Asian Americans represent a growing share of the national population and of the electorate.[1] The lower political participation of Asian Americans has been raised as a concern, especially as it relates to their influence on politics in the United States.[2] [3] Asian Americans were once a strong constituency for Republicans. In 1992, George H.W. Bush won 55% of Asian voters.[4] In the 21st century, Asian Americans have become a key Democratic Party constituency.[5] [6] As of 2023, 62% of Asian American registered voters identify with or lean towards the Democratic Party, in contrast to 34% who identify with or lean towards the Republicans.[7]
(Note: Senators are organized first in chronological order according to their first term in office, then second in alphabetical order according to their surname.)
| Senator | Asian and/or Pacific Islander ethnicity | Party | State | Tenure | Notes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Term start | Term end | Length of service | ||||||||
| Chinese[11] | Republican | Hawaii | Retired | |||||||
| Japanese[12] | Democratic | Hawaii | ||||||||
| Japanese | Republican | California | Retired | |||||||
| Japanese | Democratic | Hawaii | Died in office | |||||||
| Hawaiian, Chinese[13] | Democratic | Hawaii | Initially appointed; later re-elected Retired | |||||||
| Filipino[14] | Republican | Nevada | Resigned | |||||||
| Japanese[15] | Democratic | Hawaii | Incumbent | |||||||
| Thai, Chinese[16] | Democratic | Illinois | Incumbent | |||||||
| Indian[17] | Democratic | California | Resigned to become Vice President | |||||||
(Note: Representatives are organized first in chronological order according to their first term in office, then second in alphabetical order according to their surname.)
| Representative | Asian and/or Pacific Islander ethnicity | Party | State | Tenure | Notes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Term start | Term end | Length of service | ||||||||
| Indian[18] | Democratic | California | Lost reelection | |||||||
| Japanese[19] | Democratic | Hawaii | Retired to run successfully for U.S. Senate | |||||||
| Japanese | Democratic | Hawaii | Retired to run successfully for U.S. Senate | |||||||
| Japanese[20] | Democratic | Hawaii | Retired to run unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate | |||||||
| Died in office | ||||||||||
| Japanese | Democratic | California | Resigned Later served as Secretary of Commerce and Secretary of Transportation | |||||||
| Chinese | Democratic | Hawaii | Resigned after being appointed to the U.S. Senate | |||||||
| Japanese | Democratic | California | Died in office | |||||||
| Indian[21] | Democratic | California | Retired | |||||||
| Japanese | Republican | Hawaii | Retired to run unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate | |||||||
| Korean[22] | Republican | California | Lost renomination | |||||||
| Filipino[23] | Democratic | Virginia | Incumbent | |||||||
| Filipino | Republican | Nevada | Retired to run unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate Later elected to the U.S. Senate from Nevada | |||||||
| Taiwanese[24] | Democratic | Oregon | Resigned | |||||||
| Japanese | Democratic | California | Lost reelection | |||||||
| Indian | Republican | Louisiana | Resigned to run successfully for Governor | |||||||
| Japanese | Democratic | California | Incumbent | Elected to succeed late husband | ||||||
| Japanese | Democratic | Hawaii | Retired to run successfully for U.S. Senate | |||||||
| Filipino | Republican | Ohio | Retired following decennial redistricting | |||||||
| Vietnamese[25] | Republican | Louisiana | Lost reelection | |||||||
| Chinese[26] | Democratic | California | Incumbent | |||||||
| Thai, Chinese[27] | Republican | Hawaii | Lost reelection | |||||||
| Bangladeshi[28] | Democratic | Michigan | Lost renomination following decennial redistricting | |||||||
| Japanese | Democratic | Hawaii | Retired to run unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate | |||||||
| Retired to run unsuccessfully for Governor | ||||||||||
| Indian | Democratic | California | Incumbent | |||||||
