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Background

Asian American and Pacific Islander voters are poised to play an increasingly consequential role in the 2026 midterm elections. AAPIs are the nation’s fastest-growing voter bloc, and recent elections have demonstrated their potential to shape outcomes in highly competitive races across the country.

There are 16 million eligible AAPI voters in 2026, including 1.6 million newly eligible voters since 2022.

API voters also represented consequential shares of the electorate in competitive congressional districts across states including Arizona, California, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

That influence is especially important in elections decided by narrow margins. In 2024, AAPIs made up significant shares of the eligible electorate in key battleground states, including 12% in Nevada, 4.4% in Arizona, 4.2% in Georgia, 3.3% in Pennsylvania, and 3.0% in Michigan, North Carolina and Wisconsin.

Key Findings

  • 90% of AAPI registered voters say they plan to vote in the 2026 midterm elections, up from 84% in 2022 and 86% in 2018. Seventy-one percent say they are absolutely certain they will vote.
  • Cost of living and inflation are the dominant concerns, with 90% of Asian Americans and 89% of Pacific Islanders saying it is very or extremely important in deciding how they vote.
  • Democratic candidates currently lead in congressional vote choice, and Democrats hold an advantage on voters’ top issue: 63% select the Democratic candidate for U.S. House compared with 24% Republican. On voters’ top issue, cost of living and inflation, 44% trust Democrats to do a better job compared with 18% who trust Republicans. 
  • Many AAPI voters remain unreached: 42% report no contact from the Democratic Party and 58% no contact from the Republican Party. Community organizations reach approximately as many AAPI adults as the Democratic Party, with 58% reporting some contact from each.
  • Family and friends (62%) and academic experts (60%) are the most trusted messengers, followed by community journalists (50%) and AAPI community-serving organizations (47%). PI adults report particularly high trust in AAPI community-serving organizations (59% vs. 45% of Asian Americans).

Voting Plans

  • 90% of AAPI registered voters (91% Asian Am and 87% Pacific Islanders) say they plan to vote in the 2026 midterm elections, up from 84% in 2022 and 86% in 2018, the two previous midterm election years. 
  • 71% are absolutely certain they will vote, while another 23% are fairly certain.
  • Certainty varies 20 points by ethnicity: Japanese 80% and Filipino 78% highest, Korean and Vietnamese 60% lowest
  • Voting preferences remain divided between in-person and alternative methods: 45% prefer voting in person, 34% by mail, and 15% by ballot drop-off. Combined, 49% prefer mail or drop-off, essentially unchanged from 50% in 2022.

Vote Choice

  • AAPI voters favor Democratic candidates by more than 2-to-1 in the 2026 congressional elections: 60% Democratic vs. 24% Republican for U.S. Senate, and 64% Democratic vs. 22% Republican for U.S. House.
  • The Democratic advantage extends across most Asian American ethnic groups, with the gaps strongest among Japanese Americans and weakest among Filipinos. 
  • In Senate races, support for Democratic candidates ranges from 42% among Filipino voters to 66% among Asian Indian voters; Filipino voters are the only group in which Republican preference (49%) exceeds Democratic preference (42%).
  • Independent voters remain a potentially important constituency: among independents, 54% prefer the Democratic Senate candidate vs. 18% Republican, while 51% prefer the Democratic House candidate vs. 20% Republican.

Policy Priorities

  • Cost of living and inflation is the top issue for Asian American voters, with 90% saying it is very or extremely important, including 59% who say it is extremely important.
  • Health care is a top concern for 82% of Asian American voters, followed closely by jobs and unemployment at 80% and Social Security and Medicare at 80%.
  • Education is very or extremely important to 79% of Asian American voters, followed by crime and public safety (78%), war and foreign policy (78%), racism and racial discrimination/hate crimes (73%), immigration (68%), and abortion/reproductive rights (61%).

News Sources

  • Television (47%) and YouTube (43%) are the most commonly used news sources, followed by newspapers/news sites and Facebook (35% each). Only 5% report using no regular news source.
  • Pacific Islander  adults rely more heavily on several social and traditional platforms than Asian Americans, including Facebook (44% vs. 34%), radio (35% vs. 25%), and TikTok (30% vs. 16%); Asian Americans are more likely to use newspapers/news sites (37% vs. 23%).
  • 78% consume news mainly in English, 16% in both English and another language, and 6% mainly in another language. 
  • Among foreign-born respondents, only 67% rely mainly on English, while 23% consume news in both English and another language.

About the Asian American Voter Survey

Along with the growing presence of Asian American voters is a growing interest in the opinions and priorities of this electorate. The Asian American Voter Surveys (AAVS) are election-year surveys of registered AAPI voters, capturing the perspectives of voters and their priorities across various years. The AAVS began in 2014.

Survey Methodology

  • Survey respondents drawn from a national voter file, using enhanced data to identify likely Asian American voters and their likely ethnicity.
  • Survey designed for approximately 2,066 AAPI voters (1,896 Asian Americans  and 170 Pacific Islanders), with sampling quotas by ethnicity to support disaggregated analysis.
  • Interviews conducted using a mixed-mode approach, combining phone, MMS-to-web, and online recruitment, between June 3 and July 27, 2026.
  • Survey methodology designed to produce population-representative results, including evaluation of nonresponse bias and weighting based on known voter characteristics.
  • Questionnaire and research design developed collaboratively by APIAVote and AAPI Data, including pre-testing prior to fielding. Average survey interview was 15 minutes.