The presidential campaigns and the press have focused a good deal of energy on Latino voters, especially in western states where they could pay a pivotal role. But what about our second largest group of immigrants?

Asians make up 5 percent of the United States. While the largest Asian populations are in the solid Democratic states of New York and California, there are 180,000 in Virginia, a state that could go either way in November. Nevada, Florida, Colorado and Ohio have significant Asian populations as well.

Unfortunately, as News 21 reporter Mira Jang found in her report, “Asians Shading Blue,” polling data on this group is hard to find. One small poll taken in June showed Asian voters supporting Obama 68 to 27, but these results are not completely reliable. Still, Jang concluded that Asians are shifting toward the Democrats.

A new poll taken in New Jersey also shows Asians supporting Obama, this time by 65 percentage points, even larger than his 40 point lead among Latinos in that state. The Press of Atlantic City, which commissioned the survey, does not account for this wide margin, but it does characterize it as “a small sample.”

But there is good, if mysterious news. On Monday, a coalition that includes UC Berkeley, UC Riverside, Rutgers, and the University of Southern California will announce the results of what it is calling the 2008 National Asian American Survey. So far, they are not giving away the results, but they do say it is “the most comprehensive survey to date on Asian Americans and politics,” with a sample size of 4,000.

Stay tuned to News 21 for updates, and meanwhile, feel free to guess what the results will be.

(Photo by Mira Jang)