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Asian Americans and Pacific Islands Americans have given fluctuating levels of support to conservative movements and political parties in the United States, particularly the Republican Party. Many Republican Party members with these origins have obtained posts as elected representatives and political appointments as office holders.
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American Imperialism: Crash Course US History #28
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Transcription
Episode 28: American Imperialism Hi, I’m John Green, this is CrashCourse U.S. History and today we’re gonna talk about a subject near and dear to my white, male heart: imperialism. So, here at CrashCourse we occasionally try to point out that the U.S., much as we hate to admit it, is actually part of a larger world. Mr. Green, Mr. Green, you mean like Alaska? No, Me from the Past, for reasons that you will understand after your trip there before your senior year of college, I do not acknowledge the existence of Canada’s tail. No, I’m referring to all of the Green Parts of Not-America and the period in the 19th century when we thought, “Maybe we could make all of those green parts like America, but, you know, without rights and stuff.” Intro So, the late 19th and early 20th centuries were a period of expansion and colonization in Asia and Africa, mostly by European powers. As you’ll know if you watched Crash Course World History, imperialism has a long, long history pretty much everywhere, so this round of empire building is sometimes called, rather confusingly, New Imperialism. Because the U.S. acquired territories beyond its continental boundaries in this period, it’s relatively easy to fit American history into this world history paradigm. But there’s also an argument that the United States has always been an empire. From very early on, the European settlers who became Americans were intent on pushing westward and conquering territory. The obvious victims of this expansion/imperialism were the Native Americans, but we can also include the Mexicans who lost their sovereignty after 1848. And if that doesn’t seem like an empire to you, allow me to draw your attention to the Russian Empire. Russians were taking control of territory in Central Asia and Siberia and either absorbing or displacing the native people who lived there, which was the exact same thing that we were doing. The empires of the late 19th and early 20th centuries were different because they were colonial in their own special way. Like, Europeans and Americans would rule other places but they wouldn’t settle them and more or less completely displace the native people there. (Well, except for you, Australia and New Zealand.) American historians used to try to excuse America’s acquisitions of a territorial empire as something of an embarrassing mistake, but that’s misleading because one of the primary causes of the phenomenon of American imperialism was economics. We needed places to sell our amazing new products. And at the time, China actually had all of the customers because apparently it was opposite day. It’s also not an accident that the U.S. began pursuing imperialism in earnest during the 1890s, as this was, in many ways, a decade of crisis in America. The influx of immigrants and the crowded cities added to anxiety and concern over America’s future. And then, to cap it all off, in 1893 a panic caused by the failure of a British bank led the U.S. into a horrible economic depression, a great depression, but not The Great Depression. It did however feature 15,000 business failures and 17% unemployment, so take that, 2008. According to American diplomatic historian George Herring, imperialism was just what the doctor ordered to help America get out of its Depression depression. Other historians, notably Kristin Hoganson, imply that America embarked on imperial adventures partly so that American men could prove to themselves how manly they were. You know, by joining the Navy and setting sail for distant waters. In 1890, Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan published “The Influence of Seapower upon History” and argued that, to be a great power like Great Britain, the U.S. needed to control the seas and dominate international commerce. Tied into this push to become a maritime power was the obsession with building a canal through Central America and eventually the U.S. decided that it should be built in Panama because you know how else are we gonna get malaria. In order to protect this canal we would need a man, a plan, a canal. Panama. Sorry, I just wanted to get the palindrome in there somewhere. No we would actually need much more than a man and a plan. We would need ships and in order to have a functioning two-ocean navy, we would need colonies. Why? Because the steamships at the time were powered by coal and in order to re-fuel they needed coal depots. I mean, I suppose we could have, like, rented harbor space, but why rent when you can conquer? Also, nationalism and the accompanying pride in one’s “country” was a worldwide phenomenon to which the U.S. was not immune. I mean, it’s no accident that the 1890s saw Americans begin to recite the pledge of allegiance and celebrate Flag Day, and what better way to instill national pride than by flying the stars and stripes over … Guam. So pre-Civil War attempts to expand beyond what we now know as the continental United States included our efforts to annex Canada, which were sadly unsuccessful, and also filibustering, which before it meant a senator talking until he or she had to stop to pee was a thing where we tried to take over Central America to spread slavery. But, the idea of taking Cuba persisted into the late 19th century because it is close and also beautiful. The Grant administration wanted to annex it and the Dominican Republic, but Congress demurred. But we did succeed in purchasing Canada’s tail. You can see how I feel about that. To be fair, discovery of gold in the Yukon made Seward’s icebox seem like less of a