Asian Americans represent a growing share of the national population and of the electorate. The lower political participation of Asian Americans has been raised as a concern, especially as it relates to their influence on politics in the United States. Asian Americans were once a strong constituency for Republicans. In 1992, George H.W. Bush won 55% of Asian voters. In the 21st century, Asian Americans have become a key Democratic Party constituency. As of 2023, 62% of Asian American registered voters identify with or lean towards the Democratic Party, in contrast to 34% who identify with or lean towards the Republicans.
Officeholders Elected national officials Vice president Name Image Term Ethnicity State Party Offices held Kamala Harris(1964–) 2021–2025 Indian American California Democratic Harris, who is half Indian American, became the US' first female vice president, the highest-ranking female elected official in U.S. history, and the first African-American and first Asian American vice president.
Congress Senate (Note: Senators are organized first in chronological order according to their first term in office, then second in alphabetical order according to their surname.)
SenatorAsian and/or Pacific Islander ethnicityPartyStateTenureNotesTerm startTerm endLength of serviceChineseFirst American of Chinese ancestry elected to CongressRepublicanHawaiiRetiredJapaneseFirst Japanese American elected to the SenateDemocraticHawaii JapaneseRepublicanCaliforniaRetiredJapaneseDemocraticHawaiiDied in officeHawaiian,ChineseFirst Native Hawaiian to serve in the SenateDemocraticHawaiiInitially appointed; later re-electedRetiredFilipinoFirst person of Filipino ancestry elected to the SenateRepublicanNevadaResignedJapaneseFirst Asian American woman elected to the SenateDemocraticHawaiiIncumbentThai,ChineseFirst Thai American elected to the SenateDemocraticIllinoisIncumbentIndianFirst person of South Asian ancestry elected to the Senate; together with Pramila Jayapal, first Indian American woman elected to CongressDemocraticCaliforniaResigned to become Vice PresidentKoreanFirst Korean American elected to the SenateDemocraticNew JerseyIncumbent
House of Representatives (Note: Representatives are organized first in chronological order according to their first term in office, then second in alphabetical order according to their surname.) RepresentativeAsian and/or Pacific Islander ethnicityPartyStateTenureNotesTerm startTerm endLength of serviceIndianFirst AAPI person elected to Congress as a non-delegate, and also first Indian American elected to CongressDemocraticCaliforniaLost reelectionJapaneseFirst Japanese American elected to CongressDemocraticHawaiiRetired to run successfully for U.S. SenateJapaneseDemocraticHawaiiRetired to run successfully for U.S. SenateJapaneseFirst Asian American woman elected to CongressDemocraticHawaiiRetired to run unsuccessfully for U.S. SenateDied in officeJapaneseDemocraticCaliforniaResignedLater served as Secretary of Commerce and Secretary of TransportationChineseDemocraticHawaiiResigned after being appointed to the U.S. SenateJapaneseDemocraticCaliforniaDied in officeIndianFirst (and so far only) Dougla elected to CongressDemocraticCaliforniaRetiredJapaneseRepublicanHawaiiRetired to run unsuccessfully for U.S. SenateKoreanFirst Korean American elected to CongressRepublicanCaliforniaLost renominationFilipinoFirst American-born Filipino elected to CongressDemocraticVirginiaIncumbentFilipinoRepublicanNevadaRetired to run unsuccessfully for U.S. SenateLater elected to the U.S. Senate from NevadaTaiwaneseFirst Taiwanese American elected to CongressDemocraticOregonResignedJapaneseDemocraticCaliforniaLost reelectionIndianRepublicanLouisianaResigned to run successfully for GovernorJapaneseDemocraticCaliforniaIncumbentElected to succeed late husbandJapaneseDemocraticHawaiiRetired to run successfully for U.S. SenateFilipinoRepublicanOhioRetired following decennial redistrictingVietnameseFirst Vietnamese American elected to CongressRepublicanLouisianaLost reelectionChineseFirst Chinese American woman elected to CongressDemocraticCaliforniaIncumbentThai,ChineseFirst Thai American elected to CongressRepublicanHawaiiLost reelectionBangladeshiFirst person of Bangladeshi ancestry elected to CongressDemocraticMichiganLost renomination following decennial redistrictingJapaneseDemocraticHawaiiRetired to run unsuccessfully for U.S. SenateRetired to run unsuccessfully for GovernorIndianDemocraticCaliforniaIncumbentThai,ChineseFirst Thai American woman elected to CongressDemocraticIllinoisRetired to run successfully for U.S. SenateTaiwaneseFirst Taiwanese American woman elected to CongressDemocraticNew YorkIncumbentJapaneseFirst openly gay person of AAPI ancestry elected to CongressDemocraticCaliforniaIncumbentTaiwaneseDemocraticCaliforniaIncumbentJapaneseDemocraticHawaiiDied in officeIndianTogether with Kamala Harris, first Indian American woman elected to CongressDemocraticWashingtonIncumbentIndianDemocraticCaliforniaIncumbentIndianDemocraticIllinoisIncumbentVietnameseFirst Vietnamese American woman elected to CongressDemocraticFlorida6 years, 0 daysRetiredFilipino,ChineseDemocraticCaliforniaLost reelectionKoreanDemocraticNew JerseyRetired to run successfully for U.S. SenateKoreanReps. Kim, Steel and Strickland are collectively the first Korean American women elected to CongressRepublicanCaliforniaIncumbentKoreanRepublicanCaliforniaLost reelectionKoreanDemocraticWashingtonIncumbentIndianDemocraticMichiganIncumbentJapaneseDemocraticHawaiiIncumbentChineseRepublicanCaliforniaIncumbentKoreanDemocraticCaliforniaIncumbentIndianDemocraticVirginiaIncumbentVietnameseDemocraticCaliforniaIncumbent
