Washington, Oct 24
Michigan’s Indian American community, the largest Asian group in a state that could decide control of Congress, is being courted by Asian American political groups in the closing days of the midterm campaign, as President Donald Trump prepares to rally supporters in Port Huron on Sunday.
Trump is scheduled to speak at McMorran Place in Port Huron on Sunday, according to the White House schedule, his third rally in three days after Fort Myers, Florida, on Friday and Perry, Georgia, on Saturday.
The AAPI Victory Fund, a super PAC that backs Asian American candidates and voters, held a reception at the Godfrey Hotel in Detroit on October 17 attended by Senator Elissa Slotkin and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, the Democratic candidate for governor, according to The Oakland Post, Oakland University’s student newspaper.
“We established a super PAC, but that was a very explicit recognition,” the group’s president, Linh Nguyen, told the paper. “There was not enough political money that’s actually backing and supporting Asian voters and then Asian candidates.”
Nguyen said states such as Michigan and Georgia, with large Asian American populations and a history as battlegrounds, had become increasingly important to the group’s organising.
“We can be voting for people like Abdul El-Sayed and be proud of doing that,” Nguyen said, referring to the Democratic Senate candidate.
The group’s Michigan endorsements include El-Sayed, Benson, Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist II and Indian American state legislator Ranjeev Puri.
Indian Americans number about 138,644 in Michigan, the largest Asian ethnic group in the state, according to an AAPI Data fact sheet. The state has about 123,545 eligible Asian American voters.
Michigan’s Indian American population is concentrated in Oakland County suburbs such as Troy, Novi, Canton and Farmington Hills, which fall in or near competitive House districts.
The state’s only Indian American member of Congress, Democrat Shri Thanedar, represents the Detroit-based 13th District.
Port Huron, in St. Clair County, lies in a Republican-leaning part of the state’s Thumb region.
Indian American voters have leaned Democratic in recent elections, but Republicans have made gains with some immigrant communities. Both parties are competing this cycle against a backdrop of tighter H-1B visa rules and a surge in anti-Indian rhetoric online.
Michigan voters will choose a governor, a US senator and all 13 House members on November 3.
