Asian-American politicos kick off ‘New York AAPIs For Biden’ event

October 1, 2020

- ADVERTISEMENT -

Asian Americans, including New York’s only Indian-American state elected official Sen. Kevin Thomas,top row 3rd from left, participate in video conference Sept. 30, 2020, in the ‘New York AAPIs for Biden’ kickoff event. Photo: courtesy Congresswoman Grace Meng)

Congresswoman Grace Meng, D-NY, and vice-chair of the Democratic National Committee, whose district has a significant Indian and South Asian population, along with a number of other senior Party functionaries, kicked off a statewide effort to mobilize the community behind the presidential ticket of former Vice President Joe Biden and running mate Senator Kamala Harris, D-California.

Participants at the Sept. 30, 2020 videoconference, New York Asian-American elected officials, former Olympian Michelle Kwan, and advocate-writer Maya Harris (Kamala Harris’ sister).

The event, held via Zoom with leaders and activists from across New York State, kicked off the efforts statewide, and included at least two Indian-Americans, viz., State Senator Kevin Thomas, the only one from this community elected to Albany, and Biden For President AAPI Outreach Director, Amit Jani of New Jersey.

Discussions at the meeting also included how New York’s Asian American community could help the Biden campaign’s efforts to win in battleground states, especially in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan, all three states where Indian American and other Asian ethnic groups form a significant number of voters, according to the math done by the Biden campaign.

“We need the Biden/Harris ticket to win in November in order to restore our nation’s leadership, and address the many critical issues facing our country,” Meng is quoted saying in the press release.

“The Asian American community stands to play a crucial role in helping to make that happen, and we need our Asian Americans in New York to reach out to battleground state voters. I look forward to working with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris when they become our next President and Vice President.”

Apart from those named above, the participants also included New York State Senator John Liu; N.Y. State Assemblymembers Ron Kim andYuh-Line Niou; Acting Queens Borough President Sharon Lee; New York City Councilmembers Margaret Chin and Peter Koo; and Bel Leong-Hong, DNC AAPI Caucus Chair.