Asian American voters may decide New Jersey’s gubernatorial election

The Democrat Party is not reaching out enough to Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) voters and could threaten the party’s gubernatorial election in deep blue states. New Jersey – one of the nation’s largest Asian American populations, warned a Democratic National Committee (DNC) official.

“We lost ground with a lot of our communities,” DNC Vice Chair Shasti Conrad told the Democrat Party’s Fox Digital following their defeat in the 2024 election. “The Asian American community was one of them. Where we found that the … more votes went to Donald TrumpNot overall, but in terms of change from 2020 to 2024, there was a decline in support for Democrats.

“I’ve certainly seen a huge push by the Republican Party to reach out to Asian American voters,” Conrad added. “And, you know, there’s also been a lot of anti-Asian rhetoric and anti-Asian hatred from the Republican Party, but the fear around the economy, around the impact of taxes on the Asian American community, and there are more Republicans who have really gone to the Asian community space.

2025 is an off-season election year, with only gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey and a highly anticipated mayoral race in New York City.

MAGA STAR JOINS CIATTARELLI ON CAMPAIGN TRAIL IN NEW JERSEY AS REPUBLICANS AIM TO FLIP GOVERNOR’S OFFICE

Representatives Mickey Sherrill and Jack Ciatarelli are facing off in a gubernatorial debate to become New Jersey’s next governor. (Heather Khalifa/The Associated Press)

New Jersey is a longtime Democrat stronghold, having previously voted for former President George HW Bush as the Republican presidential candidate in the 1988 election. However, Trump entered the 2024 election with New Jersey voters, fueling renewed enthusiasm among Republicans to turn the state red.

New Jersey votes to elect ex-vice president Kamala Harris As president in the 2024 race, but post-election data showed Trump and the GOP holding five counties in the red. Overall, Trump cut his deficit in 2020 from 16 points to six in 2024.

Democratic Rep. Mickey Sherrill was elected Party candidate for Governorship and will face Republican Jack Ciatarelli in the Nov. 4 election.

Election fortnight: 5 key 2025 races to watch

New Jersey has a population of over one million Asian Americans, with a total population of approximately 9.5 million. According to 2024 voting statistics, there were 584,236 eligible Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) voters in the state.

Conrad, who chairs the Washington State Democratic Party, told Fox Digital that the lack of outreach to the voting bloc could hurt Democrats’ efforts to retain the governorship. She said she reminds party members that “there are a million Asian Americans in New Jersey” and that “we, as Democrats, have not invested enough in the community at our own peril.”

(Left to right) Sophia Danenberg, Shasti Conrad and Junelle Cavero attend the 2024 “Our Future, Our Freedom” DNC Celebration Concert in Chicago. (Jeff Scheer/Getty Images)

AAPI voters “are the fastest-growing demographic in this country, and we’re growing in states that we need to win,” she added. “We’re growing in the South. We’re a growing population in North Carolina, Georgia, Texas.”

Nationally, 57% of Asian voters supported Harris in 2024, but Trump also improved his margin with the voting bloc compared to 2020. One in four Asian votes fell in his favor in 2024, compared to Trump earning 30% of the Asian vote in 2020. Pew data.

The DNC leader said the party needs to meet AAPI voters in their communities, be it temples and churches or Asian-owned businesses, and hear their concerns directly.

The voting bloc brings many cultural backgrounds and is, after all, a very nuanced group. Conrad noted the economy and immigration — most notably how it relates to H-1B visas — when listing common top polling concerns among AAPI voters.

Conrad said that while Republicans have met Asian voters at their churches and businesses and at other cultural events in recent history, the party is increasingly rallying behind Asian candidates.

“They’ve just done too much,” Conrad said of the GOP. “And they’re also fielding more Asian candidates, which … is sometimes confusing to voters, especially in the Asian American community, where you know they’re very proud to be a community leader.”

