The 2012 campaign cycle marks the highest number of viable Asian-American candidates ever ? and not just on the West Coast. Their success could help Democrats regain ground in the House.
Tammy Duckworth, then-assistant secretary of the US Department of Veterans Affairs arrives at the World War II Memorial in Washington for a ceremony honoring World War II veterans who fought in the Pacific on March 11, 2010. A former helicopter pilot and the first female double amputee in the Iraq War, she ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the US House of Representatives in 2006 and is running again in Illinois's 8th congressional district in 2012.
Cliff Owen/AP/File
EnlargeA record number of Asian-American candidates are running for the US House and Senate this fall, and they have a message: It?s time for a seat at the table that reflects their numbers in American society.
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Just 5.8 percent of the US population is Asian, but only 12 out of 535 members of Congress, or 2 percent, claim Asian heritage, two in the Senate and 10 in the House. Now the numbers may be starting to catch up. Including Pacific Islanders, 30 Asian-American candidates launched congressional bids this cycle, compared with 10 in 2010 and eight in 2008, according to the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies in Washington.
?This is a real opportunity for our community,? says Gloria Chan, president and CEO of APAICS. ?It really showcases our political power right now.?
While six Asian-Americans were defeated in their primaries, 12 other contenders ? 10 Democrats and two Republicans ? will advance to the general election.? Three running competitively for seats in New York and Illinois are poised to become their state?s first Asian-American US representatives. This campaign cycle features the greatest number of viable Asian-American candidates in history, says David Wasserman, House editor for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report in Washington.
Most are running as Democrats, and though Republicans will likely retain their House majority, the victories of several Asian-Americans could give the minority party a leg up, Mr. Wasserman says. He points to districts like Illinois 8th, where Tammy Duckworth is running, and California?s 7th, where Ami Bera is running, as key opportunities for Democrats to seize.
?Asian-American candidates certainly are critical for Democratic hopes of gaining seats,? he said.
For the past three-to-four decades, Asian-Americans have increasingly participated in both the Democrat and Republican parties, says Don Nakanishi, director of the Asian American Studies Center at the University of California, Los Angeles. Population growth, opportunities opened by civil rights movements, and the election of other racial minorities are driving forces behind the shift,? he says.
Mr. Nakanishi, who founded the National Asian Pacific American Political Almanac, says that last year?s edition included more than 3,000 elected and major appointed Asian-American officials serving at the state and federal level. The first almanac printed in 1976, he says, largely contained candidates from West Coast states and had a page count so small it could be easily stapled.
This political activism also reflects increased professional success in fields like medicine and academia, says Manan Trivedi, an Indian-American and a Democrat, running for the first time in Pennsylvania?s 6th district.
?It makes sense that the next step is to get involved in policy and politics,? Mr. Trivedi said, in a phone interview. ?That?s where the rubber meets the road.?
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