Sri Kulkarni\u2019s innovative midterms strategy: campaigning in 16 languages.<\/p>\n
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By Ella Nilsen<\/p>\n
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When Democrat Sri Kulkarni started campaigning in the deep-red Texas district once represented by Republican House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, consultants told him not to even bother trying to get the district\u2019s Asian-American vote.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI was told, \u2018Don\u2019t chase after Asian voters, they don\u2019t vote,\u2019\u201d Kulkarni said in a recent interview with Vox, adding: \u201cMaybe they don\u2019t vote because we don\u2019t bother.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Kulkarni, a 40-year-old former foreign service official under the Bush and Obama administrations, is doing the opposite of what the consultants told him. \u201cWhy don\u2019t we try reaching out in other languages, not just English?\u201d Kulkarni thought. He\u2019s running a campaign with volunteers speaking to voters in 16 languages \u2014 aggressively trying to convince the district\u2019s Asian-American voters to cast their ballots for him.<\/p>\n
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The district sits in the Houston suburbs, a rapidly diversifying part of Texas. The non-Hispanic white population has fallen to 40 percent, while the Asian community now makes up nearly 20 percent of the district.<\/p>\n
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It\u2019s a simple premise: greeting a voter in his or her native language builds a relationship with that voter and opens a door to the community. Kulkarni already proved it worked in the primary, emerging on top in a field of five candidates. His campaign\u2019s internal numbers suggested their outreach had dramatically increased Asian-American primary turnout, from 6 percent in 2014 to 28 percent in 2018.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThis thing that was a waste of time resulted in a 12-fold increase in people coming out in the Asian community,\u201d Kulkarni told Vox.<\/p>\n
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Winning against Republican Rep. Pete Olson on Election Day will be tough. But Kulkarni and his campaign believe he has a fighting chance, and are buoyed by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report recently shifting the race to merely \u201cLean Republican.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u201cI\u2019d watch this one,\u201d Cook\u2019s Dave Wasserman tweeted.<\/p>\n
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Asian Americans are an important Democratic bloc. But turning them out can be tough.<\/p>\n
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Though Kulkarni appears to be proving the political consultants wrong, there was a reason they advised him not to chase the Asian-American vote.<\/p>\n
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Asian-American and Pacific Islander voters are a rapidly growing demographic; nationwide, the Asian-American population grew 72 percent between 2000 and 2015. They also have a tendency to register as Democrats. But the Democratic Party has had a tough time successfully courting this bloc.<\/p>\n
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A recent Pew study found 65 percent of Asian Americans identify as Democrats or lean Democrat, compared to 27 percent who identify as Republicans or lean Republican. But they don\u2019t turn out as often as white voters: In the 2016 election, 49 percent of eligible Asian-American voters cast ballots, compared to 64 percent of white voters.<\/p>\n
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In other words, while Asian-American voters are far more Democratic than other, similarly educated white voters, they don\u2019t show up to the polls as reliably.<\/p>\n
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This makes outreach to Asian Americans a risky bet for candidates, especially those in conservative districts like Kulkarni\u2019s. It\u2019s a diverse demographic that speaks a wide array of languages and therefore demands more staff and volunteers. For a typical campaign, that can be a lot of investment for what has historically been a low return.<\/p>\n
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But if Kulkarni has figured out how to crack the code in TX-22, that could be good for Democrats\u2019 future electoral chances, especially in rapidly diversifying suburban districts.<\/p>\n
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The Texas Democratic Party and other issues-based progressive campaigns have been reaching out to Kulkarni to learn more about his strategy.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe think that\u2019s exactly what other candidates and the party should be doing,\u201d said Mar\u00eda Urbina, the national political director for Indivisible. \u201cThey\u2019re redefining what it means to engage with voters where they are.\u201d<\/p>\n
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