21st
The Washington Post brings up an interesting factoid about Asian Americans influencing politics:
The nation’s fast-growing Asian American population of nearly 15 million has been often overlooked as a political factor, even though in some states a higher percentage of Asians than Hispanics are U.S. citizens who can legally vote. Asian American voters also have a track record of high turnout in elections.
And in Northern Virginia, Asian Americans are a much larger minority than elsewhere in the state or country at large. Fairfax County, the most populous jurisdiction in the state, reports that Asian residents are and have been the largest ethnic minority since the 1990s. The large populations of Indian, Korean, and Vietnamese Americans probably helped put the county’s Asian populace at 15.9 percent (black, 9.5; white, 67.9).
That said, I don’t think Asian Americans hold political values strategically different from the general population. WaPo notes they are more likely to be citizens who can vote — just like white people. They are better educated and have higher incomes — just like white people. They move to sprawled McMansion-dotted suburbs in Fairfax, Loudon, and Prince William counties — just like white people.
If the count is as close as 2006, they will be among the many groups suspect of Making a Difference. In any case, it’s good that they are becoming less invisible and I look forward to the multilingual instructional videos for the voting booths.
