Asian-American super PAC endorses Biden for President

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The Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Victory Fund, a super PAC that has focused on mobilizing these communities, announced its endorsement of former Vice President Joe Biden in his run for the White House.

“We are excited to receive the support of the AAPI Victory Fund, which is focused on mobilizing Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) eligible voters across the country,” said the Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders for Biden wing of the candidate’s campaign .

Shekar Narasimhan, chairman and founder of the AAPI Victory Fund said his organization considers Biden the most promising of the numerous Democrats vying for the party nomination.

“We believe that Joe Biden is the best candidate to defeat Trump and lead our country,” Narasimhan is quoted saying in the Biden campaign press release. “Out of all the presidential candidates, he has the most experience and cares deeply about AAPI issues,” Narasimhan added.

The AAPI Victory Fund endorsement of Biden was first reported in the Wall Street Journal Jan. 16, 2020.

In a Jan. 17, 2020 press release, AAPI Victory Fund said, “In our view, Joe can lead us to a safer, more stable world, with less inequality and more justice.”

It went on to praise the efforts of other AAPI candidates who were in the race like Sen. Kamala Harris, D-California, who dropped out, and two others, Andrew Yang and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, who are still in the race.

“We make this endorsement with enormous respect for the three AAPIs who entered into the Presidential race — … (who) broke new ground and excited many elements of our community but, in particular, what Andrew Yang has done is remarkable and deserves special recognition!”

“We are committed to continuing our work for 2020 victories and delivering 1 million new voters for Joe Biden to win the Presidency and for Democrats to increase their House majority and to take back the Senate,” AAPI Victory Fund declared.

Founded in 2015, as the first AAPI-focused super PAC, the organization says it initially worked to identify and mobilize AAPI voters in red-to-blue states and districts with high AAPI populations.

It actively worked in Virginia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and California. In a bid to explore if AAPIs are ready to engage with Presidential candidates and help elect one, the AAPI Victory Fund says it polled AAPI voters in battleground states on their priorities and which candidate they supported; Created a briefing book on AAPI priorities with partner organization, AAPI Progressive Action, to make available to all candidates; Organized the first-ever AAPI Democratic Presidential Forum in September 2019 in Orange County, CA with all-AAPI moderators, and pushed for AAPI moderators in various candidate debates.

“We’ve delivered on engagement. Now is for the next stage: endorsing the candidate for the Democratic nomination that best represents our community’s needs and priorities,” the organization says.