Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islanders (AANHPI) are the fastest growing population in the United States. However, they remain an untapped voter group during elections despite reports showing they are turning out to vote – and the margin of victory for several battleground states in the 2020 Presidential election.

In the 2024 presidential election, AANHPI women turned out to vote at 58% — higher than their male counterparts, and 13 points higher than a decade ago. This part is worth sitting with.

Every election cycle, campaigns decide where to pour resources into understanding what voters want. But AANHPI women are routinely left out of that conversation. Understanding what they care about could help strengthen outreach efforts when tapping into AANHPI women voters.

According to AAPI Data’s 2025 Policy Priorities Survey, cost of living and inflation are the top concerns for AANHPI adults across age, gender, and ethnicity. But for many AANHPI women, this goes beyond inflation. It is about long-term stability, affordability, and whether hard work is translating into real opportunity.

That concern is backed by a recent report from the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPWAF) report showing that AANHPI women overall earn about 83 cents for every dollar earned by white, non-Hispanic men, while noting that many AANHPI women face even wider wage gaps depending on ethnicity. That is why campaigns cannot treat AANHPI women as a monolith. The economic experiences of Korean, Vietnamese, Filipino, Indian, Chinese, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, Bhutanese, Burmese, Bangladeshi, and other communities are not all the same.

Safety is another key concern, often discussed without enough nuance. In 2022, Stop AANHPI Hate documented 10,905 hate acts against AANHPI individuals from March 2020 through December 2021, with women making up 61.8% of all reports. Furthermore, more than 34% of hate incidents experienced by AANHPI women occurred in public streets. These incidents shape how people move through public spaces, whether they feel safe taking transit, speaking their language, going to work, or simply being visible in their own communities.

However, the concern for safety extends beyond public spaces. A 2025 report from the Alliance for Immigrant Survivors found that 76% of advocates said immigrant survivors have concerns about contacting police to report domestic violence and sexual assault. For many immigrant women, which includes AANHPI women, fear tied to immigration status can become another barrier to safety and support.

On reproductive rights, NAPAWF’s 2026 national study found that 84% of AANHPI women agree people should be able to make their own abortion decisions without government interference. Reporting on AANHPI women voters has also found that rising costs, reproductive healthcare, and threats to democracy remain major concerns.

The larger lesson is AANHPI women are informed, motivated, and paying attention. As the 2026 mid-term elections happen right now, it’s critical for campaigns to understand the diversity within AANHPI communities, and investing in sustained, in-language engagement with trusted messengers. The path forward starts with listening, showing up consistently, and building trust over time.

Editor’s Note: Learn more about Asian American women in politics with “The Effects of Gender and Race in Asian American Women’s Political Campaigns,”  by Dan Qi, Nicole Bauer, Cana Kim