Seward’s folly and it did provide coaling stations in the Pacific. But we could have had rum and Caribbean beaches. Ugh, Stan, all this talk about how much I hate Alaska has me overheated, I gotta take off my shirt. Ughhh. Waste of my life. So hard to take off a shirt dramatically. I’m angry. Anyway, coal stations in the Pacific were important because in 1854 we “opened” Japan to American trade by sending a flotilla of threatening black ships under Matthew Perry. No Stan, not that Matthew Perry. You know better. By far, America’s best piece of imperial business before 1898 was Hawaii. Like, I like oil and gold as much as the next guy but Hawaii has pineapples and also had sugar, which was grown on American owned plantations by Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, and native workers. Treaties between the U.S. and the Hawaiian governments exempted this sugar from tariffs, and America also had established a naval base at Pearl Harbor, which seemed like a really good idea...then. We eventually annexed Hawaii in 1898 and this meant that it could eventually become a state, which it did in 1959, two years before Barack Obama was born in Kenya. And this leads us nicely to the high tide of American imperialism, the Spanish-American-Cuban-Fillipino War. The war started out because native Cubans were revolting against Spain, which was holding on to Cuba for dear life as the remnant of a once-great empire. The Cubans’ fight for independence was brutal. 95,000 Cubans died from disease and malnutrition after Spanish general Valeriano Weyler herded Cubans into concentration camps. For this Weyler was called “Butcher” in the American yellow press, which sold a lot of newspapers on the backs of stories about his atrocities. And at last we come to President William McKinley who responded cautiously, with a demand that Spain get out of Cuba or face war. Now Spain knew that it couldn’t win a war with the U.S. but, as George Herring put it, they “preferred the honor of war to the ignominy of surrender.” Let that be a lesson to you. Always choose ignominy. Oh, it’s time for the Mystery Document? The rules here are simple. I guess the author of the Mystery Document. I’m either right or I get shocked. Alright, let’s see what we’ve got today. With such a conflict waged for years in an island so near us and with which our people have such trade and business relations; when the lives and liberty of our citizens are in constant danger and their property destroyed and themselves ruined; where our trading vessels are liable to seizure and are seized at our very door by warships of a foreign nation, the expeditions of filibustering that we are powerless to prevent altogether -- all these and others that I need not mention, with the resulting strained relations, are a constant menace to our peace, and compel us to keep on a semiwar footing with a nation with which we are at peace. Thank you, Stan. This is obviously President William McKinley’s war message to Congress. You can tell it’s a war message because it includes the word “peace” more than the word “war.” By the way, it’s commonly thought that the President McKinley asked Congress for a declaration of war, he didn’t; he let Congress take the lead. That’s the only time that’s ever happened in all of American history, which would be more impressive if we had declared war more than 5 times. So, the document shows us that, at least according to McKinley, we officially went to war for American peace of mind and to end economic uncertainty. It was not to gain territory, at least not in Cuba. How do we know? Because Congress also passed the Teller Amendment, which forswore any U.S. annexation of Cuba, perhaps because representatives of the U.S. sugar industry like Colorado’s Senator Henry Teller feared competition from sugar produced in an American Cuba. Or maybe not. But probably so. Also not the cause of the war was the sinking of the USS Maine. The battleship which had been in Havana’s harbor to protect American interests sank after an explosion on February 15, 1898 killing 266 sailors. Now, most historians chalk up the sinking to an internal explosion and not to Spanish sabotage, but that didn’t stop Americans from blaming the Spanish with their memorable meme: “Remember the Maine, to hell with Spain.” Let’s go to the Thoughtbubble. The actual war was one of the most successful in U.S. history, especially if you measure success by brevity and relative paucity of deaths. Secretary of State John Hay called it a “splendid little war” and in many ways it was. Fighting lasted about 4 months and fewer than 400 Americans were killed in combat, although 5,000 died of, wait for it, disease. Stupid disease, always ruining everything. There weren’t a ton of battles but those that happened got an inordinate amount of press coverage, like the July attack on San Juan Hill at the Cuban city of Santiago, led by future president Theodore Roosevelt. While it was a successful battle, the real significance is that it furthered Roosevelt’s career. He returned a hero, promptly became Governor of New York and by 1900 was McKinley’s vice president. Which was a good job to have because McKinley would eventually be assassinated. A more important battle was that of Manila Bay in which commodore George Dewey destroyed a tiny Spanish fleet and took the Philippines. This battle took place in May of 1898, well before the attack on Cuba, which strongly suggests that a war that was supposedly about supporting Cuban independence was really about something else. And what was that something else? Oh right. A territorial empire. As a result of the war, the U.S. got a bunch of new territories, notably the Philippines, Puerto Rico and Guam. We also used the war as an opportunity to annex Hawaii to protect our ships that would be steaming toward the Philippines. We didn’t annex Cuba, but we didn’t let it become completely independent, either. The Platt Amendment in the Cuban Constitution authorized American military intervention whenever it saw fit and gave us a permanent lease for a naval base at Guantanamo