If Vice President Kamala Harris wins in November, she would make history on numerous fronts, not only as the first female president, but also the first Asian American and the first graduate of a Historically Black University and College to hold the office.
In her appearances, Harris rarely mentions the historic nature of her candidacy, but behind the scenes her campaign is reaching out to voters who are Asian American and voters who are affiliated with HBCUs.
Asian Americans are a growing electorate nationally.
About 15 million Asian Americans are projected to be eligible to vote in 2024, up 15% from 2020, according to Pew Research.
And in the battleground state of North Carolina, the number of AAPI voters grew 86% from 2010 to 2020, much higher than the overall eligible voting population increase of 16%, according to N.C. Asian Americans Together (NCAAT).
Despite the jump, advocates said in recent elections AAPI voters were often ignored.
“NCAAT was founded in 2016 when 80% of the AAPI population had never been contacted about an election by anyone, so that’s including candidates, that’s including organizing groups,” said NCAAT Senior Communications Manager Giselle Pagunaran.
In 2020, Pew Research said Asian Americans made up 4% of voters, the majority voted for Joe Biden in 2020.
Trump Campaign Senior Advisor Steven Cheung told Spectrum News 1 there is no bigger advocate for the AAPI community than Donald Trump, and he “created an environment where diversity, equal opportunity, and prosperity were afforded to everybody.” But this year he faces Harris, whose mother immigrated to the U.S. from India.
A source with the Harris campaign said the campaign invested earlier and with more money that ever in reaching AANHPI voters and has aired targeted advertising towards Asian American voters.
Harris would not only make history as the first Asian American president but also the first graduate of a HBCU. She’s an alum of Howard University.
North Carolina has 11 HBCUs, which is the most in the country after Alabama. In 2020, Trump only won the state by around 75,000 votes, so the schools’ students and alumni networks could be significant.
Arianna Arnold is a student a North Carolina A&T University, which is the largest HBCU in the country. She’s planning to vote for Harris, although not because Harris attended an HBCU.
“It’s great to see the representation, but I don’t think it would have swayed my vote if she had gone to any other university,” Arnold said.
The Harris campaign tells Spectrum News 1 it’s held numerous events at HBCU’s and has 80 staffers dedicated to student outreach in North Carolina, which includes at HBCUs.
Trump Campaign Black Media Director Janiyah Thomas didn’t elaborate on the campaign’s specific HBCU outreach, but told Spectrum News Democrats have taken HBCU student support for granted, while Trump is committed to Black Americans.
Since becoming vice president, Harris has made regular stops at HBCUs around the country, but an organization that works with HBCUs told Spectrum News 1 its discussions with both campaigns on issues of increasing funding for HBCUs and more are very limited.
“These two campaigns, and this entire campaign, have been much more personality focused than policy focused,” said UNCF Senior Vice President Lodriguez Murray. “That’s a direct contrast from four years ago when their in-depth discussions months and months before the election, so we knew where each campaign stood.”
That has the potential to hurt enthusiasm on campuses as both Trump and Harris try and appeal to a group of students who could have a lot of sway in a state the campaigns are eagerly trying to win.