| Thai, Chinese[29] | Democratic | Illinois | Retired to run successfully for U.S. Senate | |||||||
| Taiwanese[30] | Democratic | New York | Incumbent | |||||||
| Japanese[31] | Democratic | California | Incumbent | |||||||
| Taiwanese | Democratic | California | Incumbent | |||||||
| Japanese | Democratic | Hawaii | Died in office | |||||||
| Indian[32] | Democratic | Washington | Incumbent | |||||||
| Indian | Democratic | California | Incumbent | |||||||
| Indian | Democratic | Illinois | Incumbent | |||||||
| Vietnamese[33] | Democratic | Florida | 6 years, 0 days | Retired | ||||||
| Filipino, Chinese | Democratic | California | Lost reelection | |||||||
| Korean | Democratic | New Jersey | Incumbent | |||||||
| Korean[34] | Republican | California | Incumbent | |||||||
| Korean | Republican | California | Incumbent | |||||||
| Korean | Democratic | Washington | Incumbent | |||||||
| Indian | Democratic | Michigan | Incumbent | |||||||
| Japanese | Democratic | Hawaii | Incumbent | |||||||
| Chinese | Republican | California | Incumbent | |||||||
| Name | Image | Term | Ethnicity | State | Party | Offices held | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| George Ariyoshi (1926–) | 1974–1986 | Hawaii | Democratic | First American of Asian descent to be elected governor of a state of the United States.[35] He continues to hold the record as the longest-serving state governor in Hawaii. | ||||
| Ben Cayetano (1939–) | 1994–2002 | Hawaii | Democratic | First Filipino American to serve as a state governor in the United States.[36] | ||||
| Gary Locke (1950–) | 1997–2005 | Washington | Democratic | First Chinese American to be elected governor in United States history and the first Asian American governor in the continental United States.[37] | ||||
| Bobby Jindal (1971–) | 2008–2016 | Louisiana | Served in various executive positions in Louisiana and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services before being elected to Congress in 2004, and finally winning the Louisiana gubernatorial elections in 2007 (thereby becoming the first non-white governor of Louisiana since Reconstruction), the first elected Indian American governor in U.S. history,[38] as well as the second Asian American governor to serve in the continental United States. | |||||
| Nikki Haley (1972–) | 2011–2017 | South Carolina | Served as the 116th Governor of South Carolina from 2011 to 2017. Haley previously represented Lexington County in the South Carolina House of Representatives from 2005 to 2010.[39] She is the first Sikh American governor in the United States, first female governor of South Carolina,[40] second elected Indian American governor in U.S. history,[41] as well as the third Asian American governor to serve in the continental United States. Nikki Haley's election was not the only first for Asian Americans to occur during the 2010 election cycle. | |||||
| David Ige (1957–) | 2014–2022 | Hawaii | Democratic | Served as the 8th governor of Hawaii from 2014 to 2022. First person of Okinawan descent to hold office in the U.S.[42] |
| Name | Image | Term | Ethnicity | State | Party | Offices held | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| James Kealoha (1908–1983) | 1959–1962 | Hawaii | Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii | |||||
| Andrew T. F. Ing (1919–1999) | 1966 | Hawaii | Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii | |||||
| March Fong Eu (1922–2017) | 1975–1994 | California | Secretary of State of California | |||||
| Nelson Doi (1922–2015) | 1974–1978 | Hawaii | Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii | |||||
| Jean Sadako King (1925–2013) | 1978–1982 | Hawaii | Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii | |||||
| S. B. Woo (1937–) | 1985–1989 | Delaware | Lieutenant Governor of Delaware 1985 – 1989. | |||||
| Cheryl Lau (1944–) | 1995–1999 | Nevada | Nevada Secretary of State | |||||
| Mazie Hirono (1947–) | 1994–2002 | Hawaii | Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii | |||||
| Matt Fong (1953–2011) | 1995–1999 | California | California State Treasurer | |||||
| Duke Aiona (1955–) | 2002–2010 | Hawaii | Served as Lieutenant Governor from 2002 to 2010. | |||||