Bay. Thanks Thoughtbubble. So, Cuba and Puerto Rico were gateways to Latin American markets. Puerto Rico was particularly useful as a naval station. Hawaii, Guam, and especially the Philippines opened up access to China. American presence in China was bolstered by our contribution of about 3,000 troops to the multinational force that helped put down the Boxer Rebellion in 1900. But in the Philippines, where Americans had initially been welcome, opinion soon changed after it became clear that Americans were there to stay and exercise control. Emiliano Aguinaldo, leader of the Filipino rebellion against Spain, quickly turned against the U.S. because his real goal was independence and it appeared the U.S. would not provide it. The resulting Philippine War lasted 4 years, from 1899-1903. And 4,200 Americans were killed as well as over 100,000 Filipinos. The Americans committed atrocities, including putting Filipinos in concentration camps, torturing prisoners, rape, and executing civilians. And much of this was racially motivated and news of these atrocities helped to spur anti-imperialist sentiment at home, with Mark Twain being one of the most outspoken critics. Now, there was some investment in modernization in the Philippines, in railroads, schools, and public health, but the interests of the local people were usually subordinated to those of the wealthy. So, American imperialism in short looked like most other imperialism. So Constitution nerds will remember that the U.S. Constitution has no provision for colonies, only territory that will eventually be incorporated as states. Congress attempted to deal with this issue by passing the Foraker Act in 1900. This law declared that Puerto Rico would be an insular territory; its inhabitants would be citizens of Puerto Rico, not the United States and there would be no path to statehood. But this wasn’t terribly constitutional. Congress did extend U.S. citizenship to Puerto Ricans in 1917. Now it’s a commonwealth with its own government that has no voice in U.S. Congress or presidential elections and no control over its own defense or environmental policy. The Philippines were treated similarly to Puerto Rico, in a series of cases between 1901 and 1904 collectively called the Insular Cases. But Hawaii was treated differently. Because it had a sizeable population of American settlers who happened to be white. Ergo, it became a traditional territory with a path to statehood because white people and also pineapples. Now let’s briefly talk about anti-imperialism. There were lots of people who objected to imperialism on racial grounds, arguing that it might lead to, like, diversity. But there were also non-racist anti-imperialists who argued that empire itself with its political domination of conquered people was incompatible with democracy, which, to be fair, it is. The Democratic Party, which had supported intervention in Cuba, in 1900 opposed the Philippine War in its platform. Some Progressives opposed imperialism too because they believed that America should focus on its domestic problems. Yet those who supported imperialism were just as forceful. Among the most vocal was Indiana Senator Albert Beveridge who argued that imperialism was benevolent and would bring “a new day of freedom.” But, make no mistake, underneath it all, imperialism was all about trade. According to Beveridge, America’s commerce “must be with Asia. The Pacific is our ocean … Where shall we turn for consumers of our surplus? Geography answers the question. China is our natural customer.” In the end, imperialism was really driven by economic necessity. In 1902, Brooks Adams predicted in his book The New Empire that the U.S. would soon “outweigh any single empire, if not all empires combined.” Within 20 years America would be the world’s leading economic power. We didn’t have the most overseas territory, but ultimately that didn’t matter. Now, the reasons for imperialism, above all the quest for markets for American goods, would persist long after imperialism became recognized as antithetical to freedom and democracy. And we would continue to struggle to reconcile our imperialistic urges with our ideals about democracy until...now. Thanks for watching. I’ll see you next week. Crash Course is produced and directed by Stan Muller. Our script supervisor is Meredith Danko. The associate producer is Danica Johnson. The show is written by my high school history teacher, Raoul Meyer, Rosianna Rojas, and myself. And our graphics team is Thought Café. Every week there’s a new caption for the libertage. You can suggest captions in comments where you can also ask questions about today’s video that will be answered by our team of historians. Thanks for watching Crash Course and as we say in my hometown, don’t forget to be awesome. This is the part where Stan gets nervous, like, is he gonna go this way or this way or this way? I’m going this way. Imperialism -
Voting trends
From the 1940s to the 1990s most Asian Americans were anti-communist refugees who had fled mainland China, North Korea or Vietnam, and were strongly anti–Communist.[citation needed] Many had ties to conservative organizations.[1][2] In recent years, more liberal Asian–American groups such as newer Chinese and Indian immigrants have greatly changed the Asian–American political demographics, as well as a larger proportion of younger Asian Americans, many of whom have completed college degrees.[3]
