Vietnamese and other Asian-Americans have shifted from being majority Republican supporters to overwhelmingly Democrat. Donald Trump's polarizing rhetoric on issues like immigration could accelerate the trend.
That shift could have an effect on the presidential race. Asian-Americans represent only about 4 per cent of the electorate and tend to have low turnout. But they are a potentially significant bloc that both parties are courting in battleground states like Nevada, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
Many Vietnamese refugees who fled the 1975 communist takeover in their homeland supported the Republican Party for being strong on national security. The Vietnamese are still among the most conservative voters in the Asian-American community. But now they put more emphasis on domestic issues like education and health care, and are more likely to vote Democratic.
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