Gouri Sadhwani, a longtime New Jersey resident and Democrat, isn’t so enthusiastic about the presidential race this year, saying she plans to vote for President Joe Biden as a “defensive” measure against Donald Trump. But she gets fired up when she discusses the Senate race, particularly the Democratic candidate, Rep. Andy Kim.
“Andy Kim is very different,” said Sadhwani, 52, who moved to New Jersey from India when she was a child. “He happens to be in the right place at the right time with the right amount of guts.”
Sadhwani is among the rapidly growing group of Asian Americans in New Jersey, who have surged by 99% from 2000 to 2022. They make up 11% of the state’s population. They’re also incredibly diverse. While Indian Americans make up over 40% of all Asian Americans in the state, there are also significant numbers of Chinese, Filipino and Korean Americans. And it’s amid these shifting demographics that Kim is running for a Senate seat.
Voters and experts say New Jersey candidates and parties haven’t been particularly effective in engaging Asian Americans in the past. With Kim polling as the front-runner in the Democratic primary next Tuesday, many say his campaign could help usher in a new era of motivated voters. For Kim, who would be the first Korean American U.S. senator if he’s elected, it’s a chance to listen to a voting bloc that has felt excluded from American politics.
“We don’t only want to be talked to by political figures when there’s a spike in xenophobia,” Kim said in an interview, speaking as a member of the Asian American community himself. “Treat us not as a special interest group. Treat the community as a full and dynamic and complex and complicated community that you need to listen to.”
For years, Asian Americans in New Jersey didn’t feel the political system was ‘for them’
Asian Americans are now more than 9% of eligible voters in New Jersey, and the number is expanding fast. From 2010 to…
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