| Alex Sink (1948–) | 2007–2011 | Florida | Served as Chief Financial Officer of Florida from 2007 to 2011. | |||||
| Kamala Harris (1964–) | 2011–2017 | California | Harris, who is half Indian-American, became the first female, first Jamaican American, and first Asian-American state attorney general in the United States.[43] | |||||
| Shan Tsutsui (1971–) | 2012–2018 | Hawaii | Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii | |||||
| Sean Reyes (1971–) | 2013–present | Utah | Attorney General of Utah | |||||
| Doug Chin (1966–) | 2015–2018 | Hawaii | Served as Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii in 2018 and as Hawaii Attorney General from 2015 – 2018. | |||||
| John Chiang (1962–) | 2015–2019 | California | Served as California State Treasurer from 2015 to 2019. | |||||
| Fiona Ma (1966–) | 2019–present | California | California State Treasurer from 2019–present. | |||||
| Betty Yee (1957–) | 2015–present | California | Serving as California State Controller since 2015. | |||||
| William Tong (1973–) | 2019–present | Connecticut | Serving as Connecticut Attorney General since 2019. | |||||
| Kimberly Yee (1974–) | 2019–present | Arizona | Serving as Arizona State Treasurer since 2019. | |||||
| Rob Bonta (1972–) | 2021–present | California | Attorney General of California since 2021. | |||||
| Steve Hobbs (1970–) | 2021–present | Washington | Secretary of State of Washington since 2021. | |||||
| Sylvia Luke (1967–) | 2022–present | Hawaii | Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii since 2022. First Korean-American politician elected to a statewide office.[44] | |||||
| Aruna Miller (1964–) | 2023–present | Maryland | Lieutenant Governor of Maryland since 2023. First South Asian lieutenant governor in the United States. | |||||
| Susan C. Lee (1954–) | 2023–present | Maryland | Secretary of State of Maryland |
| Name | Image | Term | Ethnicity | State | Party | Offices held | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kazuhisa Abe (1914–1996) | 1959–1966 | Hawaii | Served in the Hawaii State Senate, including as Senate President in 1965–1966 (after Nelson Doi). | ||||
| Noboru Miyake (1896–1988) | 1959–1966 | Hawaii | Served in the Hawaii State Senate. | ||||
| Steere Noda (1892–1986) | 1959–1962 | Hawaii | Served in the Hawaii State Senate. | ||||
| Sakae Takahashi (1919–2001) | 1959–1974 | Hawaii | Served in the Hawaii State Senate. | ||||
| John T. Ushijima (1924–2006) | 1959–1982 | Hawaii | Served in the Hawaii State Senate. | ||||
| Nadao Yoshinaga (1919–2009) | 1959–1974 | Hawaii | Served in the Hawaii State Senate. | ||||
| Tadao Beppu (1919–1993) | 1959–1976 | Hawaii | Served in the Hawaii House of Representatives, including as Speaker of the House from 1968 to 1974. Also served as secretary of the Hawaii Constitutional Convention of 1968. | ||||
| James H. Wakatsuki (1929–1992) | 1959–1980 | Hawaii | Served in the Hawaii House of Representatives, including as Speaker of the House from 1975 to 1980. Later served as a Hawaii Supreme Court justice. | ||||
| Yoshito Takamine (1924–2015) | 1959–1984 | Hawaii | Served in the Hawaii House of Representatives. | ||||
| Robert Fukuda (1922–2013) | 1959–1962 | Hawaii | Served in the Hawaii House of Representatives. Later served as U.S. Attorney in Hawaii from 1969 to 1973. | ||||
| Alfred H. Song (1919–2004) | 1963–1978 | California | Served in the California State Assembly and California State Senate. | ||||
| Edmond Gong (1930–2015) | 1966–1972 | Florida | Served in the Florida House of Representatives. First Asian American legislator in Florida. | ||||
| March Fong Eu (1922–2017) | 1967–1974 | California | Served in the California State Assembly. | ||||
| Tom Hom (1927–) | 1968–1970 | California | Served in the California State Assembly. | ||||
| Paul Bannai (1920–2019) | 1973–1980 | California | Served in the California State Assembly. | ||||
| John Eng (1942–) | 1973–1983 | Washington | First Asian American legislator in Washington state. | ||||
| Thelma Buchholdt (1934–2007) | 1975–1983 | Alaska | Served in the Alaska House of Representatives. First Filipino American woman legislator in the United States. | ||||
