ADL Panel: How will diverse communities affect the 2016 election?

  • September 16, 2016

The ADL Regional Board opened the program year with a panel discussion, Getting out the Vote:  How will diverse communities affect the 2016 election?  The distinguished panel included Rosalind Gold, Senior Director of Policy, Research and Advocacy with the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO), Stewart Kwoh, founding President and Executive Director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Los Angeles (Advancing Justice-LA), and Raphael Sonenshein, Executive Director of the Pat Brown Institute at Cal State LA.  Panel moderator was ADL Regional Director Amanda Susskind.

Sonenshein opened with some background about the voting history of Jews, who have always voted differently from other white voters.  For example, he said that Jews are twice as likely to vote Democratic than other whites.  He cautioned that this year could be different, with college educated white voters in suburban rings now increasingly sharing the basic Democratic agenda.  With the rise of voter turnout among Asian American and Latino groups, their votes in the Democratic party will have increased impact. He commented that,  “no one is talking about the Jewish vote this year,” since it’s such an unusual election cycle, and that he does not predict that Jews will use this election to cross over to vote for the Republican ticket.

Susskind with panelists Rosalind Gold, NALEO; Stewart Kwoh, Advancing Justice-LA; and Raphael Sonenshein, Pat Brown Institute at Cal State LA.

Gold talked about what resonates with Latino voters and that, while immigration has a “special salience,” it’s not the only issue they care about.  Low turnout could be because “Latinos see voting as not making a difference in their day to day lives.”  She would like to see the candidates and their parties have a long-term strategy for sustained, ongoing political participation by Latinos, since so far in this election they only have a strategy to reach Latinos in battleground states since there is, traditionally, lower Latino voter turnout in “red” and “blue” states.  She also said the “messenger” is important to Latinos and her organization has found that the number one messengers are mothers.  “Mothers are the most likely to get their kids to vote.”

Kwoh explained that the Asian American community is so diverse that it’s hard to discuss trends or voting blocs.  The big news is the tremendous increase in population of Asians and Pacific Islanders in the U.S – now 19 million.  With 5.5 million Asian-Americans in California alone, and the rest mostly in New York, Texas and Hawaii – none of which are seen as swing states – he sees that they have typically been ignored.  However, with growing pockets in areas like Virginia, he speculates that their influence will only become greater.  Another interesting facet to the Asian American vote is that while in 2012 73 percent voted for Obama, their voter registration is split across Democrat, Republican and “decline to state.”  Because of their “weak party affiliation” their votes are “up for grabs.”  He related the top three issues affecting Asian Americans in California today:  increasing the number of student slots at UC schools, keeping the Affordable Care Act, and a path to legalization for the undocumented.

The panelists responded to questions ranging from bigotry and bias in the election to the effect of third party candidates.  The takeaway: Remember to vote!