Survey: Enthusiasm for Harris catapults Asian American voters

Vice President Kamala Harris has more than doubled her lead over former President Trump with Asian American voters, compared to the advantage President Biden previously had, a new survey finds.

Why it matters: New data from the nonpartisan APIAVote and AAPIData show that Harris, who is Black and Asian American, is generating excitement about one of the nation's fast-growing voting constituencies.

• It's the first major survey of Asian American voters since President Biden dropped out of the race and Harris entered.

The big picture: Asian American voters in recent elections have been among the Democratic coalition that made the difference for Democrats in battleground states like Georgia.

By the numbers: According to the survey, 66% of Asian American voters now say they plan on voting for Harris compared to 28% for Trump. Only 6% said they were undecided or would back another candidate.

• In a previous survey, 46% of Asian American voters backed Biden and 31% supported Trump, while 23% said they planned to vote for someone else or were undecided.
• Intention to vote has also grown: 77% of Asian American voters said they are "absolutely certain" they will vote in the 2024 election, up from 68 percent who said the same a few months ago.

The intrigue: Asian American voters are more likely to say Harris' identity as a woman candidate is more important than her South Asian heritage.

• 38% of Asian American voters say Harris' identity as a woman is "extremely" or "very" important to them, compared to 27% who say the same about her identity as an Asian Indian or South Asian.

What they're saying: "What Harris has done has brought Asian American voters back into the presidential tent," said AAPI Data head Karthick Ramakrishnan.

• Ramakrishnan says he expects voter enthusiasm and turnout among this group to rival 2016 and 2020, a historic high.
• "Especially when you look at voter enthusiasm, this shows an electorate that is energized and is very likely to tip the scales."
• Growing Asian American enthusiasm mirrors other polling showing how much the race has changed since Harris became the Democratic candidate.

Zoom in: Harris' favorability among Asian American voters has increased 18 points since the spring.

• 62% of Asian American voters say they have a favorable opinion of Kamala Harris, compared to 35% who have an unfavorable opinion of her.
• Meanwhile, 28% of Asian American voters have a favorable opinion of Donald Trump, compared to 70% who have an unfavorable opinion of the former president.

Methodology: This latest edition of the 2024 AAPI Voter Survey was conducted between September 3-9, with 1,166 registered voters by NORC using NORC's Amplify AAPI® Panel for the sample source.

• The overall margin of error is +/- 4.7 percent.
• The survey was offered in English, Chinese dialects of Mandarin and Cantonese, Vietnamese, and Korean and was administered either online over the phone with a live interviewer, depending on the preference of the respondent. Surveys with a live interviewer were only conducted in English.