Ep. 53 - South Asian Texans - Hate, Hope, and Their Voting Power (Chanda Parbhoo, SAAVETX)

This week Mission: Texas sits down with Chanda Parbhoo, a longtime South Asian community organizer in Dallas who built SAAVETX (the state's largest South Asian voter outreach organization) from five moms into a grassroots force with nearly 600 volunteers and over half a million voter touches heading into this election. Chanda traces the decade-long effort to build civic infrastructure for a community that didn't have any, unpacks the fallout from Bo French's attacks on UT Austin students, and makes the case that South Asian Texans — roughly 2% of the electorate in a state Beto lost by 2.5 points — are an underinvested, up-for-grabs constituency that could decide close races.What we cover: SAAVETX's origin story: a 2017 Facebook post asking for 200 South Asian Texans to organize that drew 6,000 signups in six weeks, built on zero funding The data gap SAAVETX uncovered — officials claiming only 10,000 South Asian voters existed in a community far larger than that — and building the state's first South Asian civic infrastructure from scratch Growth from grassroots group to C3/C4 nonprofit, a White House invitation during the 2024 gun violence initiative, and becoming the largest South Asian outreach operation in Texas Turnout numbers: from 20% in 2014 to 60% in 2018 to roughly 70% today — consistently two to three points above the state average McKinney's Islamic center city council fight and the broader pattern of "storming" local government meetings that started in Frisco Why South Asian voters are an effective target for the GOP's "boogeyman" strategy, and the community's historical instinct to "put your head down" rather than engage politically Why door-to-door outreach works best when canvassers share community identity, and the importance of leading with empathy and specific issues rather than generic appeals ("I like butter chicken" doesn't cut it) The diversity within "South Asian" and "AAPI" as categories, and why blanket outreach strategies fail Top issues for the community: public education funding, property taxes, healthcare access (22% of the community works in healthcare, 6% owns small businesses), and rising medical misinformation driving providers toward early retirement The Bo French controversy — his comments on UT Austin students on top of a documented history of racist statements — and Chanda's frustration that Republicans who criticized him are still planning to vote for him Voter suspense lists, re-registration efforts, and SAAVETX's work tracking patterns in voter roll purges Good news segment: being recognized unprompted at a convention by people who follow SAAVETX's work, and Kate's ACL Fest trip with her daughter, spotting Talarico merchandise throughout the crowdSupport the show: Become a member at patreon.com/missiontexaspodcast, or leave us a five-star review. God bless Texas. 🤠Support SAAVETX: https://saavetx.org