By Jane Michael

Faculty Mentor: Rosalyn Cooperman

Abstract

Asian Americans are one of the fastest growing minority groups in the U.S. due to immigration – so why don’t we hear more of their stories in electoral politics? Ninety percent of Asian Americans are immigrants or children of immigrants, which is an identity that can and often does influence political participation and motivation for both voters and candidates. Recent theories look directly at linked fate, which posits that individuals who share a group identity, usually a racial or ethnic minority identity, also share a sense that anything that affects another member of the group, impacts them all. This research seeks to use this theory as a framework to observe how Asian American candidates’ campaigns in the state of Virginia message on their generational immigrant identities. The case studies suggest that first-generation immigrants are less likely to present their personal immigrant stories to voters, while second-generation message on theirs more visibly and extensively. They also suggest that more Asian American candidates, regardless of generational immigrant status, message more on that identity when running in a district that contains an Asian enclave. As Asian Americans’ political participation continues to increase and different generations of immigrants will also be increasingly represented, their distinctive campaigning strategies and approach to their immigrant identities can add to the sparse literature on Asian American candidate behavior and open new avenues of research into the nuanced ways in which generational immigrant identity shapes that behavior.