New York City is seeing a record number of Asian-American candidates running as Republicans in 2024 – and the local GOP is hoping the high-water mark sparks new power at the polls.
There are 10 Republican candidates of East Asian descent running in Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan after an apparent trend of Asian-American voters going more Republican in recent years.
“The Asian community is waking up to the fact that there’s another party that is more aligned to our conservative values on public safety and education,” said Yiatin Chu, founder of The Asian Wave Alliance, and a candidate for Senate in northeast Queens. Chu is running against long-time Democratic incumbent Sen. Toby Stavisky in the 11th District.
Chu, 56, who arrived here from Taiwan as an 8-year-old and has two daughters, is running in a district where nearly 40% of residents are of Asian descent.
She said policies approved by elected Democrats such as the cashless bail law and raising the age for criminal responsibility from age 16 to 18 have contributed to spikes in crime and sent the message that liberals care more about lawbreakers than average citizens.
“That’s what’s caused chaos in the city,” Chu said.
Queens GOP Chairman Anthony Nunziato called the recent enthusiasm from the Asian-American community “tremendous.”
“The Asian citizens are stepping up. They are injecting life into the Republican Party — without a doubt,” he said.
Asian GOP candidates told The Post they got involved in the wake of several concerns: unacceptable crime and declining quality of life, an out-of-control migrant crisis and a progressive movement looking to chip away at merit-based education valued by their communities.
Steven Chan, 57, a retired NYPD sergeant and US marine who immigrated from Hong Kong and has two daughters, is running in Brooklyn’s 17th Senate district against Democrat incumbent Iwen Chu. About half of the constituents in the south Brooklyn district are of Asian descent.
The Bensonhurst resident said the “straw that broke the camel’s back” for him to run was when James Madison High School was temporarily closed for students and its gym used as a shelter for migrants who had relocated from the Floyd Bennett Field encampment during a violent rain and wind storm in January.
“We’re trying to protect our community,” Chan said.
Chan said he believes in immigration — legal immigration with an orderly and fair process.
“I’m an immigrant but I oppose an open border policy. We need to close the borders. We’re a sovereign nation,” he said.
He said he would push laws to help police and prosecutors curb crime, not aid the criminals.
“The bail law is an atrocity,” Chan said. “We want to help the police help us.”
Like Chu, he supports continuing and expanding specialized high schools and gifted and talented programs and increasing charter schools as an option for students.
He has served as a parent leader at the schools of his daughters, one of whom now attends Staten Island Technical High School.
There are a number of Democratic office holders who are Asian — notably Queens Rep. Grace Meng, state Sen. John Liu, Assemblywoman Grace Lee representing the Lower East Side, and Assemblyman Ron Kim, who represents Flushing.
GOP gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin carried city districts with large Asian populations in 2022, as did Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa in 2021.
Democratic Assemblyman Kim, the first Korean-American elected to the legislature in 2012, acknowledged that Asian constituents, like other city residents, are frustrated. He survived a close general election in 2022.
He said it’s incumbent on Democrats in power to follow through on their promises.
“We have an administrative crisis in the Democratic Party,” Kim said. “We have a short window as Democrats to turn things around.”
He said the recently approved state budget addressed issues of concern to Asian-Americans, such as public safety.
“Our job as Democrats is to deliver for the Asian-American community. I look forward to delivering for the community,” Kim said.
Republican Phil Wang, a 54-year-old chiropractor challenging Kim said, “The Democrats aren’t speaking for the Flushing community. I don’t hear them talking about crime. We have to save ourselves.”
Other GOP candidates:
- Joseph Chou is challenging Rep. Meng
- Daniel Mais is vying to challenge Queens Sen. Joe Addabbo.
- Three candidates seeking to challenge Assemblywoman Nily Rozic — Kenneth Paek, Kenneth Chiu and Steven Wang
- Helen Qiu is challenging Assemblywoman Grace Lee in downtown Manhattan/Lower East.
- GOP Assemblyman Lester Chang is seeking re-election in a rematch with former Assemblyman Peter Abbate.
