How Asian-American campaigners helped turn the US deep-red South blue

In a series of strategic campaigns across Georgia, Texas, and North Carolina, Asian-American activists played a pivotal role in shifting the US South from deep-red to blue in the recent midterm elections. In Georgia, Chany Chea, program director of the Asian-American Advocacy Fund, led an "Asian Ballot Girls" campaign featuring three Asian-American women in a design inspired by the Three Ladies rice brand.

The group distributed door literature in seven Asian languages and ran in-language digital and ethnic media ads. Their efforts paid off when Democrat Laura Murvartian defeated Republican incumbent Shawn Still in Georgia's state Senate District 48 with 53% to 47% of the vote.

Across the state of Texas, Asian-American organizers built a multilingual guide to the ballot and distributed door literature in nine languages. The Asians for Talarico group, a coalition supporting Democrat Ted Talarico's Senate race, knocked on 70,000 doors, made 300,000 calls, and sent 300,000 MMS messages, with nearly seven out of every 10 Asian voters canvassed backing Talarico.

In North Carolina, Shruti Parikh, director of education and political engagement, emphasized the importance of year-round engagement in building a diverse coalition of Asian-American voters. While the specific outcome for North Carolina is not detailed in the source, the Asian-American efforts across these states contributed to significant Democratic victories in the midterm elections.