Kamala Harris heads to Philly to speak with Asian American voters as poll shows drop in support for Biden

The organization hosting Vice President Kamala Harris in Philadelphia on Saturday released a poll this week that shows President Joe Biden’s support among Asian American voters has declined since 2020.

Harris will be the keynote speaker for a presidential town hall on Saturday held by Asian Pacific Islander American Vote, a civic engagement group focused on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

Harris, whose mother immigrated from India, made history as the first Asian American vice president — in addition to being the first female and Black person to hold the role. She’s leading the campaign’s efforts to both Black and Asian voters ahead of the November election.

The poll surveyed just under 2,500 Asian Americans and divided that data into six subgroups based on ethnicity.

The poll from APIAVote and AAPIData showed Biden’s support among Asian Americans has dropped from 54% in 2020 to 46% — an 8 percentage point drop. That includes a dramatic 19-point drop among Indian Americans from 65% to 46%.

The data underscores the critical role Harris could play in restoring Biden’s appeal to Indian Americans and other Asian voters. The poll, however, found Harris’ overall favorability rating among Asian Americans was lower than Biden’s; 51% of respondents viewed Biden as favorable or somewhat favorable, while 44% had the same view of Harris.

Harris’ visit — her sixth to Pennsylvania this year — comes at a critical time for Biden’s campaign, as Democrats continue to sound the alarm about whether the 81-year-old president is capable of beating former President Donald Trump and spending another four years in office.

Harris’ own name has repeatedly been floated as a potential replacement candidate and Biden said in a news conference Thursday that she could take on the presidency if needed, even as he insisted he will stay in the race. Harris has remained loyal to Biden, campaigning on his behalf in Atlanta, Las Vegas, and Greensboro, N.C.

While Biden retains a strong lead over Trump in polling among Asian Americans, the former president’s numbers with this voter group have been more steady than Biden’s — 31% of voters in this year’s poll said they planned to vote for Trump as compared to 30% in 2020.

The polling showed an increasing number of undecided and third-party voters within the demographic group — a population that could be key in a race that is expected to be close. The poll showed that, in general, respondents thought higher of Biden and Harris than they did of Trump, creating a potential opening for Biden to pick up voters in that demographic.

According to the U.S. Census, Asian Americans make up roughly 6% of Pennsylvania’s population.

In a Zoom call with reporters announcing the results, Christine Chen, the executive director of APIAVote, said the data showed that many Asian American voters were up for grabs, and that the major parties were not doing enough to reach them.

Half of the respondents to the poll said the Democratic Party had not yet reached out to them this cycle while 57% said they had not been contacted by the Republican Party. Despite this, 90% of the just under 2,500 registered voters surveyed said they planned to vote in November.

“This lack of engagement is essentially suppressing turnout,” Chen said.

Harris’ visit comes amid a flurry of political events in the state. On the same day, first lady Jill Biden will campaign in Pittsburgh in an effort to appeal to Italian Americans and Trump will hold a rally in Butler County, where he could announce his running mate.

Last week, Biden visited Philadelphia and Harrisburg as he sought to salvage his campaign and California Gov. Gavin Newsom visited Bucks County on Biden’s behalf.