A survey of potential Chinese-American voters suggests a significant gender gap in party affiliation as well as a high level of willingness to vote across party lines, according to results released on Thursday.
The data – from the Committee of 100 (C100), a civic group of prominent Chinese-Americans, and a University of Chicago polling firm – challenges the common perception that these citizens form a reliable voting bloc for the Democratic Party.
Recently naturalised immigrants were more likely to vote Republican than the average among long-term US residents, the survey report added.
“The findings should make both parties want to engage with Chinese-Americans, a fast-growing community that could make the difference between victory and defeat in close races,” Paul Cheung, the C100 president, said.
The survey results, released on Thursday, were part of continuing research by C100 to spotlight the Asian community and highlight the stereotypes and challenges it faces.
According to the report, 54 per cent of Chinese-Americans identify as Democrats compared with 28 per cent as Republicans. Drilling down, however, 38 per cent of Chinese-American men consider themselves Republicans, compared with 18 per cent of women.
“Partisanship among Chinese-Americans does not appear to constrain vote choice as much as among other groups, and we see cross-party voting down the ballot as well,” said Nathan Chan, an assistant professor at Loyola Marymount University and a lead author on the study.
On other fronts, 11 per cent of Chinese-American Republicans voted for Democrat candidate Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election, crossing party lines at a higher rate than any other racial or ethnic group.
The study found even higher rates of Republicans voting for Democrats in state and local races, compared with around three per cent of Chinese-American Democrats saying they voted for Republicans.
The results also found that the length of time respondents had lived in the United States had a significant impact on party identification. Some 71 per cent of Chinese-Americans born in the US identified as Democrats.
That was nearly twice as high as the 38 per cent of recent Chinese-American immigrants since 2010, while more than a third of those who immigrated to the US in the past 15 years identified as Republican.
C100’s results roughly dovetail with other surveys on the fast-growing Chinese-American community.
A survey last month by civic group Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote found that 90 per cent of Asian-American and Pacific Islander registered voters expected to vote in the 2026 November midterm elections, up from 84 per cent in 2022 and 86 per cent in 2018. A total of 71 per cent say they are absolutely certain they will vote.
The dominant issues most cited in their selection were the cost of living and inflation. On those issues, 44 per cent said they trusted Democrats to do a better job compared with 18 per cent who voiced trust for Republicans. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
