The first South Asian Vice President, Kamala Harris, is at the forefront of a new campaign effort to reach out to Asian-American voters, an important demographic often overlooked by the right.
VP Harris will join "Top Chef" host Padma Lakshmi Tuesday night in Las Vegas at an event to launch AANHPI for Biden-Harris (AANHPI stands for "Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander").
“We need to make sure that AA and NHPI voices are heard at the ballot boxes around our country, just as we need to make sure that those voices are represented in all levels of government,” VP Harris said in a video released by the campaign Tuesday. “Asian Americans must be in the rooms where the decisions are being made.”
Last month, the VP appeared at the annual Asian-Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies (APAICS) to highlight the importance of the Asian-American vote.
Since language is often a barrier to effectively reach AANHPI voters, the Biden campaign also plans to offer resources in several languages including Chinese, Tagalog, Hindi, Hmong, Vietnamese, Urdu, and Korean.
Later this week, the Vice President will travel to Philadelphia, where she'll deliver a keynote address Saturday at a town hall hosted by APIAVote, an advocacy group focused on mobilizing Asian American voters.
The Biden-Harris campaign has already launched similar efforts to connect with more Black and Latino voters heading into the final months of election season. The campaign says this effort will be activated in every battleground state, and is planning events in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Georgia.