| S. Floyd Mori (1939–) | 1975–1980 | California | Served in the California State Assembly. | ||||
| Nao Takasugi (1922–2009) | 1992–1998 | California | Served in the California State Assembly. | ||||
| David Valderrama (1933–) | 1991–2003 | Maryland | Served in the Maryland House of Delegates from 1991 to 2003. First Filipino-American elected to a state legislature in the contiguous United States. | ||||
| John Lim (1935–) | 1993–2001, 2005-2009 | Oregon | Served in the Oregon State Senate from 1993 to 2001. Served in the Oregon House of Representatives from 2005 to 2009. While in the Oregon State Senate, he served as Majority Leader. | ||||
| Nimi McConigley | 1994–1996 | Wyoming | Served in the Wyoming House of Representatives from 1994 to 1996. First Indian born person to be elected to any state legislature. | ||||
| Mike Honda (1941–) | 1996–2000 | California | Served in the California State Assembly. | ||||
| John Pippy (1970–) | 1997–2003, 2003-2012 | Pennsylvania | Served in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1997 to 2003 before being elected to the Pennsylvania State Senate. | ||||
| George Nakano (1935–) | 1998–2004 | California | Served in the California State Assembly. | ||||
| Blake Oshiro (1970–) | 2001–2011 | Hawaii | Served in the Hawaii House of Representatives from 2001 to 2011. Oshiro was majority leader during his tenure. | ||||
| Saghir Tahir (1945–2013) | 2001–2011 | New Hampshire | Served in the New Hampshire House of Representatives from 2001 to 2011. First Pakistan native to be elected to any state legislature, and first Muslim American elected to any political office in the United States. | ||||
| Shirley Horton (1952–) | 2002–2008 | California | Served in the California State Assembly. | ||||
| Nikki Haley (1972–) | 2005–2011 | South Carolina | Serving in the South Carolina House of Representatives from 2005 to 2011. First Indian American to be elected to the South Carolina legislature. She would later be elected governor. | ||||
| Hubert Vo (1956–) | 2005–present | Texas | Serving in the Texas House of Representatives since 2005. First Vietnamese American to be elected to the Texas Legislature. | ||||
| Kris Valderrama (1970–) | 2007–present | Maryland | Served in the Maryland House of Delegates | ||||
| Saqib Ali (1971–) | 2007–2011 | Maryland | Served in the Maryland House of Delegates | ||||
| Tony Fulton (1972–) | 2007–2013 | Nebraska | Served in the Nebraska Legislature from 2007 to 2013. Currently the tax commissioner of Nebraska. | ||||
| 2007–2022 | Hawaii | Served in the Hawaii House of Representatives. | |||||
| Scott Kawasaki (1975–) | 2007–2019, 2019–present | Alaska | Served in the Alaska House of Representatives from 2007 to 2019 before being elected to the Alaska State Senate in 2019. | ||||
| Angie Chen Button (1954–) | 2009–present | Texas | Serving in the Texas House of Representatives since 2009. | ||||
| Tony Hwang (1964–) | 2009–2015, 2015–present | Connecticut | Served in the Connecticut House of Representatives from 2009 to 2015 before being elected to the Connecticut State Senate where he currently serves. | ||||
| Mark Keam (1966–) | 2010–2022 | Virginia | Served in the Virginia House of Delegates | ||||
| Aruna Miller (1964–) | 2010–2019 | Maryland | Served in the Maryland House of Delegates. First Indian American to be elected to the Maryland General Assembly. She would later be elected lieutenant governor. | ||||
| B. J. Pak (1980–) | 2011–2017 | Georgia | Served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 2011 to 2017. In 2017 he was nominated and confirmed as United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia | ||||
| Phil Ting (1969–) | 2012-present | California | Serving in the California State Assembly since 2012. | ||||
| Ron Kim (1979–) | 2013–present | New York | Serving in the New York State Assembly | ||||
| 2013–2017 | Utah | Served in the Utah State Senate | |||||
| Gene Wu (1978–) | 2013–present | Texas | Serving in the Texas House of Representatives since 2013. | ||||