He urged Democrats to include Asian voters in their shared campaign platforms, which focused on black, Latino, rural and youth voters.

Crime and immigration divide New Jersey voters after explosive CIATTARELLI-SERRILL debate

Indian American signatures for Donald Trump rally in Edison, New Jersey, Hindu Indian-American rally for “Humanity Against Terror”. (Joe Sohm/Vision of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

“When we talk about the importance of really building coalitions, we need to say and include Asian Americans,” she said. “And I think sometimes we’re left, as you know, not thought of or thought about or remembered as a really important community to engage with.”

Sherrill campaign spokesman Sam Chan told Fox News Digital when asked about her AAPI outreach, “Throughout the campaign, Mickey has partnered directly with Asian communities, sharing her vision for lower costs, supporting small businesses and giving people the opportunity to pursue the American Dream here in New Jersey.”

“As governor, Mickey will work to ensure that Trenton serves everyone,” Chan added. “Miki will work to make it easier and lower cost to start and grow small businesses, ensure our schools are fully funded, and stand up for our constitutional rights and support legislation. Mikie’s Save Your Time and Money agenda will help business owners start and expand their businesses, while her state of emergency on utility costs and lower electric bill rates.”

Chan also criticized Trump in the comments, saying, “As Trump attacks our communities, siphons billions from our schools and transit systems, and raises prices with his unaffordable tariffs, Mickey is running to fight for all New Jerseyans.”

Fox News Digital also spoke with New Jersey Democrat Parul Khemka, who is running for re-election to the Livingston Board of Education, who said the Sherrill campaign has drawn large attendance at cultural events, including the Diwali festival.

“Even in Bergen County, the East Asian population is big, so it’s gotten into that as well. It’s just, New Jersey is a little bit funny. You might think it’s one party, one thing … but different counties have their own unique characteristics, so you have to figure it out as you go.”

Sherrill, she added, was involved in cultural events in her congressional district, which includes parts of Essex, Morris and Passaic counties in North Jersey, and her office is historically accessible.

President front and center in the 2025 election, not on the Trump ballot

Khemka said the top priorities for the AAPI community generally include education, immigration and visas, and the economy and affordability, while also noting that the voting bloc at large is nuanced and diverse. She said AAPI voters have always leaned left from her point of view, but voters shifted further to the right as Trump campaigned to get the economy back on track after soaring inflation.

President Donald Trump arrives at a campaign rally on Saturday, May 11, 2024 in Wildwood, NJ. (Matt Rourke/The Associated Press)

Democrats, Kehmka said, are better able to appeal to AAPI voters because they understand the nuances of voters’ political concerns as opposed to broader issues.

“The Democratic Party obviously does a little better than that Republican Party To understand these nuanced issues, and not paint them all with the same brush,” she said, adding that the AAPI community in New Jersey could make or break a Democrat by holding the governor’s mansion.

The Sherrill campaign, for example, has deployed multilingual phone banking and canvassing programs in cities with high levels of Asian voters, with Sherrill herself meeting with voters in her communities.

Conrad said the Sherrill campaign has made more inroads with AAPI voters in recent months, pointing to weekend outreach events in which DNC Chair Ken Martin traveled to the Garden State to advocate for the ticket.

Click here to get the Fox News app

“We did an AAPI-oriented canvass. And then … DNC Chair Ken Martin hosted an AAPI roundtable to meet with AAPI leaders and show that engagement. I’ve heard, just over a month, I’ve heard a big shift from the community about feeling like Sherrill is more directly engaged with the campaign, and we’re feeling better about that,” Conra said.

“I think it’s working,” she added, praising the efforts of the DNC’s AAPI caucus, especially for America South Asians, drawing support from Democrats ahead of high-stakes elections in New Jersey and Virginia.

The New Jersey gubernatorial election will be held on November 4.

Fox News Digital reached out to Ciatarelli’s campaign Thursday for comment on the AAPI outreach and has not yet received a response.