Less than a week before the Nov. 8 election, the battle lines

Less than a week before the Nov. 8 election, the battle lines were drawn at Ali’s Star Restaurant and Grocery.

On Wednesday evening, an array of Democratic candidates took their seats around the same red-clothed tables used for a Republican reception the night before in the South Asian neighborhood.

Both parties have worked to gain the support of Asian-Americans, the fastest growing minority group and an increasingly formidable voting bloc in Atlantic County.

“When you have a close election, like this one, the Asian community can tilt the election,” said Upendra Chivukula, the first — and, so far, only — Indian-American elected to the state Assembly.

Chivukula, D-Middlesex, came to Wednesday’s event to help rally support for local Democrats. Republicans, meanwhile, have fostered their own bases of support within the burgeoning immigrant communities.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county’s Asian population grew by 63 percent between 2000 and 2010. Since 2007, they’ve grown from 6.7 to 7.5 percent of the total population. Statewide, that figure rose from 7.6 to 8.3 percent during the same time period.

Jane Junn, a professor of political science at the University of Southern California, said that while Asian-Americans have historically voted Democratic, their vote can’t be considered a sure thing.

A 2010 survey by the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund found that 65 percent of Asians considered themselves Democrats, but the level of support varied widely among individual groups. According to the survey, 87 percent of Bangladeshi-Americans self-identified as Democrats, while just 18 percent of Vietnamese aligned themselves with the party.

Junn said the relative newness of the population — eight out of 10 adults are foreign-born — means that party affiliation isn’t concrete.

“They’ve migrated here relatively recently compared to other minority populations,” she said. “Unlike Puerto Ricans or African Americans, they don’t have long histories of voting in the U.S.”

Two competing groups of Republican-aligned South Asian groups hosted campaign events Tuesday, one in Atlantic City and the other at The Nizam’s restaurant in Egg Harbor Township.

“Quite frankly, they reached out to us,” said Atlantic County Republican Chairman Keith Davis, of the party’s involvement with the events. “They said they were frustrated by the county Democratic party and not being given a voice in the election; and we’ve welcomed them in.”

Mohammed Rob, 39, of Absecon, said he helped start the Bangladeshi-American Republican Alliance of New Jersey, which hosted the Egg Harbor Township reception, last month after canvassing his neighborhood in support of Republican candidates.

After voting for Democrats for most of his 16 years in the country, Rob said he was fed up with the lack of help his community’s received from the party.

“Right now, the American economy is down and we’d like to do something new,” he said. “If we try to work with Republican members, I think we can get something better for our community.”

Riaz Rajput, an Egg Harbor Township resident and one of the Pakistani organizers of the Atlantic City Republican event, said he believes Republicans will do a better job of revitalizing the casinos.

“The Asian population is mostly either working in casinos or doing something that is associated with the casino industry,” he said. “If the casino is a success, they’ll hire more people.”

At the Democratic event Wednesday, Atlantic City 5th Ward Council candidate Rizwan Malik, a Pakistan-born auto repair shop owner, said those seeking economic stimulus from Republicans are mistaken.

“How am I going to get all those dreams I came for?” He said, noting that Republicans cut educational funding and opposed congressional jobs bills.

Sixth Ward Councilman Timothy Mancuso said he was worried by the number of signs cropping up for Malik’s Republican rival, Sharon Zappia.

“We need you to talk to your neighbors, because something’s happening up there,” he said to the crowd.

Despite the calls for solidarity from elected officials, Muhammad M. Rahman, president of the Bangladeshi-American Lions Club, which hosted the Atlantic City Democratic event with a number of other groups, said he’s not convinced his community’s shifting toward the Republicans.

“We do for you, we work hard for you and, Insha’Allah, we’ll be elected,” he said. “We have been Democrat for the last 20 years — we will be Democrat in this election.”

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/politics/democratic-and-gop-candidates-push-for-asian-vote-in-atlantic/article_981054e4-08d8-11e1-9c1a-001cc4c002e0.html