| Ling Ling Chang (1976–) | 2014–2016, 2018-2020 | California | From 2014 to 2016 Chang served in the California State Assembly. In 2016 she ran for a seat in the California State Senate and lost, but the incumbent was recalled, and she won the special election for the remainder of his term. | ||||
| Janet Nguyen (1976–) | 2014–2018, 2020–2022, 2022–present | California | From 2014 to 2018 Nguyen served in the California State Senate making her the first Vietnamese American to serve in any state senate. After narrowly losing reelection, she ran for and won a seat in the California State Assembly in 2020. In 2022 Nguyen ran again for the California State Senate and won. | ||||
| 2014–2018 | Oklahoma | Served in the Oklahoma Senate from 2014 to 2018. | |||||
| 2015-2015, 2015–present | New York | Served in the New York State Assembly from January 2015-November 2015. Serving in the New York Senate since 2015. | |||||
| Mark S. Chang (1978–) | 2015–present | Maryland | Serving in the Maryland House of Delegates since 2015. | ||||
| Jay Jalisi (1965–) | 2015–2023 | Maryland | Served in the Maryland House of Delegates from 2015 to 2023. | ||||
| Clarence Lam (1980–) | 2015–2019, 2019–present | Maryland | Served in the Maryland House of Delegates from 2015 to 2019 before being elected to the Maryland Senate in 2019, where he is currently. | ||||
| David Moon (1979–) | 2015–present | Maryland | Serving in the Maryland House of Delegates since 2015, and as Majority Leader since 2023. | ||||
| Phillip Chen (1978–) | 2016–present | California | Serving in the California State Assembly since 2016. | ||||
| Steven Choi (1944–) | 2016–2022 | California | Member of the California State Assembly | ||||
| Vince Fong (1979–) | 2016–2024 | California | Served in the California State Assembly from 2016 until 2024. | ||||
| Todd Gloria (1978–) | 2016–2020 | California | House Majority Whip and member of the California State Assembly | ||||
| Manka Dhingra (1973 or 1974–) | 2017–present | Washington | Serving in the Washington State Senate since 2017. | ||||
| Bee Nguyen (1978–) | 2017–present | Georgia | Serving in the Georgia House of Representatives since 2017. First Vietnamese American in the Georgia House of Representatives. | ||||
| Vandana Slatter (1981–) | 2017–present | Washington | Serving in the Washington State House since 2017. | ||||
| Lei Learmont | 2017–2018 | Japanese-American | Hawaii | Serving in the Hawaii House of Representatives from 2017 to 2018. | |||
| Dean Tran (1978–) | 2017–2021 | Massachusetts | Served in the Massachusetts Senate, first Vietnamese American to hold elected office in Massachusetts. | ||||
| 2018–2020 | California | Served in the California State Assembly. | |||||
| 2018–2022 | Hawaii | Served in the Hawaii House of Representatives. Minority leader from 2021-2022. | |||||
| Daniel Pae (1995–) | 2018–present | Oklahoma | Serving in the Oklahoma House of Representatives. | ||||
| Saud Anwar (1962–) | 2019–present | Connecticut | Serving in the Connecticut State Senate. | ||||
| Harry Bhandari (1977–) | 2019–present | Maryland | Serving in the Maryland House of Delegates. | ||||
| Lily Qi (1963–) | 2019–present | Maryland | Serving in the Maryland House of Delegates | ||||
| Kaohly Her (1978–) | 2019–present | Minnesota | Serving in the Minnesota House of Representatives. | ||||
| Tina Maharath (1978–) | 2019–present | Ohio | Serving in the Ohio State Senate. First Laotian American elected to public office. | ||||
| Mike Giallombardo (1982-) | 2020-present | Florida | Serving in the Florida House of Representatives since 2020. | ||||
| Charlice Byrd (1951-) | 2021-present | Georgia | Serving in the Georgia house of representatives | ||||
| Francesca Hong (1988–) | 2021–present | Korean-American | Wisconsin | Serving the 76th district of the Wisconsin State Assembly since January 4, 2021. She is the first Asian-American state legislator to serve in the Wisconsin Legislature. | |||
| Khanh Pham (1978–) | 2021–present | Vietnamese-American | Oregon | Serving the 46th district of the Oregon House of Representatives since January 11, 2021. She is the first Vietnamese-American to serve in the Oregon Legislative Assembly. | |||
