AAMP Ohio Says Learn from Failed Senate Bid

AAMP is a founding member of the Asian American Power Network, the leading network of grassroots community organizations working to mobilize AAPI voters and build progressive AAPI political power across the country.

Asian-American Midwest Progressives in Ohio (AAMP Ohio) recognize Tim Ryan’s loss of his Senate bid is devastating for working Ohioans. According to AAMP Ohio, J.D. Vance and his far-right policies are a threat to working-class Ohioans of all backgrounds, including Ohio’s Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs). AAMP Ohio holds firm that AAPI, progressive, and anti-racist voters are key in winning elections, and that Tim Ryan’s anti-Chinese rhetoric and refusal to learn from community feedback fed into the loss of this election. While they support progressive, pro-worker policies that would be made possible by a Democratic majority in the Senate, they felt consistently disappointed and frustrated at the Ryan campaign’s willingness to scapegoat these Asian communities for a campaign that ultimately proved unsuccessful.

According to APIAVote, 73% of registered Asian American voters reported fear of hate crimes. Ryan’s anti-China rhetoric in the face of this statistic is harmful in several ways. First, by deciding that Ohio AAPIs are acceptable collateral damage, AAMP Ohio believes his campaign messaging will incite lasting violence against Asian Americans at a time when anti-Asian hate crimes have risen 339% percent this last year alone. Second, by betting on a failed strategy to attract support from MAGA Republicans, Ryan lost by a wide margin in what should have been a winnable race, and has broken the trust of a growing base of AAPI, young, progressive, and anti-racist voters. This ultimately allowed an unpopular far-right extremist candidate to take a pivotal Senate seat, which has detrimental national ramifications.

AAMP Ohio’s position is that Democrats lose when they turn away from Democratic values and betray their base. They continue to urge the Ohio Democratic Party and political strategists across the country to see Ryan’s campaign for what it was: a failed experiment that Democrats cannot afford to run again.

AAMP Ohio says that candidates can and must “acknowledge the inevitable harms that come from xenophobic rhetoric AND fight for working-class families. Centering the use of nationalist, fear-mongering rhetoric only pushes conflicted voters to the right, and shifts blame away from the policymakers and U.S. corporations that have engaged in union-busting and allowed prices to skyrocket while making record profits during the pandemic.” So the Ohio-based group ssays they will continue developing relationships with governing officials and envision a partnership where they mobilize their communities for future campaigns that prioritize all Ohioans. They will also work to construct safety and progress for their communities, and as always, remain committed to winning equity for all Ohioans across race, class, ethnicity, and background.

Asian American Midwest Progressives (AAMP)’s mission is to build political power through collective advocacy and electoral organizing to achieve racial equity. AAMP was founded in Illinois in 2018 and a chapter was established in Ohio in 2022.