By Andrian Putra, Georgia Asian Times
With less than two weeks before the midterm elections on November 8, Asian American Pacific Islanders candidates are destined to create history in the record breaking 2022 midterm election. Both Democrats and Republican parties are fielding eleven candidates contesting seats ranging from Attorney General, Georgia Secretary of State, Georgia Senate to Georgia House of Representative seats.
Since 2010, Georgia’s AAPI population has grown by 52%. With a total population of 486,327, the counties with the highest AAPI populations are: Forsyth (18%), Gwinnett (13.2%), Fulton (7.6%), DeKalb (6.6%), and Cobb (5.6%).
AAPIs are the fastest growing population and electorate in Georgia. There are more than 253,000 eligible AAPI voters in the state of Georgia in 2022. According to a recent report by Asian American Advancing Justice, AAPI voters had a record turnout rate of 64.6% with 45,000 first-time voters in 2020. AAPI voters helped tilt the votes for Democrats in the 2020 elections with 57.9% turnout and the 2021 Georgia Senate runoffs with 58.1%.
Much of the rise in AAPI political movement in Georgia was due to the March 16 Atlanta spa shooting and the increasing hate crimes sentiment against AAPIs nationwide. There is also increased consciousness of issues affecting the daily lives of AAPIs including education, healthcare access, housing, gun violence, mental health, women reproductive rights, and economic opportunities.
The Georgia Legislature Assembly currently has 5 elected AAPI officials including Bee Nguyen (HD-89), Sam Park (HD-101), Marvin Lim (HD-99), Sheikh Rahman (Senate D-5), Michelle Au (Senate D-48).
Several AAPIs candidates had to contest in new districts due to redrawn 2022 legislative and congressional redistricting maps. Senator Michelle Au is now running for Georgia HD-50 as her old district was redrawn and Marvin Lim had to contest in Georgia HD-98.
Georgia Asian Times projected an estimated 7 to 10 AAPI candidates winning their seats in the coming midterm election.
REPUBLICANS AAPI Candidates in Georgia contesting in 2022 midterm election
Samir J. Patel
District Attorney
Cherokee Judicial Circuit
Charlice Byrd
Georgia House of Representative
District 20
Marites Redding
Georgia House of Representative
District 37
Olivia Angel
Georgia House of Representative
District 39
Fun Fong
Georgia House of Representative
District 40
Narender G Redy
Georgia House of Representative
District 50
Mariah Amirizadeh
Georgia House of Representative
District 67
John Chan
Georgia House of Representative
District 97
Soo Hong
Georgia House of Representative
District 103
Arefeen Chowdhury
Georgia House of Representative
District 105
Cao Thai Hai
Georgia House of Representative
District 107
DEMOCRATS AAPI candidates in Georgia contesting in 2022 midterm election
Bee Nguyen
Georgia Secretary of State
Sheikh Rahman
Georgia Senate District 5
Nabilah Aisha Islam
Georgia Senate District 7
Josh Uddin
Georgia Senate District 48
Michelle Au
Georgia House of Representative
District 50
Long Tran
Georgia House of Representative
District 80
Rowan Roman
Georgia House of Representative
District 97
Marvin Lim
Georgia House of Representative
District 98
Om Duggal
Georgia House of Representative
District 99
Farooq Mughal
Georgia House of Representative
District 105
Sam Park
Georgia House of Representative
District 107
Breakdown of Georgia’s AAPI candidates by ethnicity:
Bangladeshi Americans: 3
Chinese Americans: 4
Filipino Americans: 3
Indian Americans: 4
Iranian American: 1
Korean Americans: 2
Pakistani Americans: 1
Palestinian American: 1
Vietnamese Americans: 3