| Kimberly Fiorello (1975-) | 2021-2023 | Connecticut | Serving in the Connecticut house of representatives | ||||
| Quang Nguyen (1962-) | 2021-present | Arizona | Serving in the Arizona House of Representatives since 2021. | ||||
| Shri Thanedar (1955-) | 2021-2023 | Michigan | Serving in the Michigan House of Representatives from 2021 to 2023. | ||||
| Rose Martinez(born 1958) | 2023–present | Filipino American | Hawaii | Democratic | Serving in the Hawaii House of Representatives since 2023. | ||
| Tyson Miyake | 2023–present | Hawaii | Serving in the Hawaii House of Representatives since 2023. | ||||
| Trish La Chica | 2023–present | Filipino American | Hawaii | Democratic | Serving in the Hawaii House of Representatives since 2023. | ||
| Lester Chang (1973–) | 2023–present | New York | Serving in the New York State Assembly since 2023. | ||||
| Saira Draper | 2023–present | Pakistani American | Georgia | Democratic | Serving in the Georgia House of Representatives since 2023. | ||
| Long Tran | 2023–present | Vietnamese-American | Georgia | Democratic | Serving in the Georgia House of Representatives since 2023. | ||
| Justin Jones (1995–) | 2023–present | Tennessee | Served in the Tennessee House of Representatives from January 10, 2023 to April 6, 2023. | ||||
| Nabilah Islam (1989–) | 2023-present | Georgia | Serving in the Georgia House of Representatives since 2023. | ||||
| Tri Ta (1973–) | 2023–present | California | Serving in the California State Assembly since 2023. | ||||
| Chao Wu (1976 or 1977–) | 2023–present | Maryland | Serving in the Maryland House of Delegates since 2023. | ||||
| May Mizuno | 2024–present | Hawaii | Serving in the Hawaii House of Representatives since 2024. | ||||
| Name | Image | Term | Ethnicity | State | Party | Offices held | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kinjiro Matsudaira (1885–1963) | 1927, 1943 | Maryland | Mayor of Edmonston, Maryland, elected in 1927 and 1943[45] | |||||
| James Kanno (1925–2017) | 1957–1962 | California | First mayor of Fountain Valley, California | |||||
| Norman Mineta (1931–2022) | 1971–1975 | California | Served as mayor of San Jose, California.[46] | |||||
| Sak Yamamoto (1914–1997) | 1973–1974, 1977–1979 | California | Mayor of Carson, California[47] | |||||
| Eduardo Malapit (1933–2007) | 1974–1982 | Hawaii | Mayor of Kauai County, Hawaii | |||||
| S. Floyd Mori (1939–) | 1974–1975 | California | Mayor of Pleasanton, California | |||||
| Eunice Sato (1921–2021) | 1980–1982 | California | Mayor of Long Beach, California | |||||
| Nao Takasugi (1922–2009) | 1982–1992 | California | Mayor of Oxnard, California elected in 1982 and re-elected four times[48] | |||||
| Judy Chu (1953–) | 1989–1994 | California | Three term mayor of Monterey Park, California starting in 1989 | |||||
| Lorraine Inouye (1940–) | 1990–1992 | Hawaii | Mayor of Hawaii County, Hawaii | |||||
| 1992– 2000 | California | Mayor of La Cañada Flintridge | ||||||
| Stephen K. Yamashiro (1941–2011) | 1992–2000 | Hawaii | Mayor of Hawaii County, Hawaii | |||||
| Jimmie R. Yee (1934–) | 1999–2000 | California | Mayor of Sacramento, California[49] | |||||
| Alan Nakanishi (1940–) | 2000–2001, 2012–2013, 2017–2018, 2020–2021 | California | Mayor of Lodi, California for four two-year terms[50] | |||||
| Harry Kim (1939–) | 2000–2008, 2016–2020 | Hawaii | Mayor of Hawaii County, Hawaii | |||||
| Alan Arakawa (1951–) | 2003–2007, 2011–2019 | Hawaii | Mayor of Maui County, Hawaii | |||||
| Otto Lee | 2005–2007 | California | Mayor of Sunnyvale, California | |||||
| Ken Miyagishima (1963–) | 2007–2023 | New Mexico | Four-term mayor of Las Cruces, New Mexico first elected in 2007[51] | |||||
| Sukhee Kang (1952–) | 2008–2012 | California | Mayor of Irvine, California[52] | |||||
| 2009–2015 | California | Mayor of Campbell, California | ||||||
| 2010–2018 | Washington | Mayor of Tacoma, Washington | ||||||
| Ed Lee (1952–2017) | 2011–2017 | California | Served as first Asian American mayor of San Francisco until his death in 2017.[53] | |||||
| Jean Quan (1949–) | 2011–2015 | California | Mayor of Oakland, California 2011–2015[54] | |||||
