Kamala Harris Comes to Philadelphia to Boost Support Among Asian American Voters

The organization, which hosted Vice President Kamala Harris in Philadelphia on Saturday, released poll results this week showing President Joe Biden’s support among Asian American voters has been sinking since 2020.

Harris will be the keynote speaker at Saturday’s presidential rally, hosted by Asian Pacific Islander American Vote, a civic engagement group for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

Harris, whose mother emigrated from India, made history as the first Asian American vice president — in addition to being the first woman and Black person to hold the office — and is spearheading campaign outreach to both Black and Asian voters ahead of the November election.

Nearly 2,500 Asian Americans participated in the study, and the data were divided into six subgroups based on ethnicity.

The APIAVote and AAPIData poll found Biden’s support among Asian Americans fell from 54% in 2020 to 46% — an 8-percentage-point drop. That includes a drastic 19-point drop among Hindu Americans, from 65% to 46%.

The data underscores the key role Harris can play in restoring Biden’s popularity among Indian Americans and other Asian voters. But Harris’ overall rating among Asian Americans was lower than Biden’s, the poll found. 51% of respondents viewed Biden favorably or somewhat favorably, while 44% said the same about Harris.

Harris’ visit — her sixth to Pennsylvania this year — comes at a critical time for The Biden campaign and Democrats continue to sound the alarm about whether the 81-year-old president can defeat former President Donald Trump and spend another four years in office.

Harris’ name has been mentioned many times as a potential candidate to succeed Biden. Harris has remained committed to Biden, campaigning on his behalf in Atlanta, Las Vegas and Greensboro, North Carolina, during a news conference Thursday that he could take the presidency if necessary, even as he insisted he would remain in the race.

While Biden still has a clear lead over Trump in polls among Asian Americans, the former president’s performance among this group of voters has been more stable than Biden’s — 31% of voters in this year’s poll said they planned to vote for Trump, up from 30% in 2020.

The poll found a growing number of undecided and independent voters in that demographic — a population that could play a key role in what is likely to be a close race. The poll found that respondents generally had better opinions of Biden and Harris than of Trump, raising a potential opportunity for Biden to win over voters in that demographic.

According to the U.S. Census, Asian Americans make up about 6% of Pennsylvania’s population.

During a Zoom call with reporters announcing the results, APIAVote executive director Christine Chen said the data shows that many Asian American voters are up for grabs and that the major parties are not doing enough to reach them.

Half of the survey respondents said the Democratic Party had not contacted them yet this cycle, while 57% said the Republican Party had not contacted them. Still, 90% of the slightly less than 2,500 registered voters surveyed said they planned to vote in November.

“This lack of engagement actually limits turnout,” Chen said.

Harris’ visit comes amid a wave of political events in the state. On the same day, first lady Jill Biden will campaign in Pittsburgh to appeal to Italian Americans, and Trump will hold a rally in Butler County where he could announce his vice presidential candidate.

Last week, Biden visited Philadelphia and Harrisburg in an attempt to salvage his campaign, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom visited Bucks County on Biden’s behalf.