During the 1990s and 2000s, Asian American voting behavior shifted from moderate support for the Republican Party to stronger support for the Democratic Party.[4] In the 1992 presidential election Republican George H. W. Bush received 55% of the Asian–American vote compared to 31% for Democrat Bill Clinton. Asian Americans voted Republican and were the only racial group more conservative than whites in the 1990s, according to surveys.[1] By the 2004 election, Democrat John Kerry won 56% of the Asian American vote, with Chinese and Indian Americans tending to support Kerry, and Vietnamese and Filipino Americans tending to support George Bush.[5] Japanese–Americans leaned towards Kerry, while Korean–Americans leaned towards Bush.[5] Democrat Barack Obama won 62% of the Asian American vote in the 2008 presidential election,[6] with the margin increasing during the 2012 presidential election, where Asian Americans voted to re-elect Obama by 73%.[7] In the 2014 midterm elections, based on exit polls, 50% of Asian Americans voted Republican, while 49% voted Democrat; this swing towards voting for Republicans was a shift from the strong Democratic vote in 2012, and had not reached 50% since 1996.[8] The 2016 National Asian American Survey, conducted before the 2016 presidential election, found that 55% of Asian American registered voters supported Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and only 14% supported Republican candidate Donald Trump.[9]
Despite their growing trend of voting for Democrats in national elections, Asian Americans have tended to identify as independents and have not developed strong ties to political parties as a group.[10] Due to the smaller size of the groups population, in comparison to the population as a whole, it has been difficult to get an adequate sampling to forecast voter outcomes for Asian Americans.[11] In 2008, polls indicated that 35% considered themselves non-partisan, 32% Democrats, 19% independents, and 14% Republicans.[12] The 2012 National Asian American Survey found that 51% considered themselves non–partisan, 33% Democrats, 14% Republicans, and 2% Other;[13][14] Hmong, Indian, and Korean Americans strongly identified as Democrats, and Filipino and Vietnamese Americans most strongly identified as Republicans.[14] In 2013, according to the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Chinese Americans were the least likely Asian American ethnicity to have a party affiliation, with only one third belonging to a party.[15] The 2016 National Asian American Survey found that 41% of Asian Americans identified as non-partisan, 41% as Democrats (a modest increase from 2008 and 2012), and 16% as Republicans.[9]
Neither the Republican nor Democratic parties have financed significant efforts to the registration of Asian Americans, however much more attention has been focused on contributions from Asian Americans,[16] having once been referred to as "the second most generous political donors after Jewish Americans."[17] As recently as 2006, the outreach efforts of America's two major political parties have been unbalanced, with the Democratic Party devoting more resources in attracting Asian Americans.[18] In 2016, a majority of Asian-Americans possessed the same political views on racial profiling, education, social security, and immigration reform as the Democratic Party; the efforts to attract Asian-Americans has produced a proportionally significant growth in Democratic affiliation by Asian-Americans from 2012 to 2016 by 12 percent.[19] Political affiliation aside, Asian-Americans have trended to become more politically active as a whole, with 2008 seeing an increase of voter participation by 4% to a 49% voting rate.[20] Such efforts by the Democratic Party in attracting Asian Americans came to an apex in 2020, with only Vietnamese Americans leaning mostly to the Republicans.[21]
Timeline of events
- 1900s
- 1903 – Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole elected as delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives from Hawaii Territory's At–large district
- 1920s
- 1927 – Victor S. K. Houston elected as delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives from Hawaii Territory's At–large district
- 1930s
- 1935 – Samuel Wilder King elected as delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives from Hawaii Territory's At–large district
- 1950s
- 1953 – Samuel Wilder King elected as territorial governor of Hawaii
- 1956 – President Dwight Eisenhower appoints Peter Tali Coleman as governor of American Samoa
- 1959 – Hiram Fong elected a United States senator from Hawaii
- James Kealoha elected as lieutenant governor of Hawaii
- 1960s
- 1969 – President Richard Nixon appoints Carlos Camacho as governor of Guam
- 1970s
- 1971 – Kurt Moylan elected as lieutenant governor of Guam
- 1977 – S. I. Hayakawa elected as United States Senator from California
- 1978 – Peter Tali Coleman elected as governor of American Samoa
- 1979 – Paul McDonald Calvo elected as governor of Guam
- Joseph Franklin Ada elected as lieutenant governor of Guam
- 1980s
- 1981 – President Ronald Reagan appoints Wendy Lee Gramm as Head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission
- 1982 – Pedro Tenorio elected as governor of the Northern Mariana Islands
- 1983 – Joseph Franklin Ada elected as governor of Guam
- 1985 – Vicente T. Blaz elected as Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives from Guam's at–large district
- 1987 – Pat Saiki (HI) elected to U.S. Congress
- Frank Blas elected as lieutenant governor of Guam
- 1989 – President George H. W. Bush appoints Elaine Chao as United States Deputy secretary of Transportation
- 1990s
- 1990 – Juan Babauta elected as resident representative of the Northern Mariana Islands
- 1991 – President George H. W. Bush appoints the following:
- Elaine Chao as director of the Peace Corps
- Pat Saiki as administrator of the Small Business Administration
- Jan C. Ting as assistant commissioner at the Immigration and Naturalization Service
- Cheryl Lau is elected as secretary of State of Nevada
- 1992 – Gaioi Tufele Galeai appointed as lieutenant governor of American Samoa
- 1993 – Jay Kim (CA) elected to U.S. Congress
- 1995 – John Ensign (NV) elected to U.S. Congress
- Matt Fong elected as California State Treasurer
- 1998 – President Bill Clinton appoints Bert Mizusawa as Deputy Undersecretary of the Army for Interagency and International Affairs
- 2000s
- 2001 – President George W. Bush appoints the following:
- Elaine Chao as United States secretary of labor
- David S. C. Chu as under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness
- Viet D. Dinh as United States assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Policy
