In Arcadia and Temple City, Asian American voters helped propel Trump to victory

After months of hesitation, former Democrat Edmund Liu turned to Donald Trump for the blow on the street.

When Liu first moved to the US from China, he was attracted to the Democratic Party because he saw it as immigrant-friendly.

But he began to question his loyalty after living for more than a decade in Arcadia, an affluent suburb at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains that is home to many Asian immigrants. The amount for celebratory dinners with his extended family was often close to four figures, and his salary as a software engineer did not reach as far as before.

Then, about a week before the Nov. 5 election, he saw videos on social media of people in black hoodies carrying handbags running out of a second-hand luxury store at the Westfield Santa Anita mall as a security guard passively filmed.

“It’s about a five-minute drive from my house, and it’s about a one-minute drive from the police station. I thought, ‘That’s ridiculous,'” said Liu, 55. “I thought, ‘Okay, I’ve made up my mind, and that’s it.'”

This year, Liu’s political shift in the Arcadia and Temple City areas, both of which are predominantly Asian, was common among Asian American voters. Many expressed despair at the direction the country has taken over the past four years, citing crime, the economy and illegal immigration as reasons to give Trump a chance.

Both areas remained blue, but Trump gained ground compared to four years ago. In the Arcadia region, Kamala Harris won 54% of the vote this year, after Joe Biden won 60% in 2020. Trump’s share rose from 39% to 43%.

The numbers were similar in the neighboring Temple City area, with Harris getting 53% this year, versus Biden’s 60% in 2020.

Arcadia Mayor Michael Cao, who has repeatedly heard from voters expressing his anger over robberies, the price of groceries and other issues that a part-time politician in the suburbs is ill-equipped to address, expected the Democratic Party to would withdraw.

Read more: While other malls are dying out, this one in Arcadia caters to Asian shoppers

“They felt like no one was listening, and they felt like they just needed change,” said Cao, who is not registered with a political party and declined to say how he voted.

Asian American voting trends in the Arcadia and Temple City areas mirrored national patterns. According to exit polls, a majority of Asian Americans supported Vice President Harris, but there was a shift to the right. An NBC News poll found that 39% of Asian Americans voted for Trump this year, a five-point increase from 2020.

As with other demographic groups, experts said concerns about inflation, crime and immigration have likely fueled the rightward drift among Asian American voters.

James Zarsadiaz, an associate professor of history at the University of San Francisco, said some voters were also likely responding to a rise in anti-Asian sentiment during the pandemic.

“Republicans have been able to seize on these fears by saying, ‘Hey, we’re the party of law and order,’” said Zarsadiaz, who is writing a book on Asian American conservatism. “It’s like a perfect storm to make some Asian American voters reconsider their loyalty to the Democratic Party.”

Karthick Ramakrishnan, founder of AAPI Data at UC Berkeley’s Asian American Research Center, noted that while Trump gained support among Asian Americans, that momentum could be weak and disappear by the next election.

“Is this shift a one-time punishment for economic performance – and perhaps even on issues like crime – or is it a sign of more lasting shifts in opinion?” he said.

With its top-notch school district and mix of recently built mini-mansions and a more modest housing stock, Arcadia has long attracted wealthy Asian immigrants, especially those from China. The main boulevards there and in Temple City are lined with shopping centers offering Asian supermarkets and Chinese regional cuisines.

In the city of Arcadia, which is 57% Asian, voters elected a new city council member, David Fu, on Nov. 5, making the council all-Asian American — possibly a first in California, according to council members.

Councilwoman Eileen Wang, the first Chinese-American woman on the council, said she was drawn to Arcadia nearly 20 years ago because she had heard great reviews about the school system and wanted the best education for her two boys.

Wang, a native of China, has noticed some residents moving to the right in recent years, spurred in part by viral videos like October’s smash-and-grab.

“Social media, YouTube, TikTok, everywhere,” she said.

But Wang turned in the opposite direction. After voting for Republican presidential candidates in the past, she chose Harris this year, impressed by the Democrat’s stance on affordable housing and rental subsidies as Arcadia residents battle rising housing costs.

Statistics from the Arcadia Police Department and the Temple Sheriff’s Office show that overall crime has increased in Arcadia since 2020, but has decreased in Temple City.

While some voters noted that a president’s influence on crime rates is limited, many said they want a president who is tough on crime. The influx of migrants crossing the border is also hitting close to home here, with nearby Monterey Park a major destination for people from China.

Jeff Chang, a 52-year-old insurance broker whose family moved to the U.S. from Taiwan in the 1980s, said the recent clap-and-grab helped sway his vote.

“When did it become okay?” said Chang, who has lived in Arcadia since 2007. “It shouldn’t be good.”

This year, Chang voted Republican for the first time. He says he doesn’t always agree with Trump’s statements, but thinks he is better equipped to tackle crime and illegal immigration.

Nina Chen, a manager at a Chinese restaurant in Arcadia and a former Obama voter, said she voted for Trump this year, hoping he could deliver a jolt to the economy that would bring back the busy lunch hours.

She sometimes visits nearby malls to compare how her restaurant, Tang Gong, is doing.

“The restaurant is very slow, you see?” She said as she walked through the cavernous dining room, where a few families were having lunch. “I’m just waiting for next year – waiting [Trump] to do better.”

Read more: In a suburb of LA, Chinese ‘border crossers’ seek a new life after an arduous journey

Susan Guo, president of the Arcadia Chinese Assn., moved to the U.S. from China in the mid-1990s and ended up in Arcadia for its school district and family-friendly environment. She said Trump calling COVID-19 the “Chinese virus” was initially a “major turnoff” for many Chinese residents.

But Guo, who declined to say which candidate she voted for, said the elevation of tech billionaire Elon Musk, who has a massive Tesla factory in Shanghai, to Trump’s inner circle helped seal many votes.

“Elon Musk has a big investment in China, and he is quite China-friendly,” she said, adding that she believed he would be a “good influence” on Trump.

Grace Liu, 60, who runs an international trading company, believes that Trump, as a successful businessman, has the ability to change the country, especially with Musk at his side.

“Trump’s ability to solve problems – no one can compare with him,” Liu said in Mandarin.

Liu, who came to the US from Shanghai and has lived in Arcadia for more than two decades, said she was motivated to vote for the first time because the US has become a “complete mess” over the past four years due to its position in the world to public safety issues all the way to the border.

“Why did we come to America? The most important thing is freedom,” she said. “If it’s too unsafe, how can you have freedom?”

Suki Xie also voted for the first time, casting her ballot at an Arcadia public library on Election Day with her parents, brother and sister-in-law.

They were all first-time voters and all voted for Trump, said Xie, 36, who runs a dried seafood company and is originally from the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou.

Xie is concerned about the crime, including the robbery at Santa Anita Mall and the burglaries at her friends’ businesses.

“I have been in the US for so many years and until now I have never felt that I am afraid to leave the house at night,” she said in Mandarin.

Xie said she would like to welcome more people from China to join the local community, but she is concerned about the migrants who gather at the Fatty Ding strip mall in Monterey Park to look for work, which she said will take jobs from locals could take over and that it is not fair to them. those who have waited a decade or more to immigrate legally.

Inflation has also spiraled out of control, Xie said, as prices of food, gas and other necessities appear to be rising suddenly.

“We have spoken to many friends and said that we hope that if we change a president or a party, we will see if a new way of governing can change this society,” she said.

Times writer Cindy Chang contributed to this report.

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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.