The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) on November 13 released data from its exit poll of 5,424 Asian-American voters in 13 states and Washington, DC, noting the importance of the community’s vote in the key states of Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, and Nevada.
Among all those polled, AALDEF found that Asian Americans favored Joe Biden over Donald Trump by a margin of 68% to 29%.
“Asian Americans, especially new voters, were part of the record turnout of communities of color in the 2020 elections. Asian American voters played an important role in close races in several battleground states, and our voices must not be overlooked in the political process,” said AALDEF Executive Director Margaret Fung.
Among other findings were that there was no gender gap between Asian American men and women, with 67% of women and 66% of men voting for Biden and both groups supporting Trump at 31%. Additionally, the only ethnic group to favor Trump were Vietnamese American voters, by a margin of 57% to 41%.
Indian-American voters favoured Biden by a margin of 72% to 26% for Trump.
Of those polled, 27% were first-time voters while 73% were not. Both first-time voters and non-first time voters supported Biden by wide margins – 68% to 30%for the former and 68% to 29% for the latter.
Among those polled 54% were registered Democrats; 16% were registered Republicans; 27% were not enrolled in a party; and 3% were enrolled in another party. Of those not enrolled in any party and those enrolled with other parties also strongly supported Biden.
The exit poll also found that Asian-Americans generally disapproved of Trump’s performance as President. Trump also received less support from native-born, English-proficient voters while receiving more favourable approval rating from foreign-born limited English-proficiency voters.
In Battleground States
Pennsylvania:
- Asian Americans decisively chose Joe Biden over Donald Trump by a margin of 63% to 36%.
- All Asian ethnic groups supported Biden over Trump, except for Cambodian American voters (50% for Trump and 45% for Biden) and Vietnamese American voters (73% for Trump and 27% for Biden).
- Among voters not enrolled in any party, the breakup was 56% for Biden and 40% for Trump, and among voters affiliated with other parties, 54% for Biden and 39% for Trump.
- First-time voters supported Biden by a wide margin, 62% to 36%.
Georgia:
- Asian Americans decisively chose Joe Biden over Donald Trump by a margin of 62% to 36%.
- In the US Senate races, Asian Americans voted for Democratic candidates over Republicans by a margin of 61% to 34%.
- All Asian ethnic groups in the state supported Biden over Trump except for Korean American voters (60% for Trump and 39% for Biden).
- Among voters not enrolled in any party, the breakup was 63% for Biden and 30% for Trump, and among voters affiliated with other parties, 60% for Biden and 20% for Trump.
- First-time voters supported Biden by a wide margin 61% to 36%.
Michigan:
- Asian Americans decisively chose Joe Biden over Donald Trump by a margin of 85% to 13%.
- In the US Senate race, Asian Americans voted for the Democratic candidate over the Republican by a margin of 85% to 9%.
- All ethnic groups overwhelmingly voted for Biden, with 100% of both Arab and Pakistani American voters supporting Biden and 0% supporting Trump.
- Republican voters in Michigan crossed over much more frequently than voters in other states to support Joe Biden and did not vote along party lines as in other states (64% for Trump and 21% for Biden).
- Among voters not enrolled in any party, the breakup was 63% for Biden and 33% for Trump; and among voters affiliated with other parties, 67% for Biden and 33% for Trump.
- First-time voters supported Biden by an overwhelming margin 89% to 15%.
Nevada:
- Asian Americans decisively chose Joe Biden over Donald Trump by a margin of 57% to 40%.
- Unlike other swing states, voters not enrolled in any party did not favor Biden over Trump, voting 46% for Biden and 46% for Trump.
- First-time voters supported Biden over Trump (63% to 37%) by wider margins than non-first-time voters, 53% for Biden and 42% for Trump.
