At Hmong Wausau Festival, second gentleman Doug Emhoff says Hmong vote could decide election

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff told a largely Hmong audience in Wausau on Saturday that they could be the key to deciding who wins the 2024 presidential election.

“This community right here could decide the election in this state — which could decide the entire election,” Emhoff said at the Hmong Wausau Festival. “You have the power, right here in this Hmong community. You have more power than you realize. Your coming together as a community could really dictate the results of this election.”

Emhoff appeared at the opening of the annual festival less than a week after President Joe Biden announced he would not seek the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination, and just days after Emhoff’s wife, Vice President Kamala Harris, received the support of enough Democratic Party delegates to become the presumptive nominee. In brief remarks, Emhoff said Harris is committed to ensuring justice and freedom for all. 

He also recognized the Hmong veterans of the Vietnam War who attended the event in uniform. Hmong soldiers fought alongside the U.S. in that war, and many came to America as refugees after the U.S. withdrew.

Today, they are the largest Asian American ethnic group in Wisconsin, with about 58,000 people in the state. In Wausau, Hmong people comprise about 12 percent of the population, according to the nonprofit Hmong American Center, which organizes the Hmong Wausau Festival. That gives Wausau the highest per capita Hmong population in the nation. 

Emhoff’s claim about the potential for the Hmong vote to swing Wisconsin is, at least theoretically, true. In 2020, Biden won Wisconsin’s presidential election with about 21,000 votes more than former President Donald Trump.

The second gentleman’s visit to central Wisconsin came as Democrats were holding a “Weekend of Action,” involving door-knocking, voter contacts and other events. The Nov. 5 election is 100 days away as of Saturday. After his appearance in Wausau, Emhoff proceeded to Stevens Point to speak with Democratic volunteers there. Democrats have reported seeing a jolt of enthusiasm since Harris became the presumptive nominee, marked by an uptick in volunteers, donations and voter registrations.

In a statement, Republicans said the new Democratic nominee is substantially the same as the old one.

“The Democrat rebranding tour has nothing to offer voters but familiar names and the same failed policies of the last four years,” said Brian Schimming, chair of the Republican Party of Wisconsin. “Wisconsinites are fed up with the higher costs and open borders of the Biden-Harris Administration and ready to embrace a new era of Republican leadership.”

Asian Americans tend to vote Democratic. A 2023 Pew Research Center survey found about 62 percent are Democrats, compared to 35 percent who say they are Republicans.

But it was apparent Saturday that politicians in both parties are courting Hmong voters. Among the booths of bubble tea, Hmong clothing and other crafts were tables promoting “Hmong Americans for Harris” and other Democrats, as well as the “WisGOP Hmong Coalition.”

Other politicians who spoke at the opening ceremony were Gov. Tony Evers and U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, both Democrats, as well as Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany. The director of the Hmong American Center, Yee Leng Xiong, is a Democratic candidate for state Assembly in the 85th District. His opponent, Republican Pat Snyder, was also in attendance.

Harris has an Asian American background herself — her mother immigrated to America from India; her father from Jamaica. Emhoff described Harris’ upbringing in his remarks, connecting it to the Hmong story. 

He also shared personal anecdotes about how the couple got together after being set up on a blind date.

“I will say it was love at first sight,” Emhoff said. “We had a passion for the law. But we also had a hatred of bullies. We had a hatred of people who picked on other people.”

Harris is the nation’s first female vice president, and if elected, would become its first female president. That would make Emhoff the first-ever first gentleman.