Biden-Harris campaign launches AANHPI outreach program
By Carl Samson
Team Biden-Harris this week launched “AANHPIs for Biden-Harris,” a campaign program that aims to mobilize Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) voters. It seeks to engage AANHPI communities through a series of events, multilingual resources and targeted outreach efforts ahead of November’s election.
To kick off the initiative, Harris, joined by television host, writer and executive producer Padma Lakshmi, headlined a special event in Las Vegas on Tuesday. Harris, the country’s first South Asian vice president, emphasized the importance of AANHPI voices in her remarks:
“We need to make sure that AA and NHPI voices are heard at the ballot boxes around our country. Just as we need to make sure that those voices are represented in all levels of government. Asian Americans must be in the rooms where the decisions are being made. Because when policies reflect our experiences – our collective experiences, our perspectives – I am certain of one thing: Our country is stronger.”
“AANHPIs for Biden-Harris” aims to replicate the success of the 2020 election, where AANHPI voter turnout increased significantly and played a crucial role in the Biden-Harris victory. With an estimated 15 million AANHPI voters in this cycle, the campaign plans to harness the growing voting bloc to protect the progress made under the current administration and counter former President Donald Trump’s “racist and toxic” agenda.
The program includes culturally competent and linguistically appropriate resources in languages such as Chinese, Tagalog, Hindi, Hmong, Vietnamese, Urdu and Korean to combat misinformation and engage voters effectively. Additionally, it will deploy relational organizing techniques, training AANHPI supporters to mobilize within their communities and work with affinity-based groups to develop specific voter contact programs.
In-person and virtual events focusing on key issues like healthcare and public safety are also planned, starting with a roundtable for AANHPI leaders in Pennsylvania hosted by Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su. The campaign will further expand its outreach with events in battleground states such as Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Arizona and Georgia. Dedicated staff, including National AANHPI Engagement Director Nadia Belkin and National AANHPI Spokesperson Andrew Peng, will lead these efforts.
The Biden-Harris administration boasts a strong track record of supporting AANHPI communities, from advancing equity and justice to combating anti-Asian hate. “The Biden-Harris administration has made it clear that AANHPIs are not ‘others’: We belong,” said Sen. Tammy Duckworth, co-chair of the Biden-Harris 2024 campaign.
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