State and local government Governors Name Image Term Ethnicity State Party Offices held George Ariyoshi(1926–2026) 1974–1986 Japanese American Hawaii Democratic First American of Asian descent to be elected governor of a state of the United States. He continues to hold the record as the longest-serving state governor in Hawaii. Ben Cayetano(1939–) 1994–2002 Filipino American Hawaii Democratic First Filipino American to serve as a state governor in the United States. Gary Locke(1950–) 1997–2005 Chinese American Washington Democratic First Chinese American to be elected governor in United States history and the first Asian American governor in the continental United States. Bobby Jindal(1971–) 2008–2016 Indian American Louisiana Republican Served in various executive positions in Louisiana and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services before being elected to Congress in 2004, and finally winning the Louisiana gubernatorial elections in 2007 (thereby becoming the first non-white governor of Louisiana since Reconstruction), the first elected Indian American governor in U.S. history, as well as the second Asian American governor to serve in the continental United States. Nikki Haley(1972–) 2011–2017 Indian American South Carolina Republican Served as the 116th Governor of South Carolina from 2011 to 2017. Haley previously represented Lexington County in the South Carolina House of Representatives from 2005 to 2010.Belles of the South Audrey/Asian Women's Magazine – April/May '06 She is the first Sikh American governor in the United States, first female governor of South Carolina, second elected Indian American governor in U.S. history, as well as the third Asian American governor to serve in the continental United States. Nikki Haley's election was not the only first for Asian Americans to occur during the 2010 election cycle. David Ige(1957–) 2014–2022 Japanese American Hawaii Democratic Served as the 8th governor of Hawaii from 2014 to 2022. First person of Okinawan descent to hold office in the U.S.
Statewide offices Name Image Term Ethnicity State Party Offices held James Kealoha (1908–1983) 1959–1962 Chinese American Hawaii Republican Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii Andrew T. F. Ing (1919–1999) 1966 Chinese American Hawaii Democratic Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii Nelson Doi (1922–2015) 1974–1978 Japanese American Hawaii Democratic Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii March Fong Eu (1922–2017) 1975–1994 Chinese American California Democratic Secretary of State of California Jean Sadako King (1925–2013) 1978–1982 Japanese American Hawaii Democratic Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii S. B. Woo (1937–) 1985–1989 Chinese American Delaware Democratic Lieutenant Governor of Delaware Mazie Hirono (1947–) 1994–2002 Japanese American Hawaii Democratic Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii Matt Fong (1953–2011) 1995–1999 Chinese American California Republican California State Treasurer Cheryl Lau (1944–) 1995–1999 Chinese American Nevada Republican Nevada Secretary of State Duke Aiona(1955–) 2002–2010 Chinese American Hawaii Republican Served as Lieutenant Governor from 2002 to 2010. Alex Sink(1948–) 2007–2011 Thai American Florida Democratic Served as Chief Financial Officer of Florida from 2007 to 2011. Kamala Harris(1964–) 2011–2017 Indian American California Democratic Harris, who is half Indian American, became the first female, first Jamaican American, and first Asian American state attorney general in the United States. Shan Tsutsui(1971–) 2012–2018 Japanese American Hawaii Democratic Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii Sean Reyes(1971–) 2013–2025 Filipino AmericanJapanese American Utah Republican Attorney General of Utah John Chiang(1962–) 2015–2019 Taiwanese American California Democratic Served as California State Treasurer from 2015 to 2019. Doug Chin(1966–) 2015–2018 Chinese American Hawaii Democratic Served as Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii in 2018 and as Hawaii Attorney General from 2015 to 2018. Betty Yee(1957–) 2015–present Chinese American California Democratic Served as California State Controller from 2015 to 2023. Fiona Ma (1966–) 2019–present Chinese American California Democratic California State Treasurer from 2019–present. William Tong(1973–) 2019–present Chinese American Connecticut Democratic Serving as Connecticut Attorney General since 2019. Kimberly Yee(1974–) 2019–present Chinese American Arizona Republican Serving as Arizona State Treasurer since 2019. Rob Bonta(1972–) 2021–present Filipino American California Democratic Attorney General of California since 2021. Steve Hobbs(1970–) 2021–present Japanese American Washington Democratic Secretary of State of Washington since 2021. Sylvia Luke(1967–) 2022–present Korean American Hawaii Democratic Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii since 2022. First Korean American politician elected to a statewide office. Vivek Malek(1977–) 2022–present Indian American Missouri Republican State Treasurer of Missouri since 2022. Susan C. Lee(1954–) 2023–present Chinese American Maryland Democratic Secretary of State of Maryland Aruna Miller(1964–) 2023–present Indian American Maryland Democratic Lieutenant Governor of Maryland since 2023. First South Asian lieutenant governor in the United States. Portia Wu(1970–) 2023–present Taiwanese American Maryland Secretary of Labor of Maryland Ghazala Hashmi(1964–) 2026–present Indian American Virginia Democratic Lieutenant Governor of Virginia since 2026.
State Legislative offices
(Note: Legislators are organized first in chronological order according to their first term in office, then second in alphabetical order according to their surname.)