| Steven Choi (1944–) | 2012–2016 | California | Mayor of Irvine, California | |||||
| Bao Nguyen (1980–) | 2014–2016 | California | Mayor of Garden Grove, California | |||||
| Karen Goh (1955–) | 2017–present | California | Mayor of Bakersfield, California[55] | |||||
| Ron Nirenberg (1977–) | 2017–present | California | Mayor of San Antonio, Texas | |||||
| Ravinder Bhalla (1974–) | 2018–present | New Jersey | Mayor of Hoboken, New Jersey[56] | |||||
| Derek Kawakami (1977–) | 2018–present | Hawaii | Mayor of Kauai County, Hawaii | |||||
| Harry Sidhu (1957–) | 2018–2022 | California | Mayor of Anaheim, California[57] | |||||
| Sumbul Siddiqui (1988–) | 2020– | Massachusetts | Mayor of Cambridge, Massachusetts | |||||
| Farrah Khan (1971–) | 2020– | California | Mayor of Irvine, California | |||||
| Todd Gloria (1978–) | 2020–present | California | Mayor of San Diego[58] | |||||
| Michelle Wu (1985–) | 2021–present | Massachusetts | ||||||
| Bruce Harrell (1958–) | 2022–present | Washington | Mayor of Seattle, Washington[59] | |||||
| 2022–present | Massachusetts | Mayor of Lowell, Massachusetts | ||||||
| Aftab Pureval (1982–) | 2022–present | Ohio | Mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio | |||||
| Helen Tran (1981/1982–) | 2022–present | California | Mayor of San Bernardino, California | |||||
| Sheng Thao (1985–) | 2023–present | California | Mayor of Oakland, California | |||||
| Tyrin Truong (2000–) | 2023–present | Louisiana | Mayor of Bogalusa, Louisiana | |||||
| Arunan Arulampalam (1985–) | 2024–present | Connecticut | Mayor of Hartford, Connecticut | |||||
| Lily Wu (1984–) | 2024–present | Kansas | Mayor of Wichita, Kansas |
Benito Legarda and Pablo Ocampo, joined the House in 1907 as Resident Commissioners,[60] becoming the first Asian Americans to serve in the Congress, albeit as non-voting members.[61] In 2010, Inouye was sworn in as President Pro Tempore making him the highest-ranking Asian American politician in American history until Kamala Harris was the first Asian American to become Vice President of the United States in November 2020, and assumed the role of President of the U.S. Senate.
There are presently 16 Asian Americans or Pacific Islanders in the House and 2 in the Senate in the 118th United States Congress.[62] [63] The following marks the total number of Asian Americans in the U.S. Congress since 1957: 39 representatives and 9 senators. Representatives include those from Japanese, Taiwanese, Filipino, Thai, Indian, and Chinese backgrounds.
Note that Strickland and Scott are all multiracial. Strickland is one-half Korean and one-half African American; Scott is one-fourth Filipino and three-fourths African American.
Norman Mineta became the first Asian American Cabinet member when he was appointed secretary of commerce by President Bill Clinton in 2000. He then served as secretary of transportation from 2001 to 2006.[65]
In the George W. Bush Administration, Elaine Chao became the first, and thus far only, Asian American woman to serve as a Cabinet secretary when she became the secretary of labor in 2001, serving until 2009.[66] She has also served as secretary of transportation in the administration of Donald Trump in 2017, serving until her resignation in 2021.
In 2009, President Barack Obama appointed Eric Shinseki to the position of secretary of veterans affairs, which he held until 2014. Shinseki was the first Asian American to hold this position. Steven Chu, the first Asian American to hold the position of secretary of energy, served from 2009 to 2013. Additionally under Obama, Gary Locke served as secretary of commerce from 2009 to 2011.
In 2017, President Donald Trump appointed Nikki Haley the first Indian American to serve in a permanent Cabinet-level position when she was confirmed to the position of ambassador to the United Nations in 2017. She held the position until 2018.
In 2021, Kamala Harris became the highest ranking Asian-American to serve in a cabinet as 49th Vice President of the United States. President Joe Biden also appointed Katherine Tai to serve as U.S. Trade Representative, a cabinet-level position.
