In Las Vegas, an increasing number of Filipino Americans are contributing to the community by working in education, healthcare, and the casino industry.
For years, political campaigns largely overlooked this group in favor of other ethnic communities. However, this year, candidates are actively seeking the support of Filipino voters, recognizing them as a potential key factor in the swing state.
Candidates from both parties attend Filipino community events wearing traditional clothes, while Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign has launched “Pinoy Pride” posters and ads highlighting Filipino leaders discussing key issues such as the economy and health care. Joel Enriquez, a Filipino-American businessman, noted, “We are no longer just warm bodies at their campaign events anymore, they actually want to engage with us now.”
With Asian Americans making up nearly 12 percent of Nevada’s electorate, Filipino Americans are the largest group, with about 59,000 registered voters in a state where President Biden won by just over 33,000 votes in 2020.
Historically, Filipino Americans tend to support Democrats, although not as strongly as other Asian American groups. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Democratic vice presidential candidate, and Maya Harris, sister of Vice President Kamala Harris, have both reached out to Filipino voters in the state. As a matter of fact, when Ms. Harris launched an Asian American voter outreach initiative in Las Vegas this summer, she attracted remarkable participation from Filipino community leaders.
On the Republican side, Senate candidate Sam Brown attended a Filipino community event this summer, wearing the traditional barong. Prominent Filipino-American figures, such as Josie Harrison, mother of comedian Jo Koy, also endorsed Republican candidates.
Although Donald Trump has gained traction with some nonwhite voters, Republicans have generally reduced direct ethnic appeals this year. Their outreach center for Asian Americans in Las Vegas was even replaced by a cigarette store. Trump’s campaign, however, believes his record on diversity and opportunity speaks for itself.
It remains uncertain whether either party’s initiatives will succeed in swaying Filipino-American voters, whose turnout has varied over the years. In 2020, Filipino-Americans had the lowest turnout rate among Asian American groups.
Researchers also note that political campaigns often struggle to identify Filipino-Americans from voter registration files since many have Spanish surnames due to the more than 300 years of Spanish colonial rule in the Philippines; As a result, campaigns sometimes mistakenly target Filipino-Americans with messages in Spanish rather than Tagalog, one of the official languages of the Philippines.
According to Anthony Ocampo, a sociology professor at California State Polytechnic University in Pomona, Filipino-Americans are also more difficult to contact because they tend to be more geographically dispersed within cities than other ethnic groups. In addition, some community leaders believe that Filipino-Americans are less politically active because of their limited spare time.
