Ethiopian-American voters in Virginia swung to Republican candidates over Ethiopian-Tigray civil war

[Reformed J]

Can Somalis in Minnesota mobilize to affect foreign policy like the Abyssinians in Northern Virginia did

Like him, some Ethiopian Americans in Virginia heeded calls to cast a vote for the GOP at the polls earlier this month amid a coordinated effort to express disapproval with how President Biden has handled growing conflict in the East African nation.

Leaders of the effort say that by authorizing sanctions on Ethiopia and cutting off trade benefits, Biden has effectively empowered the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), a repressive regime that led the country before Abiy.

And with seemingly no response to their concerns from the White House, organizers said, Abiy supporters in Virginia took their message to the polls — despite, or perhaps because of, the Ethiopian community’s long allegiance with Democrats.


“The government’s approach is so illogical at this point that we have to show we are disappointed in an area that can potentially hurt the Democratic Party,” said Mesfin Tegenu, chairman of the American-Ethiopian Public Affairs Committee (AEPAC).

Whether it made a difference in the election is difficult, if not outright impossible, to quantify. Although the Northern Virginia suburbs are home to one of the largest Ethiopian communities in the country, there is little data on how it functions as a voting bloc — or how members of the Ethiopian diaspora voted in Youngkin’s narrow victory over former governor Terry McAuliffe (D) earlier this month.

Virginia is home to about 30,000 immigrants from Ethiopia — about 1 in 8 of all Ethiopians nationwide, according to estimates from the Migration Policy Institute. Fairfax County and Alexandria have some of the highest concentrations of Ethiopians in the country.

A look at heavily East African precincts in the area, including those in Woodbridge and West End Alexandria, does not show a strong swing to Youngkin compared with previous years or other precincts in heavily blue Northern Virginia.

Biden sanctioned the Eritrean army and leaders late last week, but not the tplf. At least it's something.

Biden administration sanctions Eritrean military, ruling party over role in northern Ethiopia conflict | CNN Politics

The Biden administration sanctioned Eritrea's military and its sole political party for their involvement in the ongoing crisis in northern Ethiopia as Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed concern that about "the potential for Ethiopia to implode."

www.cnn.com

 

[DalsanJubiland]

They are probably only 15000 vote
Youngkin won 150, 000 vote

 

[Reformed J]

They are probably only 15000 vote
Youngkin won 150, 000 vote

Article says they're around 30,000 mainly concentrated in NoVA and Youngkin won by ~63,000 votes

 

[DalsanJubiland]

Article says they're around 30,000 mainly concentrated in NoVA and Youngkin won by ~63,000 votes

Half of them live in Maryland And DC

 

[CanoGeel]

Virginia swings back and forth cus it's full of independents as well as moderate repubs. They may affect a locality election but they dont have the numbers to fundamentally and consistently change an statewide election and are non factor in the grand scheme.

 

[CanoGeel]

They are probably only 15000 vote
Youngkin won 150, 000 vote

True.
Virginia swings back and forth cus it's full of independents as well as moderate repubs. They may affect a locality election but they dont have the numbers to fundamentally and consistently change an statewide election and are non factor in the grand scheme.

 

[DalsanJubiland]

True.
Virginia swings back and forth cus it's full of independents as well as moderate repubs. They may affect a locality election but they dont have the numbers to fundamentally and consistently change an statewide election and are non factor in the grand scheme.

True
The reason Youngkin won is Suburban white women swung to Republicans and Youngkin

 

[James Dahl]

Ethiopians voting for a white supremacist anti-immigrant governor is a very amusing self own