- David Kuo as deputy director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships
- Susan Ralston as special assistant to the president
- Victor Cha as director for Asian Affairs
- Karan Bhatia as deputy under secretary of Commerce for Industry
- John Quoc Duong as director of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders
- Chiling Tong as deputy assistant secretary of the International Trade Administration
- John Ensign elected as United States senator from Nevada
- 2002 – Duke Aiona as lieutenant governor of Hawaii
- 2003 – Felix Perez Camacho elected as governor of Guam
- 2005 – Bobby Jindal (LA) elected to U.S. Congress
- 2006 – President George W. Bush appoints the following:
- Edmund C. Moy as director of the United States Mint
- Wan J. Kim as assistant United States attorney general for the Civil Rights Division
- John Yoo as deputy assistant U.S. attorney general in the Office of Legal Counsel
- Mina Nguyen as deputy assistant secretary for Business Affairs and Public Liaison
- Angela Perez Baraquio to the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation
- 2007 – Michael Cruz elected as lieutenant governor of Guam
- 2008 – Bobby Jindal elected as governor of Louisiana
- President George W. Bush appoints the following:
- Sada Cumber as United states special envoy to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
- Neel Kashkari as assistant secretary of the treasury for financial stability
- Sandy Baruah as acting administrator of the Small Business Administration
- Jessie K. Liu as deputy assistant attorney general
- Lanhee Chen to the Social Security Advisory Board
- James C. Ho appointed as solicitor general of Texas
- President George W. Bush appoints the following:
- 2009 – Steve Austria (OH) and Joseph Cao (LA) are elected to U.S. Congress
- 2010s
- 2010 – Charles Djou (HI) elected to U.S. Congress
- 2011 – Nikki Haley elected as governor of South Carolina
- Eddie Baza Calvo elected as governor of Guam
- 2013 – Eloy Inos elevated as governor of the Northern Mariana Islands
- Jude Hofschneider elevated to lieutenant governor of the Northern Mariana Islands
- Sean Reyes appointed as attorney general of Utah
- Jude Hofschneider elevated to lieutenant governor of the Northern Mariana Islands
- 2014 – Nandita Berry appointed as secretary of State of Texas
- 2015 – Amata Coleman Radewagen elected as delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives from American Samoa's at–large district
- Ralph Torres elected as lieutenant governor of the Northern Mariana Islands
- Ralph Torres elevated as governor of the Northern Mariana Islands
- Victor Hocog elevated as lieutenant governor of the Northern Mariana Islands
- Yumi Hogan becomes the first lady of Maryland
- Victor Hocog elevated as lieutenant governor of the Northern Mariana Islands
- Ralph Torres elevated as governor of the Northern Mariana Islands
- Ralph Torres elected as lieutenant governor of the Northern Mariana Islands
- 2017 – President Donald Trump appoints the following:
- Nikki Haley as United States ambassador to the United Nations
- Elaine Chao as United States secretary of Transportation
- Noel Francisco as solicitor general of the United States
- Seema Verma as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
- Ajit Pai as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission
- Neil Chatterjee as chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
- Neomi Rao as administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
- Manisha Singh as assistant secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs
- Gopal Khanna as director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
- Kari Bingen as principal deputy under secretary of defense for intelligence
- Derek Kan as under secretary of transportation for policy
- Vishal Amin as intellectual property enforcement coordinator
- Raj Shah as White House principal deputy press secretary
- Grace Koh as special assistant to the president (technology, telecom, and cyber–security policy)
- 2018 – President Donald Trump appoints the following:
- Jeff Tien Han Pon as director of the United States Office of Personnel Management
- Michelle Giuda as assistant secretary of State for Public Affairs
- Holly Ham as executive director of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders
- Brent K. Park as deputy administrator for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation
- Joyce Y. Meyer as White House deputy director of legislative affairs (House Liaison)
- Uttam Dhillon as White House deputy counsel
- Kimberly Yee elected as state treasurer of Arizona
- 2020s
- 2020 – Young Kim and Michelle Steel elected to U.S. Congress
Politicians
Arizona
- Quang Nguyen – Arizona state representative (2021–present)
- Barry Wong – Arizona state representative (1993–2001) and Arizona corporation commissioner (2006–2007)
- Kimberly Yee – Treasurer of Arizona (2019–present) and majority leader of the Arizona Senate (2017–2019)
California
- Harry Sidhu – mayor of Anaheim (2018–2022)
- Tyler Diep – California State assemblyman (2018–2020)
- Steven Choi – California State assemblyman (2016–2023)
- Phillip Chen – California State assemblyman (2016–present)
- Vince Fong – California State assemblyman (2016–present)
- Tri Ta - California State assemblyman (2023–present)
- Andrew Do – Orange County supervisor (2014–present)
- Chris Cate – San Diego City Councilman (2014–present)
- Ling Ling Chang – California State assemblywoman (2014–2016) & California state senator (2018–2021)
- Lisa Bartlett – Orange County supervisor (2014–present)
- Tani Cantil–Sakauye – Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court (2011–present)
- Harmeet Dhillon – Vice Chairwoman of the California Republican Party (2010–2016)
- Janet Nguyen – Orange County Board supervisor (2007–2014), California state senator (2014–2018), & California State assemblywoman (2020–present)
- Mike Gin – mayor of Redondo Beach (2005–2013)
- Van Tran – California State assemblyman (2004–2010)
- Betty Tom Chu – mayor of Monterey Park, California (2003–2012)
