Seattle, WA – November 13, 2008 – A week after Barack Obama was declared to be the next President of the United States, America’s Opportunity Fund (AOF) co-chairs, former Washington State Governor Gary Locke and former Cabinet Secretary Norman Mineta congratulate President-elect Obama in this historic election.
“We applaud President-elect Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden in winning this remarkable election, and we look forward to their new direction of hope and change and bringing back the American dream once again,” stated Locke. “We also congratulate new House and Senate Democrats for winning their seats, and look forward to a cohesive relationship in the years to come,” he added.
Within days after the election, a National poll was released and showed that among Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs), 62% voted for President-elect Barack Obama, and 35% voted for Senator John McCain.“This recent Poll reaffirms the impact in which our community has had in this election,” stated Mineta. “We are extremely proud of the AAPI community throughout the country who worked tirelessly in turning out the vote in record numbers for the Obama-Biden ticket,” he added.
America’s Opportunity Fund implemented a Get-Out-The-Vote (GOTV) program that mailed over 60,000 direct mail pieces to voters with Asian surnames in the battleground states of Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Florida and Colorado. President-elect Obama won all of these states. AOF also placed strategic GOTV ads and phone banked targeted AAPI communities in key battleground states as part of their program.
According to Mineta, “AOF endorsed several successful candidates throughout the country in this 2008 election. We praise candidates such as Kay Hagen of North Carolina, Ann Kirkpatrick of Arizona, and Jeff Merkley of Oregon in winning their crucial races.”
During this year, Locke and Mineta traveled to key battleground states throughout the country to rally the AAPI vote. “We look forward to working with the Obama Administration on issues concerning the AAPI community. President-elect Obama will bring change that our country has longed for,” said Locke.