In 1964, Hiram Fong, a Republican, became the first Asian-American candidate for president.[67] [68]
In 1972, Patsy Mink became the first Asian-American Democratic candidate for president, and the first Japanese-American candidate for president.[69]
In 2015, Bobby Jindal, a Republican, became the first Indian-American candidate for president.[70] [71]
In 2017, Andrew Yang became the first Taiwanese-American and the first Asian-American male Democratic candidate for president.[72] [73]
In 2020, Tulsi Gabbard, who is of Samoan descent [74] [75] became the second woman of color and the first Asian-American and Pacific-Islander (AAPI) presidential candidate to earn major party primary delegates.[76] [77] [78]
In 2020, Kamala Harris became the first Asian-American major party candidate for vice president, and later elected the first Asian-American vice president of the United States.[79]
| Year | Candidate of the plurality | Political party | % of asian vote | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Democratic | 30% | |||
| 1996 | Democratic | 43% | |||
| 2000 | Democratic | 55% | |||
| 2004 | Democratic | 56% | |||
| 2008 | Democratic | 62% | |||
| 2012 | Democratic | 73% | |||
| 2016 | Democratic | 65% | |||
| 2020 | Democratic | 63% |
During the 1990s and 2000s, Asian American voting behavior shifted from moderate support for the Republican Party to stronger support for the Democratic Party.[82] In the 1992 presidential election Republican George H. W. Bush received 55% of the Asian-American vote compared to 31% for Democrat Bill Clinton. Asian Americans voted Republican and were the only racial group more conservative than whites in the 1990s, according to surveys.[83] By the 2004 election, Democrat John Kerry won 56% of the Asian American vote, with Chinese and Indian Americans tending to support Kerry, and Vietnamese and Filipino Americans tending to support George Bush.[84] Japanese-Americans leaned toward Kerry, while Korean-Americans leaned toward Bush. Democrat Barack Obama won 62% of the Asian American vote in the 2008 presidential election,[85] with the margin increasing during the 2012 presidential election, where Asian Americans voted to re-elect Obama by 73%.[86] In the 2014 midterm elections, based on exit polls, 50% of Asian Americans voted Republican, while 49% voted Democrat; this swing toward voting for Republicans was a shift from the strong Democratic vote in 2012, and had not reached 50% since 1996.[87] The 2016 National Asian American Survey, conducted before the 2016 presidential election, found that 55% of Asian American registered voters supported Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and only 14% supported Republican candidate Donald Trump.[88]
Despite their growing trend of voting for Democrats in national elections, Asian Americans have tended to identify as independents and have not developed strong ties to political parties as a group.[89] Due to the smaller size of the groups population, in comparison to the population as a whole, it has been difficult to get an adequate sampling to forecast voter outcomes for Asian Americans.[90] In 2008, polls indicated that 35% considered themselves non-partisan, 32% Democrats, 19% independents, and 14% Republicans.[91] The 2012 National Asian American Survey found that 51% considered themselves non-partisan, 33% Democrats, 14% Republicans, and 2% Other;[92] [93] Hmong, Indian, and Korean Americans strongly identified as Democrats, and Filipino and Vietnamese Americans most strongly identified as Republicans. In 2013, according to the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Chinese Americans were the least likely Asian American ethnicity to have a party affiliation, with only one third belonging to a party.[94] The 2016 National Asian American Survey found that 41% of Asian Americans identified as non-partisan, 41% as Democrats (a modest increase from 2008 and 2012), and 16% as Republicans.
Neither the Republican nor Democratic parties have financed significant efforts to the registration of Asian Americans, however much more attention has been focused on contributions from Asian Americans,[95] having once been referred to as potential "Republican Jews".[96] As recently as 2006, the outreach efforts of America's two major political parties have been unbalanced, with the Democratic Party devoting more resources in attracting Asian Americans.[97] In 2016, a majority of Asian-Americans possessed the same political views on racial profiling, education, social security, and immigration reform as the Democratic Party; the efforts to attract Asian-Americans has produced a proportionally significant growth in Democratic affiliation by Asian-Americans from 2012 to 2016 by 12 percent.[98] In 2016, Vietnamese and Filipinos were the least likely Asian Americans to support the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton, with Vietnamese the most likely to back the presidential campaign of Donald Trump.[99] Political affiliation aside, Asian Americans have trended to become more politically active as a whole, with 2008 seeing an increase of voter participation by 4% to a 49% voting rate.[100] In 2017, it was reported by The Washington Post that Asian Americans born outside of the United States trended to be more conservative, and more likely to identify as Republicans, while those who were born in the United States, who were generally younger, were more likely to identify being a Democrat.[101]