- Alan Nakanishi – California State assemblyman (2002–2008)
- Jose Esteves – mayor of Milpitas (2002–2016)
- Debra Wong Yang - United States Attorney for the Central District of California (2002-2006)
- Shirley Horton – California State assemblywoman (2000–2008)
- Ming Chin – Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of California (1996–2020)
- Nao Takasugi – California State assemblyman (1992–1998)
- Eunice Sato – mayor of Long Beach (1980–1982)
- Tom Hom – California State assemblyman (1970–1972)
- S. I. Hayakawa - United States Senator from California (1977-1983)
Colorado
- Janak Joshi – Colorado state representative (2011–2017)
Connecticut
- Kimberly Fiorello – Connecticut state representative (2021–present)
- Prasad Srinivasan – Connecticut state representative (2011–2019)
- Tony Hwang – Connecticut state representative (2009–2015) & Connecticut state senator (2015–present)
Florida
- Mike Giallombardo - Florida state representative (2021–present)
Georgia
- B. J. Pak – Georgia state representative (2011–2017) and United States attorney for the Northern District of Georgia (2017–2021)
- Soo Hong – Georgia State Representative (2023–present)
- Charlice Byrd – Georgia State Representative (2005-2013, 2021–present)
Hawaii
- Kurt Fevella – Hawaii state senator (2019–present)
- Val Okimoto – Hawaii state representative (2019–present)
- Kenji M. Price – United States attorney for the District of Hawaii (2018–2021)
- Andria Tupola – Hawaii state representative (2015–2019) & Honolulu City Councilor (2020–present)
- Feki Pouha – Hawaii state representative (2015–2017)
- Lauren Matsumoto – Hawaii state representative (2013–present)
- Beth Fukumoto – Hawaii state representative (2013–2017) (Became a Democrat in 2017)
- Richard Fale – Hawaii state representative (2013–2015)
- David S. Chang – chairman of the Hawaii Republican Party (2011–2014)
- Aaron Ling Johanson – Hawaii state representative (2010–2014) (Became a Democrat in 2014)
- Karen Awana – Hawaii state representative (2007) (Became a Democrat in 2007)
- Mike Gabbard – Hawaii state senator (2007) (Became a Democrat in 2007)
- Kymberly Pine – Hawaii state representative (2005–2013) & Honolulu City Councilor (2013–2017) (Became a Democrat in 2017)
- Charles Djou - Hawaii state representative (1999-2002), Honolulu City Councilor (2002-2010), & U.S. Representative (2010-2011)
- Lynn Finnegan – Hawaii state representative (2003–2011)
- Corinne Wei Lan Ching – Hawaii state representative (2003–2013)
- Kika Bukoski – Hawaii state representative (2001–2005)
- Guy P. Ontai – Hawaii state representative (2001–2005)
- Edward H. Kubo, Jr. – United States attorney for the District of Hawaii (2001–2009)
- Emily Auwae – Hawaii state representative (1999–2003)
- Bertha Leong – Hawaii state representative (1999–2005)
- David Pendleton – Hawaii state representative (1997–2005)
- Samson Aiona – Hawaii state representative (1997–1999)
- Quentin Kawananakoa – Hawaii state representative (1995–1999)
- Larry Tanimoto – mayor of Hawaii County (1990)
- Bernard Akana – mayor of Hawaii County (1988–1990)
- Stan Koki – Hawaii state senator (1988–1995)
- Patrick A. Ribellia – Hawaii state representative (1987) (Became a Democrat in 1987)
- Ann Kobayashi – Hawaii state senator (1981–1988) (Became a Democrat in 1988)
- Marvin Dang – Hawaii state representative (1981–1983)
- Kimo Wong – Hawaii state representative (1981–1983)
- Mike Liu – Hawaii state representative (1979–1991) & Hawaii state senator (1995–1997)
- Barbara Marumoto – Hawaii state representative (1979–2013)
- Tony Narvaes – Hawaii state representative (1977–1983)
- Donna Akeda – Hawaii state representative (1975–1987) & Hawaii state senator (1987–1988) (Became a Democrat in 1988)
- Kinau Kamalli – Hawaii state representative (1975–1987)
- Dan Hakoda – Hawaii state representative (1975–1977)
- Alvin T. Amaral – Hawaii state representative (1973–1977)
- Archie Hapai III – Hawaii state representative (1973–1975)
- Patrick A. Ribellia – Hawaii state representative (1971–1974) (Became a Democrat in 1974)
- Wing Kong Chong – Hawaii state representative (1971–1975)
- Hiram Fong – Hawaii state representative (1948–1959) & United States Senator (1959–1973)
- Hiram Fong Jr. – Hawaii state representative (1971–1979)
- James Aki – Hawaii state representative (1971–1976) (Became a Democrat in 1976)
- Howard K. Oda – Hawaii state representative (1967–1976) (Became a Democrat in 1976)
- Tennyson Lum – Hawaii state representative (1967–1971 & 1977–1979) & Hawaii state senator (1977–1987)
- Wilfred Soares – Hawaii state representative (1967–1977) & Hawaii state senator (1971–1975)
- Andy Poepoe – Hawaii state representative (1967–1977)
- Ralph Ajifu – Hawaii state representative (1967–1979) & Hawaii state senator (1979–1985)
- Peter Aduja – Hawaii state representative (1967–1975)
- Thomas K. Lalakea – Hawaii state representative (1965–1967)
- Clinton I. Shirashi – Hawaii state senator (1963–1967)
- Toshi Ansai – Hawaii state senator (1963–1971)
- Kenneth H. Nakamura – Hawaii state representative (1963–1965)
- Francis M. F. Ching – Hawaii state senator (1959–1965)
- Noburu Miyake – Hawaii state senator (1959–1967)
- Lawrence Kunihisa – Hawaii state senator (1959–1963)
- Bernard H. Tokunaga – Hawaii state senator (1959–1963)
- John T. Ushijima – Hawaii state senator (1959–1962) (Became a Democrat in 1962)
- Wadsworth Yee – Hawaii state representative (1959–1967) & Hawaii state senator (1967–1983)
- Robert K. Fukuda – Hawaii state representative (1959–1963)
- Katsugo Miho – Hawaii state representative (1959–1971)
- Percy Mirikitani – Hawaii state representative (1959–1967) & Hawaii state senator (1967–1975)
- Robert Teruya – Hawaii state representative (1959–1963)
- Sanji Abe – Hawaii state representative (1940–1946)
Idaho
- Julie Yamamoto – Idaho state representative (2020–present)
- Julie VanOrden – Idaho state representative (2012–2018; 2022-present)
- Pat Takasugi – Idaho state representative (2007–2011)
Kansas
- Shanti Gandhi – Kansas state representative (2013–2015)
