Random political notes

Dr. Whited sent along this HouChron article, and asked what I thought.

The Asian-American community, which is approaching the growth rate of Latinos in some parts of Texas, contributes to a shifting demographic landscape that may eventually return the state to Democratic control, according to a panelist discussing the group's emergence Saturday at the George R. Brown Convention Center.

The diversity of the cultures and languages encompassed by the Census Bureau category of "Asian" makes it difficult to reliably chart voting trends, said Robert Stein, dean of the School of Social Sciences at Rice University. But he added that the group clearly resists voting Republican; a shift that is otherwise common to upwardly mobile populations.

The article is headlined, "Asian-American growth seen as a boon for Dems."

Here's a slightly (and quickly!) edited version of what I wrote Kevin back:

Perhaps Dr. Stein makes a better case in his paper than this article. Unless anything has changed in the last few years, if you factor out Hawaii, Asians break close to 50-50 partisanship-wise. Minor caveat: it depends of course on who you count as "Asian." The exact percentage depends on how many countries you include as being part of Asia.

Obviously, it also depends what specific Asian ethnicities are represented in Texas. The Vietnamese and Chinese (particularly second half of the 20th century immigrants and their children) are historically the most GOP ethnic groups in the US. Generally, the Japanese and Koreans are the Dem-leaning ethnic groups, although how much so can also vary by state. I don't have numbers for the ethnic makeup of Asian Texans (This is not necessarily the preferred nomenclature), and I won't speculate here.

The article makes it unclear what exactly Dr. Stein was propounding.

I'm skeptical that this will be a factor in Texas' statewide elections in the next decade or two. However, I'll try to track down the article or Dr. Stein and see what his thesis really is.

Posted by Evan @ 05/21/06 10:53 PM

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