Everytown Launches $50,000 Print Ad Buy in AAPI Newspapers in Partnership With AAPI Victory Fund to Mobilize AAPI Voters in Dallas And Houston

Research Conducted by the Groups in May Revealed Top Issues for Swing AAPI Voters in Texas are the Economy, Affordable Healthcare, and Gun Violence

From 2012 To 2018, The Number of Eligible AAPI Voters in Texas Grew by Nearly 50%

AUSTIN — Everytown for Gun Safety Victory Fund today announced a $50,000 ad buy in print outlets targeting Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) voters in Texas. The ads, produced in partnership with AAPI Victory Fund, highlight the Republican-controlled legislature’s failure to pass laws like background checks on all gun sales and urge voters to support gun sense candidates for the Texas House. 

The ads are running in the Indo American News, Thoi Bao, Southern Chinese Daily News, and Dallas Chinese News, with the goal of reaching voters in urban and suburban districts around Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth with growing populations of AAPI voters, including HD 26, HD 66, HD 67, and HD 112. AAPI eligible voters represent 6% of the electorate in Harris County and 5% of the electorate in Dallas County.

VIEW A SAMPLE AD HERE. 

“The AAPI community in Texas will be a force at the ballot box this year, especially in critical swing districts surrounding Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth,” said Charlie Kelly, senior political advisor to Everytown for Gun Safety.  “By running print ads in several languages, we’re reaching this constituency of voters who are motivated to vote against candidates who have ignored gun violence.”  

“AAPI Victory Fund’s strategy for Texas relies on increasing turnout from AAPIs, which most campaigns typically do not communicate to. Our community has the power to help flip the Texas state house and add to the national House majority so progressives can gain footing in the crucial and decade-defining 2020 redistricting effort,” said Varun Nikore, president of AAPI Victory Fund. “We have a proven record of effectively engaging our community members in culturally specific and ethnically sensitive ways. This has led to our success in battleground states like North Carolina, Virginia and Nevada in the last four election cycles since 2016. We hope to see similar results this year as we focus on Texas.”

In May, the groups collaborated on a qualitative research study surveying swing AAPI voters in Texas —a growing voting bloc in the state, particularly in the Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth metro area and suburbs. The message boards, conducted over four days by Lake Research Partners, demonstrate the importance of issues including gun safety, affordable healthcare, and the economy to swing AAPI voters in Texas.