- Lily Wu - Television anchor and Mayor of Wichita, Kansas, since January 2024, registered Republican before 2022, Libertarian since 2022
Kentucky
- Amul Thapar – United States attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky (2006–2008)
Maryland
- Robert Hur - United States Attorney for the District of Maryland (2018–present)
Massachusetts
- Sabita Singh – appeals court judge for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (2017–present)
- Dean Tran – Massachusetts state senator (2017–2021)
- Keiko Orrall – Massachusetts state representative (2011–2019)
- Donald Wong – Massachusetts state representative (2011–present)
Minnesota
- Jennifer Carnahan – Chair of the Minnesota Republican Party (2017–2021)
- Rachel Paulose – U.S. attorney for the District of Minnesota (2006–2007)
Missouri
- Jonathan Patterson – Missouri state representative (2019–present)
Nebraska
- Tony Fulton – Nebraska state representative (2007–2013) & Nebraska State Tax Commissioner (2016–present)
- Lormong Lo – Omaha City Councillor (1993–2001)
Nevada
- Glen Leavitt – Nevada assemblyman (2018–present)
- Francis Allen–Palenske – Nevada assemblywoman (2004–2008) and Las Vegas City Councilwoman (2022-present)
New Hampshire
- Aboul Khan – New Hampshire state representative (2012–present)
- Saggy Tahir – New Hampshire state representative (2001–2011)
New Jersey
- Philip Kwon – Deputy Counsel for Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (2012–2018)
- David F. Bauman – New Jersey Superior Court Judge (2008–present)
- Kevin J. O'Toole – New Jersey state senator (2002–2017)
New York
- Peter Koo – New York City Councillor (2010–2012) (Became a Democrat in 2012)
- Lester Chang - New York State Assemblyman (2023–present)
Ohio
- Niraj Antani – Ohio state representative (2014–2021) & Ohio state senator (2021–present)
- Cliff Rosenberger – Ohio state representative (2011–2018)
Oklahoma
- Stephanie Bice - Oklahoma state senator (2014-2020) and United States Representative for the 5th congressional district (2021-present)
- Daniel Pae – Oklahoma state representative (2018–present)
- Ervin Yen – Oklahoma state senator (2014–2018)
Oregon
- John Lim – Oregon state senator (1993–2001) & Oregon state representative (2005–2009)
Pennsylvania
- David Oh – Philadelphia City Councillor (2012–2023)
- Jeff Coleman – Pennsylvania state representative (2001–2005)
- John Pippy – Pennsylvania state representative (1997–2003) & Pennsylvania state senator (2003–2012)
Rhode Island
- Allan Fung – mayor of Cranston (2009–2021); Republican nominee for governor of Rhode Island in 2014 and 2018.
Tennessee
- Jerome Cochran – Tennessee state representative (2002–2006)
- Sabi Kumar - Tennessee state representative (2015–present)
Texas
- Jacey Jetton – Texas state representative (2021–present)
- Steve Le – Houston City Councillor (2015–present)
- Richard Nguyen – Houston City Councillor (2013–2015)
- Angie Chen Button – Texas state representative (2009–present)
- Al Hoang – Houston City Councillor (2009–2013)
- M.J. Khan – Houston City Councillor (2003–2009)
- Martha Wong – Texas state representative (2003–2007) & Houston City Councillor (1993–2003)
- Bala K. Srinivas – mayor of Hollywood Park (1988–1994)
Utah
- Sophia M. DiCaro – Utah state representative (2015–2017)
- Brian Shiozawa – Utah state senator (2013–2017)
- Dean Sanpei – Utah state representative (2010–2017)
- Curtis Oda – Utah state representative (2005–2017)
Virginia
- Ron Villanueva – Virginia State Delegate (2010–2018)
Washington
- Conrad Lee – mayor of Bellevue (2012–2018)
Washington, D.C.
- Viet D. Dinh – Assistant attorney general of the United States (2001–2003)
- Jessie K. Liu – United States attorney for the District of Columbia (2017–2020)
West Virginia
- Tom Takubo – West Virginia state senator (2015–present)
Wyoming
- Nimi McConigley – Wyoming state representative (1994–1996)
- Daniel Singh – Wyoming state representative (2023–present)
Public personalities
- Kristi Yamaguchi - Japanese American figure skater and author
- Kathy Zhu - Chinese American former Miss Michigan[22]
- Emily Hu - Taiwanese American engineer and record-holding powerlifter[23]
- Susan Li - Chinese Canadian-American journalist
- Sophia Yan - Taiwanese American classical pianist and journalist
- Kristy Tamashiro - Japanese American journalist[24]
- Yeonmi Park - North Korean defector and conservative radio talk show host
- A.D. Amar - Indian American scholar
- Reihan Salam - Bangladeshi American journalist
- Dinesh D’Souza - Indian American commentator
- Husain Haqqani - Pakistani American diplomat
- Miles Yu - Chinese American policy advisor
- Raj Shah - Indian American White House Deputy Press Secretary
- Hsiao-ting Lin - Taiwanese historian and political scientist
- Raghuram Rajan - Indian American economist
- Ramesh Ponnuru - Indian American journalist and political pundit
- Ajit Pai - Indian American attorney
- Sadanand Dhume - Indian American writer and journalist
- John Yoo - Korean American legal scholar
- Tunku Varadarajan - Indian British-American journalist
- Vivek Ramaswamy - Indian American businessman, conservative activist, and Republican presidential candidate
- Anna Chennault - Chinese American war correspondent
- Michelle Malkin - Filipina American conservative commentator
- Mia Cathell - far-right Chinese American journalist and conservative commentator [25]
- Tila Tequila - Vietnamese American media personality
- Neil Patel (political advisor) - Co-founder and publisher of The Daily Caller of Indian ancestry
- Andy Ngo - Vietnamese-American journalist, author and social media personality
- Kaiji Tang - Chinese-American voice actor
- Shalabh Kumar - Founder of the Republican Hindu Coalition, financial contributor to Donald Trump's presidential campaign
- Soong Mei-ling - Widow of Chiang Kai-Shek she lived in the United States from 1975 to her death
- Rachelle B. Chong - Former Commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission, former Commissioner of the California Public Utilities Commission
- Gordon G. Chang - journalist, lawyer, political commentator, writer, he has spoken to the Conservative Political Action Conference multiple times.
