ATLANTA (November 28, 2022) | – Today, Georgia lawmakers are announcing the creation of the state’s first formal Legislative Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Caucus.
Notably, as of 2023 Georgia will have the most AAPI lawmakers of any state legislature in the nation.
The Georgia Legislative Asian American Pacific Islander Caucus will be bipartisan, be made up of AAPI members of the Georgia Senate and House, and consist of the following founding lawmakers, numbering 12 total (11 voting members for the 2023 legislative session):
Senator Michelle Au (D – Johns Creek)
Representative Charlice Byrd (R – Woodstock)
Representative-elect Saira Draper (D – Atlanta)
Representative-elect Soo Hong (R – Lawrenceville)
Senator-elect Nabilah Islam (D – Lawrenceville)
Representative Marvin Lim (D – Norcross)
Representative-elect Farooq Mughal (D – Buford)
Representative Bee Nguyen (D – Atlanta)
Representative Sam Park (D – Lawrenceville)
Senator Sheikh Rahman (D – Lawrenceville)
Representative-elect Ruwa Romman (D – Peachtree Corners)
Representative-elect Long Tran (D – Dunwoody)
Emeritus member: BJay Pak (former Georgia House Representative) and Zahra Karinshak (former Georgia State Senator)
Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are Georgia’s fastest growing ethnic group and comprise nearly 5% of Georgia’s population according to the 2020 U.S. Census. Nationally, this diverse community is the fastest-growing racial or ethnic group with a record 22 million Asian Americans tracing their roots to more than 20 countries in East and Southeast Asia along with the Indian subcontinent, and is projected to be the nation’s largest immigrant group by the middle of the century.
The goals of the new caucus will be to increase AAPI representation at all levels of government, and to ensure that the concerns and issues important to our multicultural, multilingual communities will have a strong voice at the state Capitol.
“As the first Asian American Democrat elected to the Georgia State Legislature, I am so proud to see our diverse AAPI communities continue to grow and exercise their right to vote to determine our shared future,” said Rep. Sam Park. “I look forward to serving in the largest AAPI legislative caucus in the nation. My colleagues and I will continue to do all we can to ensure our AAPI communities have a seat at the table and a government that serves their best interest.”
“One thing we’ve heard from many Asian Americans,” said Sen. Michelle Au, “is a dismaying sense of invisibility. That our communities, our concerns, the issues we care about most, are often not seen, not heard, and not addressed. But times are changing, as is the face of Georgia, and this is represented in the historic representation we now see of AAPI lawmakers at the state Capitol. And as a caucus, we look forward not just to representing the AAPI community, but to help build larger coalitions to ensure that the voices and issues at the Capitol fully represent our diverse electorate.”
The Georgia Legislative Asian Pacific Islander Caucus will formally convene when the 2023 Legislative Session begins on January 9, 2023.