90% Ready to Vote: AAPI Electorate Opens New Door for Campaign Marketers: The 2026 AAPI Voter Survey has highlighted a rapidly growing and highly engaged electorate that could become one of the most important audiences for political campaigns, media companies, advertisers and community organizations ahead of the U.S. midterm elections.
Released by AAPI Data and APIAVote, the survey estimates that there will be 16 million eligible Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) voters in 2026, including 1.6 million newly eligible voters since 2022.
For the advertising and communications industry, the findings offer important insights into where AAPI audiences consume information, whom they trust and which issues are most likely to influence their decisions.
AAPI Voters Represent a Growing Advertising Audience
The size and geographic concentration of the AAPI electorate make the community increasingly significant for targeted political and public-affairs advertising.
AAPI voters represented substantial shares of the eligible electorate in several competitive states in 2024, 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.
For political advertisers, these numbers point to opportunities for highly targeted campaigns in battleground states and competitive congressional districts.
For media companies and community publishers, the growing electorate represents an expanding audience for election coverage, civic information and issue-based advertising.
90% Plan to Vote
The survey reports exceptionally strong voting intentions among AAPI registered voters.
Ninety percent say they plan to vote in the 2026 midterm elections, compared with 84% in 2022 and 86% in 2018.
Voting intention reaches 91% among Asian American voters and 87% among Pacific Islander voters.
Moreover, 71% say they are absolutely certain they will vote, while another 23% are fairly certain.
The high level of voter engagement could make AAPI audiences particularly attractive for campaigns seeking to reach voters before Election Day.
Television and YouTube Lead Media Consumption
The survey provides a clear picture of where advertisers can reach AAPI audiences.
Television is the most commonly used news source at 47%, followed by YouTube at 43%.
Newspapers and news websites and Facebook each reach 35% of respondents.
Only 5% report having no regular news source.
For advertisers, the findings reinforce the importance of combining traditional television and digital video with news websites, social media and community media.
The data also points to differences within the AAPI audience.
Pacific Islander adults are more likely than Asian Americans to use:
- Facebook: 44% vs. 34%
- Radio: 35% vs. 25%
- TikTok: 30% vs. 16%
Asian Americans are more likely to use newspapers and news websites, 37% compared with 23% among Pacific Islanders.
These differences suggest that a single media strategy may not effectively reach the entire AAPI market.
English Dominates, But Multilingual Advertising Remains Important
Seventy-eight percent of AAPI adults consume news mainly in English, while 16% use both English and another language and 6% primarily consume news in another language.
The opportunity for multilingual advertising becomes even more apparent among foreign-born respondents.
Among foreign-born respondents, 67% rely mainly on English, while 23% consume news in both English and another language.
For agencies and marketers, the findings support a segmented approach that considers language, generation, ethnicity and media habits rather than treating the AAPI community as a single audience.
Trust Could Be More Valuable Than Reach
The survey also offers an important lesson for advertisers: who delivers the message can be nearly as important as where the message appears.
Family and friends are the most trusted messengers at 62%, followed by academic experts at 60%.
Community journalists are trusted by 50%, while AAPI community-serving organizations are trusted by 47%.
Among Pacific Islander adults, trust in AAPI community-serving organizations reaches 59%, compared with 45% among Asian Americans.
These findings create opportunities for community publishers, influencers, journalists, educational institutions and organizations that have established credibility within specific AAPI communities.
A Major Outreach Gap
Despite the size of the electorate, significant numbers of AAPI voters report receiving little or no political outreach.
Forty-two percent say they received no contact from the Democratic Party, while 58% say they received no contact from the Republican Party.
Community organizations perform comparatively strongly, with 58% reporting some contact from community organizations.
For political advertisers and communications agencies, this suggests a substantial opportunity to develop campaigns that are culturally relevant, community-specific and delivered through trusted local channels.
Cost of Living Is the Lead Advertising Message
From a messaging perspective, cost of living and inflation dominate the AAPI political agenda.
Among Asian Americans, 90% say cost of living and inflation are very or extremely important in deciding how they vote, including 59% who call the issue extremely important.