- Mehmet Oz - television personality, physician, author, professor emeritus at Columbia Medical School and former conservative Republican political candidate.
- Solomon Yue - Chinese-American businessperson and conservative Republican activist.
See also
References
- ^ a b Jeffrey D. Schultz, ed., Encyclopedia of Minorities in American Politics (2000) Volume 1 pp 261-62
- ^ William Wei, The Asian American movement (1993) pp 16, 226, 274
- ^ William Wei, The Asian American movement (1993) pp 170, 274
- ^ "How Asian Americans Became Democrats". The American Prospect. Retrieved 2016-10-22.
- ^ a b Jim Lobe, Asian-Americans lean toward Kerry Archived 19 September 2008 at the Library of Congress Web Archives, Asia Times. September 16, 2004.
- ^ Election results, America Votes 2004, CNN;
^ Exit Polls, CNN. - ^ Hilburn, Matthew (2012-11-07). "Exit Polls Show Asian Americans Backed Obama by Wide Margin". Voice of America. Retrieved 2012-11-10.
- ^ McLaughlin, Seth (9 November 2014). "GOP makes big inroads with Asian voters in midterms". Washington Times. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
- ^ a b Ramakrishnan, Karthick; Wong, Janelle; Lee, Taeku; Lee, Jennifer (2016-10-05). "Report on Registered Voters in the Fall 2016 National Asian American Survey" (PDF). National Asian American Survey. Retrieved 2016-10-05.
- ^ Hajnal, Zoltan L.; Lee, Taeku (27 February 2011). Hajnal, Z.L. and Lee, T.: Why Americans Don't Join the Party: Race, Immigration, and the Failure (of Political Parties) to Engage the Electorate. (eBook and Paperback). Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691148793. Retrieved 2016-10-22.
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ignored (help) - ^ Lee, Taeku. "Asian Americans and the Electorate". American Political Science Association. Retrieved 23 August 2009.
- ^ Feng, Rex (24 October 2008). "Who Is The Asian American Voter?". AsianWeek. Archived from the original on 9 February 2009. Retrieved 23 August 2009.
- ^ Jerry Large (26 September 2012). "Asian-American voters a force in November election". Seattle Times. Archived from the original on 16 January 2013. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
- ^ a b Karthick Ramakrishnan; Taeku Lee (8 October 2012). "Public Opinion Of a Growing Electorate: Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in 2012" (PDF). The National Asian American Survey. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
- ^ Matthew Hilburn (17 January 2013). "Asian-American Vote Reveals Nuances". Voice of America. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
Chinese-Americans were the least likely to affiliate with a party. Magpantay suggested that only one third of Chinese-Americans belong to a party, compared with 71 percent among all Asian-Americans, because of the negative association of the word party with the Communist Party in China.
- ^ Chen, Edith Wen-Chu (2010). Grace J. Yoo (ed.). Encyclopedia of Asian American Issues Today, Volume 1. ABC-CLIO. p. 722. ISBN 978-0-313-34751-1. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
- ^ Cho, Wendy K. Tam (2002). "Tapping Motives and Dynamics behind Campaign Contributions: Insights from the Asian American Case". American Politics Research. 30 (4). SAGE Publications: 347–383. doi:10.1177/1532673X02030004001. S2CID 154904550. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
- ^ Stewart David Ikeda. "Has the GOP Given Up on Asian Americans?". IMDiversity Inc. Archived from the original on 27 December 2010. Retrieved 22 February 2011.
- ^ "Inclusion, Not Exclusion" (PDF). apiavote.org. Asian-American Voter Survey(AAVS). May 22, 2016. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
- ^ Edwards, Tom (20 July 2009). "Voter Turnout Increases by 5 Million in 2008 Presidential Election". U.S. Census Bureau News. U.S. Department of Commerce. Archived from the original on 2010-10-20. Retrieved 2010-07-26.
- ^ "How Asian Americans Are Thinking About the 2020 Election". 18 September 2020.
- ^ "Kathy Zhu, former Miss Michigan who was stripped of her title, says coming out as conservative is 'harder than coming out' as gay". ABC News.
- ^ "Emily Hu: The all time record breaker tells us her story | Powerlifting Watch".
- ^ "Kristy Tamashiro". 14 June 2019.
- ^ "Kristy Tamashiro". 14 June 2019.
Further reading
- Wang, Anthony S. (1998). "Demystifying the Asian American Neo-Conservative: A Strange and New Political Animal". Asian American Law Journal. 5 (1): 213–246. doi:10.15779/Z38200Q.