On the eve of the March primary election, four community leaders gathered in Little Saigon to mark a “pivotal moment” for Orange County’s Asian Americans.
As campaign signs dotted neighborhood homes around St. Anselm’s Episcopal Church in Garden Grove, a press conference held inside the sanctuary sounded a rallying call to boost civic engagement.
Leaders of Korean Community Services, Orange County Asian and Pacific Islander Community Alliance, Southland Integrated Services and South Coast Chinese Cultural Center announced that they are joining forces in an effort to reach more than 100,000 voters ahead of November’s general election.
On Monday, the new collaborative was unveiled as the O.C. Asian American Initiative — and it aims to shake up the county’s political landscape.
“This county is changing rapidly, demographically, as well as politically,” said Ellen Ahn, executive director of Korean Community Services, at the press conference. “The Asian American voice needs to be heard.”
Asian Americans now comprise about a quarter of the county’s 3.2 million residents, making O.C. the third largest Asian county in the United States. It is also home to the largest Vietnamese American and second largest Korean American populations in the nation.
As the fastest growing racial demographic in the county, the Asian American population grew by 31% between 2010 and 2020, according to census data.
“Why not come together be even stronger?” Mary Anne Foo, founder and executive director of Orange County Asian and Pacific Islander Community Alliance, told TimesOC. “Why not reach a larger number of voters? And why not do it in a way that is language accessible and is culturally appropriate for our communities?”
The initiative, which is comprised of the four largest Asian community-facing organizations in the county, will be working in tandem with APIA Vote, a national nonpartisan nonprofit that engages Asian American and Pacific Islander communities,…
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