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150,000 Korean American voters in California poised to make difference

October 7, 2014
Young Kim meets with community members.

Young Kim meets with community members.

By Kim Hyung-jae, Tae Hong

More Korean Americans than ever are registered to vote in the upcoming Nov. 4 general elections, according to Political Data statistics.

As of October, 145,682 Korean Americans are registered to vote in California, up 2.8 percent from 2012.

The data is based on people who either have Korean last names or were born in Korea. Still, Koreans only make up about 0.83 percent of all voters in the state, according to Political Data.

In the case of District 65, in which Republican State Assembly candidate Young Kim has campaigned, Korean American voters make up 5.2 percent of all district voters.

The percentage is also above the state average at 4.6 percent in District 24, where Democrat Peter Choi is running for the State Senate, and at 1.5 percent in District 2, which carries Republican Orange County Supervisor candidate Michelle Park Steel.

Data also showed that over half of registered voters — 51.3 percent — have elected to send in their votes by mail.