Among Pacific Islanders, 89% identify the issue as very or extremely important.
Other major concerns include:
Health care — 82%
Jobs and unemployment — 80%
Social Security and Medicare — 80%
Education — 79%
Crime and public safety — 78%
War and foreign policy — 78%
Racism, racial discrimination and hate crimes — 73%
Immigration — 68%
Abortion and reproductive rights — 61%
The findings give political advertisers a detailed roadmap of the issues most likely to resonate with different segments of the electorate.
Democrats Currently Lead in Vote Preference
The survey also found a significant Democratic advantage among AAPI voters.
For U.S. Senate races, 60% prefer Democratic candidates compared with 24% Republican candidates.
For the U.S. House, 64% prefer Democratic candidates compared with 22% Republican candidates.
The Democratic advantage varies across Asian American ethnic groups.
In Senate races, Democratic support ranges from 42% among Filipino voters to 66% among Asian Indian voters.
Filipino voters are the only group in which Republican preference currently exceeds Democratic preference, with 49% favoring Republicans and 42% Democrats.
Among independent voters, 54% prefer Democratic Senate candidates compared with 18% Republican candidates, while 51% prefer Democratic House candidates compared with 20% Republican candidates.
For political advertising agencies, the differences demonstrate the importance of audience segmentation rather than relying solely on broad AAPI targeting.
A Growing Role for Community Media
The survey’s findings could also strengthen the business case for AAPI-focused media platforms.
With millions of AAPI voters consuming newspapers, news websites, television, YouTube and social media, community publishers can offer advertisers access to audiences that may be difficult to reach through generalized national campaigns.
The combination of high voter participation, strong digital consumption, trusted community messengers and significant language diversity creates an opportunity for specialized media companies to develop targeted advertising products around the 2026 election cycle.
Implications for Advertising Agencies
The survey suggests several priorities for advertisers seeking to engage AAPI audiences:
1. Segment the audience.
Asian American and Pacific Islander audiences have different media habits and priorities.
2. Use a multi-platform strategy.
Television and YouTube lead, but newspapers, news websites, Facebook, radio and TikTok provide additional reach.
3. Consider multilingual campaigns.
English remains dominant, but foreign-born audiences demonstrate significant demand for bilingual news and information.
4. Build campaigns around trusted messengers.
Family, friends, academic experts and community journalists have significant credibility.
5. Focus on economic issues.
Cost of living and inflation are the strongest concerns identified by voters.
6. Invest in community media.
Community organizations and journalists can provide trusted channels for reaching audiences that traditional political campaigns have not fully engaged.
Survey Methodology
The 2026 AAPI Voter Survey was designed for approximately 2,066 AAPI voters, including 1,896 Asian Americans and 170 Pacific Islanders.
Respondents were drawn from a national voter file using enhanced data to identify likely Asian American voters and their likely ethnicity. Sampling quotas by ethnicity were used to support disaggregated analysis.
Interviews were conducted between June 3 and July 27, 2026, through a mixed-mode approach combining phone, MMS-to-web and online recruitment.
The survey was designed to produce population-representative results, including evaluation of nonresponse bias and weighting based on known voter characteristics.
The questionnaire and research design were developed collaboratively by APIAVote and AAPI Data, with pre-testing conducted before fieldwork. The average interview lasted approximately 15 minutes.
Advertising, PR & Digital Industry Takeaway
The 2026 AAPI Voter Survey presents a compelling picture of an electorate that is large, politically engaged, digitally connected and increasingly influential in battleground states.
For political campaigns, advertising agencies, media companies and brands, the message is clear: AAPI audiences cannot be treated as a single, monolithic market.
The most effective campaigns will likely combine data-driven audience segmentation, culturally relevant creative, multilingual communication, trusted community voices and a mix of television, digital video, social media and community media.
With 16 million eligible AAPI voters and 90% reporting plans to vote, the 2026 election cycle could represent a defining moment not only for American politics, but also for the growth of AAPI-focused political advertising and media strategy.
