Evidence from recent election cycles suggests Republicans have some distance to go in winning minority support in major elections. But there was at least some indication from Tuesday night's exit polls of 129 respondents that the GOP may be making some headway with Asian-Americans, the fastest-growing minority group in the United States. The data may show the value of Republican engagement with minority voters — particularly since the 2012 election.
National exit polling of voters in House races last night found that almost half of Asian-Americans — 49 percent — supported the Republican candidate. This is about twice the share who supported Mitt Romney in exit polling conducted after the 2012 presidential election. It also reverses a trend that began roughly during the 1990s, of increasing Asian-American support for Democratic candidates (starting with Bill Clinton).
The issues that Asian voters identified as most significant mirrored those of the general electorate — the economy first, followed by health care, foreign policy and immigration. Notably, many more Asian voters (21 percent) identified foreign policy as the most important issue facing the country as the electorate did generally (12 percent).