President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign is commencing a formal outreach effort directed towards Asian American voters, featuring Vice President Kamala Harris. The campaign, named AANHPIs for Biden-Harris (representing Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander), will start in Las Vegas, where Harris, alongside former “Top Chef” host Padma Lakshmi, will kick off the events on Tuesday. Harris, the first South Asian descent vice president, will also give a keynote speech in Philadelphia on Saturday at a town hall hosted by APIAVote, a group dedicated to mobilizing Asian American voters.
Harris emphasized the importance of amplifying Asian American and NHPI voices at the polls and in all levels of government, stating that these voices must be present where decisions are made. The campaign, following earlier coalition groups focusing on Black and Latino voters, plans to be active in every battleground state such as Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Georgia.
Nadia Belkin, the campaign’s national AANHPI engagement director, will spearhead the coalition, with Andrew Peng joining as the national AANHPI spokesperson. Recognizing language barriers as a significant obstacle, the campaign intends to provide resources in various languages including Chinese, Tagalog, Hindi, Hmong, Vietnamese, Urdu, and Korean in their outreach efforts.
This renewed effort targeting Asian American voters signifies a broadening outreach strategy by the Biden campaign, with Harris playing a prominent role in engaging and mobilizing this crucial voting bloc.
