Are mayoral candidates getting serious about Chinese American voters?

In recent years, as New York politicians have started to realize the potential voting power of Chinese Americans, Democratic strategist Trip Yang sometimes clocks what he calls the Flushing “bubble tea photo op.”

“They view a community as an ethnic prop: ‘Let me get bubble tea with a Chinese-looking person, take a couple pictures, a 15-second video, and then let me get in my private car back to Manhattan or Brooklyn,’” Yang said, calling it a bipartisan phenomenon.

That interest – if delayed and nakedly opportunistic in those instances – happens for a reason. Asian Americans broadly were the fastest growing voting-age population between 2010 and 2020, and Chinese Americans account for roughly 44% of that population, the Asian American Federation found in a 2022 report. Between 2013 and 2021, turnout in open citywide primaries spiked for many Asian ethnic groups, and for Chinese Americans jumped from 19% to 29%.

A growing and increasingly politically active voting population commands attention on its own. But for Democrats, that alarm has rung louder in recent years, as Chinese American voters have shifted more toward Republican candidates, with concerns about public safety and education among the driving issues. A large portion of Chinese American voters are not affiliated with either party, blunting their influence in the city’s primaries.

With roughly seven weeks to go before the primary, it’s not clear how many candidates in the crowded Democratic mayoral race will take their outreach and engagement with Chinese American voters beyond the superficial. It’s also not clear how much Democratic candidates see Chinese American voters as a key part of their winning coalition – in the way that Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani is targeting South Asian voters as a part of his coalition.

But several candidates are taking steps that consultants and nonprofit leaders point to as important, like hiring Asian American advisers, doing outreach to community leaders and campaigning in heavily Chinese American parts of the city, including in southern Brooklyn, Flushing and Manhattan’s Chinatown. At the very least, they’re talking about doing those things.

Front-runner Andrew Cuomo, who points to fighting anti-Asian hate during the pandemic, hired liaison Larry He, a staffer for Brooklyn Assembly Member William Colton. The former governor is also endorsed by New York City Council Member Susan Zhuang, who in just a few short (controversial) years in office has become who Yang called the most popular Chinese American leader in southern Brooklyn. She has also undertaken significant voter registration efforts, with an eye toward getting more voters registered as Democrats rather than independents, so that they can participate in all-important New York City primaries.

Former city Comptroller Scott Stringer also has good relationships with Chinese American leaders pre-dating this race. Elaine Fan, who worked in Stringer’s comptroller office and previously served as director of Asian Affairs in the governor's office, is now Stringer’s chief of staff and is leading outreach to parent and business groups and other Chinese American leaders, the campaign said. He’s also pulled in donations from Chinese American neighborhoods.

State Sen. Zellnor Myrie, whose Senate district previously included Sunset Park’s Chinatown, recently hired Ian Chan as an Asian American and Pacific Islander liaison, participated in a roundtable with Chinatown leaders and has done interviews with Chinese ethnic media outlets. The campaign said their staff includes Cantonese and Mandarin speakers, among other languages.

Even still, the work for campaigns who want to seriously engage Chinese American voters mostly lies ahead of them. Most candidates have yet to invest in in-language paid media, though Comptroller Brad Lander, Myrie and Mamdani have said that’s coming soon, with Myrie saying that will include materials in Cantonese and Mandarin.

Former Assembly Member Michael Blake and Lander also cited working with Asian American and Pacific Islander groups, and Lander mentioned holding events in Sunset Park, Flushing, and Elmhurst. Mamdani, meanwhile, is working on a multilingual video that will include Cantonese and Mandarin, and has worked with endorser CAAAV (formerly the Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence) Voice to campaign on a rent freeze (Cantonese subtitles included).

So far, independent candidate Jim Walden – who doesn’t have a race until the November general election – is the only candidate who shared campaign literature in Chinese.

In the 2021 primary, mayoral candidate Andrew Yang dominated in heavily Chinese American neighborhoods in the city, though Mayor Eric Adams also picked up votes in Flushing and southern Brooklyn. Having Yang, who is of Taiwanese descent, on the ballot was a motivating factor for some Chinese American voters. Also galvanizing some voters that year was the spike in anti-Asian hate crimes during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as Democratic proposals to reform the Specialized High School Admissions Test and the city’s Gifted and Talented program, which some Chinese and other Asian American voters rallied to preserve.

The SHSAT is the entrance exam to the city’s eight specialized high schools, where Black and Latino admission is disproportionately low. The city and state have long faced pressure to do away with the test in favor of other admission criteria, which many Asian American families have argued would disadvantage Asian students.

Last cycle, every candidate was asked their opinion on the SHSAT. Without much of an appetite for reforming specialized schools in the Legislature today, it hardly comes up.

Some Chinese voters may still remember where candidates stood on the SHSAT though. Yiatin Chu, a former Republican candidate for state Senate and president of the Asian Wave Alliance, said that after meeting with Stringer last month, she was glad to hear that he changed his position on the SHSAT, which he previously supported replacing with other criteria last cycle. “I support the use of the SHSAT. And I also support great schools for all NYC kids,” Stringer said in a recent statement. “I just as strongly believe we need more specialized schools to give even more students opportunities and make sure we aren’t leaving talented students behind.”

Public safety, housing, education and quality-of-life issues remain top concerns for Chinese American voters, observers said. Opposition to homeless shelters – an issue on which Zhuang has played an active role – could also drive turnout in neighborhoods like Bensonhurst.

Still, there’s no specific candidate or single policy inflection point to galvanize voters across the city, Trip Yang said. “There’s no cheat code this year,” he said. “The candidates have to spend time and spend resources communicating with Chinese American voters.”

Democratic Rep. Grace Meng, who represents eastern Queens and is seen as an influential endorser, has yet to weigh in on the field with an official nod. “They should be creative and sincere in the way they engage with the community,” Meng said of mayoral campaigns. “That means everything from hiring team members who know and understand the community, making the community feel like they are there consistently for them and not just right before Election Day, and providing materials that are culturally competent and in language.”

Given the significant portion of unaffiliated Chinese American voters and the likelihood of a much more competitive general election than the city is used to seeing, the city could also see greater engagement in the general election. Republican Curtis Sliwa and Adams could both compete for votes in those communities.

Without highlighting any specific work with Chinese American groups, Adams adviser Frank Carone said the incumbent mayor routinely celebrates immigrant communities. “Latte-sipping liberals are all introducing themselves now, but everyone knows Eric already because he’s one of them and he’s been there for them,” Carone said in a statement. “There are people that criticized us for going to (various countries’) flag-raising ceremonies, but these things matter, and in November people will remember it.”

Chu said Walden was intriguing as an independent candidate, but his name recognition is still a major challenge. (Asian Wave Alliance encouraged Cuomo to get into the Democratic primary, but it has not yet endorsed in the primary or general election.)

Sliwa performed well in Chinese American and other Asian American neighborhoods in 2021 and has maintained good relationships with Chinese voters, Chu said. “After June, the slate is open,” Chu said. “Curtis Sliwa has really earned the trust and the affection of the Chinese voters. And I don’t think that it’s going to change.”