Asian Americans Lean to Democrats, Poll Says

Many Asian American voters in the Los Angeles region, who historically have split their ballots among the two major parties and independents, are increasingly favoring Democratic candidates, according to an exit poll released Thursday by the Asian Pacific American Legal Center.

The survey of 5,000 voters--2,000 of them Asian Americans--conducted in heavily Asian neighborhoods, showed Vice President Al Gore received 62.3% of the votes cast by Asian Americans, while Gov. George W. Bush garnered 34.7%.

The poll showed that almost 17% of Asian Republicans across 16 cities in Los Angeles and Orange counties crossed over in Tuesday’s election to choose Gore--a trend first noted in the March primary.

Stewart Kwoh, president of the legal center, said Asian Americans haven’t been treated well by either major party. He cited, in particular, what he called the targeting of nuclear scientist Wen Ho Lee as a spy. Lee was freed in September after he pleaded guilty to one count of mishandling classified information at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. The government dropped 58 charges in a plea bargain agreement.

Asian Americans are leaning more toward the Democratic party because they believe it is more sensitive than the Republican party to issues that are important to their community, Kwoh said.

“There was anger for both sides, but the general feeling seems to be that there is more sensitivity” on such issues as “immigration and treatment of immigrants,” he said.

Statewide, the Los Angeles Times exit poll found that Asians voted for Gore in proportions similar to the Los Angeles survey by the legal center. The Times exit poll found that 63% of Asian voters supported Gore while 33% backed Bush. Latinos and blacks voted for Gore by even larger margins, with Latinos going for Gore over Bush, 75% to 23%, and blacks voting 85% to 14%.

Whites, who made up nearly three-fourths of the California electorate Tuesday, favored Bush over Gore 49% to 47%, the Times exit poll found.

In the legal center’s survey, Asian voters identifying themselves as Democrats increased about 12 percentage points--from 36% in 1996 to 48.4% this year. At the same time, Asian voters labeling themselves as Republicans decreased from 40% to 29.7%. The ranks of independents fell 24% in 1996 to 19.5% this year.

The legal center’s study of Asian American voting patterns in the 16 cities was conducted in Chinese, English, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Tagalog and Vietnamese. It took in 57 precincts in Los Angeles, Alhambra, Artesia, Carson, Cerritos, Garden Grove, Gardena, Long Beach, Monterey Park, Rosemead, San Gabriel, San Marino, Santa Ana, South Pasadena, Torrance and Westminster.

A separate exit poll was conducted in San Francisco, where more than a third of the population is Asian--predominantly Chinese. Gore received 82% of the Chinese American votes to Bush’s 16%, according an exit poll conducted by David Binder Research for the Chinese American Voter Education Committee. The Chinese vote for Gore surpassed the citywide 75% margin for Gore.

There, 41% of the Chinese voters said they knew of the 80-20 Initiative, a new Asian American political action committee that endorsed Gore. The group urged Asian Americans to vote as a bloc for Gore.

David Lee, executive director of the Chinese American Voter Education Committee, said he believes the 80-20 Initiative had an effect on the Chinese voters in the city.

“It was the only group giving visibility to Gore in the Chinese community,” he said.

In the survey of Los Angeles and Orange counties, 25% of Asian American voters said they were familiar with 80-20.

Aside from whether 80-20 made a difference in California, what is significant is that Asian American groups are developing efforts to get people to vote, regardless of party affiliation, observers say.

Asian Americans compose about 6% of California voters.

Four Asian Americans--all Democrats--won seats Tuesday.

Carol Liu, La Canada-Flintridge City Council member, and Wlma Chan, a member of the Alameda County Board of Supervisors, will join George Nakano of Torrance in the Assembly. Nakano was first elected two years ago.

Assemblyman Mike Honda of San Jose was elected to the House of Representatives. He will join Rep. Bob Matsui (D-Sacramento), both sansei, or third-generation Japanese American.