with the GOP in the county. Beyond the victories of Ms. Nguyen and Ms. Kim, there is 55th Assembly District victor Ling-Ling Chang, Board of Supervisors candidates Michelle Steel and Lisa Bartlett, who won in the 2nd and 5th districts, respectively, as well as multiple candidates for water district, school boards and city councils.
At the state level, many Asian-American voters were animated by discussion of Senate Constitutional Amendment 5, a proposal pushed by Democrats in the Legislature to allow for state-imposed consideration of race in making admissions decisions to higher education institutions in the Golden State – with advocates directing special attention toward the UC and CSU schools.
SCA5 would have repealed Proposition 209 protections against racial discrimination in admissions at these institutions, a point of major concern for Asian-Americans, who make up over a third of UC’s California resident admissions, according to 2014 enrollment data.
While SCA5 was ultimately withdrawn due to the groundswell of opposition, it renewed several debates: A reconsideration of the Asian population’s historic support of affirmative action; the allegiance of Asian-American voters to the Democrats, who comprised the majority of support for SCA5; and the limits of identity politics for a party that has relied upon wedge issues of race and gender to maintain power.
Republicans made a concerted effort to reach out to Asian-American communities this election cycle. Jim Brulte, Chairman of the California Republican Party, has a history of targeting outreach into populations not immediately associated with the GOP. Even Reince Priebus, the Republican National Committee chairman, last year announced field director positions for outreach to Asian and Pacific Islander populations.
This is political realism: While principles may be generally applicable and work to the benefit of all, issues of race are often unavoidable.
With that in mind, Asian-American candidates picked up a conservative message of expanded liberty, human dignity and restrained public spending.
According to a joint report, “A Community of Contrasts,” released by Asian Americans Advancing Justice and the Orange County Asian and Pacific Islander Community Alliance, “Orange County is home to the third-largest Asian-American population nationwide.”
“From 2000-10,” the report notes, “Orange County’s Asian American and [Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander] populations grew 41 percent and 17 percent, respectively.”
That makes Asian-Americans the fastest-growing population in the county. They also constitute the third-largest population countywide and own almost a fifth of all businesses in the county.
Legislators-elect Nguyen and Kim, respectively, are also situated to speak to the two largest ethnic groups within that population: Vietnamese- and Korean-Americans.
Analysts are already projecting that higher turnouts among Asian-Americans in Orange County helped propel these candidates to victory. Nationwide, exit polls suggest that the GOP slightly edged out the Democrats in attracting the Asian-American vote – for the first time in almost two decades.
Finding candidates who can identify with their electorate is especially important in the case of Asian-Americans, as nearly 62 percent of the county’s population was born outside the U.S. To motivate voters and earn their trust, offering the ability to identify with candidates is increasingly important.
Of course, the goal is not to play identity politics, but to carry a universal message of liberty, dignity and limited government to an ever-expanding group of voters who stand to benefit from it.
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