US president Barak Obama’s weak performance during his second term has left the US Democratic Party at a disadvantage in the upcoming US election, which has given top Chinese American politicians greater opportunities to make their mark.

The house of representatives of the US congress has 435 seats up for grabs, the senate has 33 seats, and 36 state governors are to be elected. In this election, Chinese Americans are making every effort to stand out. They have suffered discrimination since the US was founded 200 years ago. In 1943, the Chinese Exclusion Act was repealed. The US Senate finally delivered an official apology to the Chinese-American community for the Act in 2011.

Chinese American candidates are first trying to integrate into the mainstream and canvassing for the support of political heavy hitters. This kind of support will encourage more voters to pay some attention to the political acumen of the Chinese Americans. It also shows party elites‘ recognition of the candidates. Almost every Chinese American candidate has heavyweight political support. In mid October, Obama put in an appearance in the election campaign of Liu Yunshan, giving a boost to his support.

Chinese American candidates have now mastered the tactics of the US election campaign. They are increasingly familiar with the campaign process of setting up teams, raising money, political marketing, etc. Finally, Chinese American candidates now direct their attention to the grass roots. Liu Yunping, the candidate running for the governorship of California, once backed the fifth amendment of the California constitution that discriminates against Chinese Americans’ right to education. Later, under pressure from the Chinese American community, he abandoned his support for the amendment in an effort to regain the trust of the group. But it’s not easy for Chinese Americans to win power in US politics, even if there are a number of outstanding Chinese Americans in the field.

This article was edited and translated from 《美国中期选举华裔缘何崛起》, source: The Beijing News, Author: Shi Zehua, associate professor of Beijing Foreign Studies University